The Use of Phylogenetic Diversity in Conservation Biology and Community Ecology: A Common Base but Different Approaches
Resource type
Journal article
Creator (person)
Véron, Simon
Saito, Victor
Padilla-García, Nélida
Forest, Félix
Bertheau, Yves
Date published
June 1, 2019
Abstract
The use of phylogenetic tools and studies has strongly increased in the last two decades especially in conservation biology and community ecology. Phylogenetic trees are essential to understand the processes of community or network assembly, to identify centers of diversification, and to help protect Earth?s evolutionary heritage. Despite two decades of research and syntheses, there are still many discussions on how phylogenetic diversity (PD) methods should be effectively applied to those fields. In particular, conservation approaches based on PD have become similar to these used in community ecology. Thus, the main benefit of using PD calculations in conservation biology may have been ignored or misinterpreted. Our goal is to discuss and provide guidelines to the use of PD in biodiversity conservation so that its benefits are not hidden or lost in the approaches employed. We also aim that benefits and uses are better recognized and more easily understood by researchers or practitioners who would like to include PD in their studies and conservation planning.
Journal title
The Quarterly Review of Biology
Volume
94
Issue
2
Publisher
The University of Chicago Press
ISSN
0033-5770
eISSN
1539-7718
Rights statement
In Copyright