Systematic conservation planning for groundwater ecosystems using phylogenetic diversity.

ABSTRACT: Aquifer ecosystems provide a range of important services including clean drinking water. These ecosystems, which are largely inaccessible to humans, comprise a distinct invertebrate fauna (stygofauna), which is characterized by narrow distributions, high levels of endemism and cryptic species. Although being under enormous anthropogenic pressure, aquifers have rarely been included in conservation planning because of the general lack of knowledge of species diversity and distribution. Here we use molecular sequence data and phylogenetic diversity as surrogates for stygofauna diversity in aquifers of New South Wales, Australia. We demonstrate how to incorporate these data as conservation features in the systematic conservation planning software Marxan. We designated each branch of the phylog

SUBMITTER: Asmyhr MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4267811 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature