Prioritizing populations for conservation using phylogenetic networks.

ABSTRACT: In the face of inevitable future losses to biodiversity, ranking species by conservation priority seems more than prudent. Setting conservation priorities within species (i.e., at the population level) may be critical as species ranges become fragmented and connectivity declines. However, existing approaches to prioritization (e.g., scoring organisms by their expected genetic contribution) are based on phylogenetic trees, which may be poor representations of differentiation below the species level. In this paper we extend evolutionary isolation indices used in conservation planning from phylogenetic trees to phylogenetic networks. Such networks better represent population differentiation, and our extension allows populations to be ranked in order of their expected contribution to the set.

SUBMITTER: Volkmann L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3938429 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature