Tetrapods on the EDGE: Overcoming data limitations to identify phylogenetic conservation priorities.

ABSTRACT: The scale of the ongoing biodiversity crisis requires both effective conservation prioritisation and urgent action. As extinction is non-random across the tree of life, it is important to prioritise threatened species which represent large amounts of evolutionary history. The EDGE metric prioritises species based on their Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED), which measures the relative contribution of a species to the total evolutionary history of their taxonomic group, and Global Endangerment (GE), or extinction risk. EDGE prioritisations rely on adequate phylogenetic and extinction risk data to generate meaningful priorities for conservation. However, comprehensive phylogenetic trees of large taxonomic groups are extremely rare and, even when available, become quickly out-of-date due to th

SUBMITTER: Gumbs R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5894989 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature