UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny.

Isaac, NJ; Turvey, ST; Collen, B; Waterman, C; Baillie, JE; (2007) Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny. PLoS One , 2 (3) , Article e296. 10.1371/journal.pone.0000296. Green open access

[thumbnail of journal.pone.0000296.pdf]
Preview
PDF
journal.pone.0000296.pdf

Download (251kB)

Abstract

Conservation priority setting based on phylogenetic diversity has frequently been proposed but rarely implemented. Here, we define a simple index that measures the contribution made by different species to phylogenetic diversity and show how the index might contribute towards species-based conservation priorities. We describe procedures to control for missing species, incomplete phylogenetic resolution and uncertainty in node ages that make it possible to apply the method in poorly known clades. We also show that the index is independent of clade size in phylogenies of more than 100 species, indicating that scores from unrelated taxonomic groups are likely to be comparable. Similar scores are returned under two different species concepts, suggesting that the index is robust to taxonomic changes. The approach is applied to a near-complete species-level phylogeny of the Mammalia to generate a global priority list incorporating both phylogenetic diversity and extinction risk. The 100 highest-ranking species represent a high proportion of total mammalian diversity and include many species not usually recognised as conservation priorities. Many species that are both evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE species) do not benefit from existing conservation projects or protected areas. The results suggest that global conservation priorities may have to be reassessed in order to prevent a disproportionately large amount of mammalian evolutionary history becoming extinct in the near future.

Type: Article
Title: Mammals on the EDGE: conservation priorities based on threat and phylogeny.
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000296
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000296
Language: English
Additional information: © 2007 Isaac et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. PMCID: PMC1808424
Keywords: Animals, Biological Evolution, Conservation of Natural Resources, Endangered Species, Extinction, Biological, Mammals, Species Specificity, Time
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1390111
Downloads since deposit
212Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item