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Protecting the innocent: studying short-range endemic taxa enhances conservation outcomes

“…data), bringing considerable insight to a poorly known group of arachnids. Many species are known to be endemic to individual geological formations, such as pisolitic mesas only a few hundred hectares in area , and no species are known from an area greater than 500 km 2 , clearly conforming to current definitions of short-range endemism (Harvey 2002;Eberhard et al 2009;Environmental Protection Authority 2009). Knowledge of the taxonomy and distribution of different species and genera has been refined with each new discovery, and recent molecular phylogeographic research has highlighted the evolutionary inter-relationships among species ) and the remarkable subterranean biogeography of the region (summarised in Guzik et al 2011a).…”

“…These factors can all lead to evolutionary diversification over time and to highly restricted modern distributions. Harvey (2002) suggested a nominal range of less than 10 000 km 2 as a working definition of short-range endemism, but Eberhard et al (2009), considering stygofauna, recommended a reduced area of less than 1000 km 2 . Even this may need further refinement as, for example, groundwater calcrete aquifers of the southern Western Shield (Yilgarn) each have unique faunas largely comprising endemic species (Humphreys 2008;Guzik et al 2011a;and references therein).…”

“…Species with naturally small distributions are termed short-range endemic species (Harvey 2002). Although often considered to be restricted to invertebrate animals, SREs can in fact be found among all major biological lineages.…”

“…Any taxon that has a restricted, small distribution qualifies as an SRE, including most threatened species, many of which are under threat simply because they are restricted to small patches of suitable (but often dwindling) habitat. Harvey (2002) noted several lifehistory features that are characteristic -and may be central to the evolution of -short-range endemism, including poor powers of dispersal, ecological confinement to discontinuous or rare habitats, slow growth and low fecundity. These factors can all lead to evolutionary diversification over time and to highly restricted modern distributions.…”

Biodiversity, functional roles and ecosystem services of groundwater invertebrates

“…These groundwater metazoans (stygofauna) include many unique representatives of lineages from various geological periods and can exhibit extraordinary endemicity (Poore and Humphreys 1992;Harvey 2002;Humphreys 2006Humphreys , 2008. Globally, stygofauna comprises a significant component of total biodiversity (Rouch and Danielopol 1997;Sket 1999) and there are several 'hot-spots' of high subterranean biodiversity (Culver and Sket 2000;Danielopol and Pospisil 2001;Castellarini et al 2007), including parts of Australia (Bradbury and Williams 1997;Humphreys 2001;Karanovic and Marmonier 2003;Karanovic 2007).…”