Global priorities for conservation of reptilian phylogenetic diversity in the face of human impacts
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Phylogenetic diversity measures are increasingly used in conservation planning to represent aspects of biodiversity beyond that captured by species richness. Here we develop two new metrics that combine phylogenetic diversity and the extent of human pressure across the spatial distribution of species — one metric valuing regions and another prioritising species. We evaluate these metrics for reptiles, which have been largely neglected in previous studies, and contrast these results with equivalent calculations for all terrestrial vertebrate groups. We find that regions under high human pressure coincide with the most irreplaceable areas of reptilian diversity, and more than expected by chance. The highest priority reptile species score far above the top mammal and bird species, and reptiles include a disproportionate number of species with insufficient extinction risk data. Data Deficient species are, in terms of our species-level metric, comparable to Critically Endangered species and therefore may require urgent conservation attention.
Date Issued
2020-05-26
Date Acceptance
2020-04-24
Citation
Nature Communications, 2020, 11
ISSN
2041-1723
Publisher
Nature Research (part of Springer Nature)
Journal / Book Title
Nature Communications
Volume
11
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing,adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you giveappropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the CreativeCommons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third partymaterial in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unlessindicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in thearticle’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutoryregulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly fromthe copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sponsor
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16410-6
Grant Number
NE/L011611/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
EXTINCTION RISK
EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY
CLIMATE-CHANGE
THREAT
PATTERNS
ENDEMISM
REVEALS
RATES
LAND
TREE
Animal Distribution
Animals
Biodiversity
Conservation of Natural Resources
Endangered Species
Extinction, Biological
Humans
Phylogeny
Reptiles
Risk
Species Specificity
Vertebrates
Animals
Vertebrates
Humans
Reptiles
Risk
Conservation of Natural Resources
Biodiversity
Phylogeny
Species Specificity
Extinction, Biological
Endangered Species
Animal Distribution
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 2616
Date Publish Online
2020-05-26