Phylogenetic Diversity and the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity
Sustainable use of biodiversity requires the use of biodiversity in a way that does not foreclose benefits for future generations. Biodiversity option values reflect this capacity to provide future benefits that are often unanticipated. The phylogenetic d
- PDF / 514,579 Bytes
- 18 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 8 Downloads / 199 Views
Phylogenetic Diversity and the Sustainable Use of Biodiversity Daniel P. Faith and Laura J. Pollock
Abstract Sustainable use of biodiversity requires the use of biodiversity in a way that does not foreclose benefits for future generations. Biodiversity option values reflect this capacity to provide future benefits that are often unanticipated. The phylogenetic diversity measure, PD, quantifies the option values represented by different sets of species. PD can be interpreted as counting-up features of species. This allows species-level ecological indices to be converted to phylogenetic indices, including PD complementarity and PD endemism, and integrated into systematic conservation planning. PD’s power law relationship with species counts supports findings that initial species losses may retain high PD. This suggests that occasional loss of current-use species might not reduce overall PD. However, if species that are currently useful to society are concentrated in particular clades on the phylogeny, then their loss may imply high-PD loss. Conservation of currentuse species can maintain overall PD and option values. However, systematic conservation planning results suggest that conservation of phylogenetically clumped current-use species, within a given conservation budget, can produce a tipping point in which the capacity to retain high-PD collapses.
3.1 Introduction In this chapter, we will link one of the most fundamental aspects of biodiversity— the tree of life or phylogeny—to one of the most practical concerns of biodiversity conservation—the sustainable use of biodiversity. This topic contributes another D. P. Faith (*) The Australian Museum Sydney, Sydney 2010, Australia e-mail: [email protected] L. J. Pollock National Environmental Research Program, School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
L. M. Verdade et al. (eds.), Applied Ecology and Human Dimensions in Biological Conservation, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-54751-5_3, © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
35
36
D. P. Faith and L. J. Pollock
perspective to our book’s overall theme on new directions for integrating applied ecology, human dimensions, and biological conservation. A precursor for this book was the 2009 Biota-FAPESP international workshop on “Applied ecology and human dimensions in biological conservation” (http://www.fapesp.br/5434). The workshop highlighted various new strategies in applied ecology, associated with emerging stronger links to human dimensions and to historical perspectives. We will touch on these themes in exploring how phylogeny helps us to understand and achieve sustainable use of biodiversity. It is timely to consider the challenges of sustainable use of biodiversity. During 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or “Rio+20”) was held in Brazil, marking 20 years since the original conference that gave birth to the convention on biological diversity (CBD). The major outcome document from the UNCSD conference refers fr
Data Loading...
