scholarly journals Losing history: how extinctions prune features from the tree of life

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1662) ◽  
pp. 20140006 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Jonathan Davies
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Expected Loss ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Sixth Mass Extinction ◽  
Branch Lengths ◽  
Adaptive Radiations ◽  
Over Time

Biodiversity provides many valuable services to humanity; however, rapid expansion of the human population has placed increasing pressure on natural systems, and it has been suggested that we may be entering a sixth mass extinction. There is an urgent need, therefore, to prioritize conservation efforts if we are to maintain the provisioning of such service in the future. Phylogenetic diversity (PD), the summed branch lengths that connect species on the tree-of-life, might provide a valuable metric for conservation prioritization because it has been argued to capture feature diversity. Frequently, PD is estimated in millions of years, and therefore implicitly assumes an evolutionary model in which features diverge gradually over time. Here, I explore the expected loss of feature diversity when this assumption is violated. If evolution tends to slow down over time, as might be the case following adaptive radiations, losses of feature diversity might be relatively small. However, if evolution occurs in rapid bursts, following a punctuated model, impacts of extinctions might be much greater. PD captures many important properties, but if we use it as a proxy for feature diversity, we first need to ensure that we have the correct evolutionary model.

scholarly journals Branch Lengths on Birth–Death Trees and the Expected Loss of Phylogenetic Diversity

2011 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arne Mooers ◽  
Olivier Gascuel ◽  
Tanja Stadler ◽  
Heyang Li ◽  
Mike Steel
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Expected Loss ◽  
Branch Lengths ◽  
Birth Death

scholarly journals Gender and payments for environmental services: impacts of participation, benefit-sharing and conservation activities in Viet Nam

Oryx ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Pamela McElwee ◽  
Huệ Thị Văn Lê ◽  
Tuyến Phương Nghiêm ◽  
Hương Diệu Vũ ◽  
Nghị Hữư Trần
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Environmental Services ◽  
Viet Nam ◽  
Payments For Environmental Services ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Female Headed Households ◽  
Women Participation ◽  
Over Time

Abstract There has been a rapid expansion in the use of payments for environmental services (PES) as a key conservation finance policy. However, there is insufficient understanding of how gender can affect PES implementation and outcomes. We present results from a case study in Viet Nam, where a national PES programme has been in place for a decade. Through panel household survey data, focus groups and interviews, we examined how women have been involved in PES policies, what the impacts have been on decision-making by men and women, participation rates and use of PES income over time, and the potential conservation outcomes. Our research confirms that resource use varies between men and women, and changes in access rights can fall disproportionately on women. Participation in PES has been lower for female-headed households and for women within male-headed households, although gradually more equitable participation has evolved within households. Female-headed households reported expending more yearly effort on PES activities despite protecting less land, and also increased their conservation activities over time as they presumably became more familiar with PES. Use of income from PES also showed differences between male and female-led households, with men more likely to spend funds on non-essential goods. Within households, although men initially decided how to spend PES money, decision-making has become more equitable over time. We conclude with some recommendations on how to increase attention to gender in PES projects and future research to improve outcomes.

scholarly journals Climate and plant community diversity in space and time

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (9) ◽  
pp. 4464-4470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Harrison ◽  
Marko J. Spasojevic ◽  
Daijiang Li
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Plant Diversity ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Niche Conservatism ◽  
Space And Time ◽  
Drying Trend ◽  
Functional And Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Over Time

Climate strongly shapes plant diversity over large spatial scales, with relatively warm and wet (benign, productive) regions supporting greater numbers of species. Unresolved aspects of this relationship include what causes it, whether it permeates to community diversity at smaller spatial scales, whether it is accompanied by patterns in functional and phylogenetic diversity as some hypotheses predict, and whether it is paralleled by climate-driven changes in diversity over time. Here, studies of Californian plants are reviewed and new analyses are conducted to synthesize climate–diversity relationships in space and time. Across spatial scales and organizational levels, plant diversity is maximized in more productive (wetter) climates, and these consistent spatial relationships are mirrored in losses of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity over time during a recent climatic drying trend. These results support the tolerance and climatic niche conservatism hypotheses for climate–diversity relationships, and suggest there is some predictability to future changes in diversity in water-limited climates.

scholarly journals Optimizing community trees using the open tree of life increases the reliability of phylogenetic diversity and dispersion indices

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 192-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Gastauer ◽  
Cecílio Frois Caldeira ◽  
Ian Trotter ◽  
Silvio Junio Ramos ◽  
João Augusto Alves Meira Neto
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Dispersion Indices

Community-Level Interactions and Disease Dynamics

2021 ◽  
pp. 145-170
Author(s):  
Karen D. McCoy
Keyword(s):  
Local Area ◽  
Community Level ◽  
Disease Dynamics ◽  
Biological Communities ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Parasite Communities ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Natural Communities ◽  
Over Time

An ecological community includes all individuals of all species that interact within a single patch or local area of habitat. Understanding the outcome of host–parasite interactions and predicting disease dynamics is particularly challenging at this biological scale because the different component species interact both directly and indirectly in complex ways. Current shifts in biodiversity due to global change, and its associated modifications to biological communities, will alter these interactions, including the probability of disease emergence, its dynamics over time, and its community-level consequences. Birds are integral component species of almost all natural communities. Due to their ubiquity and specific life history traits, they are defining actors in the ecology, evolution, and epidemiology of parasitic species. To better understand this role, this chapter examines the relative importance of birds and parasites in natural communities, revisiting basic notions in community ecology. The impact of changes in diversity for disease dynamics, including the debate surrounding dilution and amplification effects are specifically addressed. By considering the intrinsic complexities of natural communities, the importance of combining data from host and parasite communities to better understand how natural systems function over time and space is highlighted. The different elements in each section of the chapter are illustrated with brief, concrete examples from avian species, with a detailed example from marine bird communities in which Lyme disease bacteria circulate.

scholarly journals Diversification rates and species richness across the Tree of Life

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1838) ◽  
pp. 20161334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Scholl ◽  
John J. Wiens
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Diversification Rate ◽  
Substantial Variation ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Higher Taxa ◽  
Over Time

Species richness varies dramatically among clades across the Tree of Life, by over a million-fold in some cases (e.g. placozoans versus arthropods). Two major explanations for differences in richness among clades are the clade-age hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades are older) and the diversification-rate hypothesis (i.e. species-rich clades diversify more rapidly, where diversification rate is the net balance of speciation and extinction over time). Here, we examine patterns of variation in diversification rates across the Tree of Life. We address how rates vary across higher taxa, whether rates within higher taxa are related to the subclades within them, and how diversification rates of clades are related to their species richness. We find substantial variation in diversification rates, with rates in plants nearly twice as high as in animals, and rates in some eukaryotes approximately 10-fold faster than prokaryotes. Rates for each kingdom-level clade are then significantly related to the subclades within them. Although caution is needed when interpreting relationships between diversification rates and richness, a positive relationship between the two is not inevitable. We find that variation in diversification rates seems to explain most variation in richness among clades across the Tree of Life, in contrast to the conclusions of previous studies.

Preserving the tree of life of the fish family Cyprinidae in Africa in the face of the ongoing extinction crisis

Genome ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 170-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Adeoba ◽  
Solomon G. Tesfamichael ◽  
Kowiyou Yessoufou
Keyword(s):  
Threatened Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Phylogenetic Signal ◽  
Distinct Species ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Fish Family ◽  
The Face ◽  
Taxonomic Confusion ◽  
Coi Sequences

Our understanding of how the phylogenetic tree of fishes might be affected by the ongoing extinction risk is poor. This is due to the unavailability of comprehensive DNA data, especially for many African lineages. In addition, the ongoing taxonomic confusion within some lineages, e.g., Cyprinidae, makes it difficult to contribute to the debate on how the fish tree of life might be shaped by extinction. Here, we combine COI sequences and taxonomic information to assemble a fully sampled phylogeny of the African Cyprinidae and investigate whether we might lose more phylogenetic diversity (PD) than expected if currently threatened species go extinct. We found evidence for phylogenetic signal in extinction risk, suggesting that some lineages might be at higher risk than others. Based on simulated extinctions, we found that the loss of all threatened species, which approximates 37% of total PD, would lead to a greater loss of PD than expected, although highly evolutionarily distinct species are not particularly at risk. Pending the reconstruction of an improved multi-gene phylogeny, our results suggest that prioritizing high-EDGE species (evolutionary distinct and globally endangered species) in conservation programmes, particularly in some geographic regions, would contribute significantly to safeguarding the tree of life of the African Cyprinidae.

scholarly journals Field key to the bats of Costa Rica and Nicaragua

2019 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 1726-1749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather A York ◽  
Bernal Rodríguez-Herrera ◽  
Richard K Laval ◽  
Robert M Timm ◽  
Kaitlin E Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Taxonomic Diversity ◽  
Central American ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Dichotomous Key ◽  
Neotropical Bats ◽  
Taxonomic Changes ◽  
Key Characters ◽  
Over Time

Abstract With more than 1,400 species of bats described worldwide, the order Chiroptera is second only to rodents in ecological and taxonomic diversity. Bats play critically important roles in natural systems as seed and pollen dispersers, predators of invertebrates and vertebrates, and sanguinivores. The Central American countries of Costa Rica and Nicaragua have at least 123 species of bats (in nine families and 66 genera), or nearly 10% of the world's known species. Because of the importance of proper species identification for ecological and systematic studies and conservation efforts, we present a dichotomous key to the bats of this region. Our goal is the positive, in-hand identification of living bats that may be released unharmed after identification. Identifying Neotropical bats and understanding the taxonomic changes that affect the names used for the various species over time can be a challenge. This key includes the 123 species known to occur in Costa Rica and Nicaragua as well as three that are expected to occur in these countries but which have not yet been recorded. We provide illustrations of key characters useful for differentiating bats to species and updated taxonomic notes to assist the reader in assessing the literature. Con más de 1,400 especies de murciélagos descritos en todo el mundo, el orden Chiroptera es el segundo más diverso después de los roedores respecto a taxonomía. Los murciélagos juegan papeles de importancia crítica en los sistemas naturales como dispersores de semillas, polinizadores, depredadores de vertebrados e invertebrados, así como hematófagos. Costa Rica y Nicaragua presentan al menos 123 especies de murciélagos (en 9 familias y 66 géneros), casi el 10% de las especies conocidas en el mundo. Debido a la importancia de la identificación precisa de las especies para los estudios ecológicos, sistemáticos y de conservación, presentamos una clave dicotómica para los murciélagos de esta región. Nuestro objetivo es la identificación correcta con los murciélagos in vivo y que se pueden liberar sin daño después de la identificación. La caracterización de los murciélagos neotropicales y el seguimiento del estatus taxonómico de cada especie puede ser un reto en el proceso de identificación. Esta clave incluye las 123 especies conocidas en Costa Rica y Nicaragua, así como 3 no registradas pero con distribución potencial. Proporcionamos ilustraciones de características claves útiles para diferenciar murciélagos al nivel de la especie y notas taxonómicas actualizadas para ayudar al lector a la identificación.

scholarly journals Phylogenetically informed spatial planning is required to conserve the mammalian tree of life

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1865) ◽  
pp. 20170627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan F. Rosauer ◽  
Laura J. Pollock ◽  
Simon Linke ◽  
Walter Jetz
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Phylogenetic Diversity ◽  
Informed Choice ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Phylogenetic Information ◽  
Mammal Conservation ◽  
The Face ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Effective Conservation

In the face of the current extinction crisis and severely limited conservation resources, safeguarding the tree of life is increasingly recognized as a high priority. We conducted a first systematic global assessment of the conservation of phylogenetic diversity (PD) that uses realistic area targets and highlights the key areas for conservation of the mammalian tree of life. Our approach offers a substantially more effective conservation solution than one focused on species. In many locations, priorities for PD differ substantially from those of a species-based approach that ignores evolutionary relationships. This discrepancy increases rapidly as the amount of land available for conservation declines, as does the relative benefit for mammal conservation (for the same area protected). This benefit is equivalent to an additional 5900 Myr of distinct mammalian evolution captured simply through a better informed choice of priority areas. Our study uses area targets for PD to generate more realistic conservation scenarios, and tests the impact of phylogenetic uncertainty when selecting areas to represent diversity across a phylogeny. It demonstrates the opportunity of using rapidly growing phylogenetic information in conservation planning and the readiness for a new generation of conservation planning applications that explicitly consider the heritage of the tree of life's biodiversity.

Biotechnology and biodiversity — the interrelationships

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-461
Author(s):  
Stanley L. Krugman
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Forest Biotechnology ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Genetically Engineered Organisms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Scientific Fields ◽  
Over Time

Although the two current high profile scientific fields of biotechnology and biodiversity have extremely different scientific foundations and philosophies, they are still closely interrelated. Useful forest biotechnology is dependent on the availability and maintenance of a broad genetic foundation. Such a foundation is best achieved over time by maintaining the biological diversity of natural systems. In contrast, it is conceivable that with the release of genetically engineered organisms, natural biological diversity could be negatively impacted. The possibility of such an influence will be discussed. Finally, the politics of the relationship between these two emerging scientific fields will be briefly reviewed.

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