Conservation and Phylogeography of Plants: From the Mediterranean to the Rest of the World

Abstract

During the last decades, phylogeography has transformed the ways to analyze and understand plant diversity and biogeography. The repeated and increasingly detailed articles made from DNA data with phylogeographical procedures and algorithms have revolutionized biodiversity research, particularly on biodiversity conservation. This paper presents a systematic literature review of the different ways in which phylogeography has been applied to plants in Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs), especially to rare, threatened, and endemic plants. Studies ranged from basic research to how phylogeography is actually contributing to management conservation of Mediterranean plants. Finally, new and future phylogeography perspectives with integrative scientific arguments and conceptual bases applied to plant conservation biology are discussed.

The Endemic Vascular Flora of Sardinia: A Dynamic Checklist with an Overview of Biogeography and Conservation Status

“…First, this suggests that propaedeutic taxonomical studies are needed to uncover the missing information about their conservation status. Genetic and phylogenetic studies have been underutilised for the establishment of priorities for conservation in most of the Mediterranean region [ 125 ]; delineating evolutionary entities, which must be those that will be subject to both ex situ and in situ conservation [ 126 ], is another crucial step towards better conservation of Sardinian flora. Second, further and larger collaborations among experts from different countries are necessary to define the global conservation status of several unassessed taxa.…”

Spatially explicit assessment of genetic variation to inform conservation effort for an endangered Mediterranean conifer,Cedrus atlantica

“…This selection partially coincided with that obtained by the selection of RGUCs (populations 2 and 4 from Clusters 1; 6, and 9 from Cluster 2; and 10, and 11 from Cluster 3). However, the rarity value of population 1 makes it essential for ex situ conservation because rarity holds the adaptive potential of populations (Laikre et al, 2020 ), and conservation should be focused on the genetic distinctiveness of populations within a species (Bobo‐Pinilla et al, 2022 ; and references within). This proposal demonstrates the traditional problems of seed bank creation, where plant material was collected from several populations from different habitats, assuming that diversity was distributed along populations (Hamrick et al, 1991 ; Hamrick & Godt, 1990 ).…”

“…However, conservation and restoration initiatives must be interdisciplinary, with broad and complementary scopes at multiple levels, from communities and ecosystems to species or genetic compositions (Young & Clarke, 2000 ). Therefore, preserving genetic diversity within species and implementing strategies to prevent their genetic erosion (Laikre et al, 2020 ) require focusing on the genetic distinctiveness of populations (Bobo‐Pinilla et al, 2022 ). However, for most species, such information and studies are lacking.…”

The Endemic Vascular Flora of Sardinia: a Dynamic Checklist with an Overview of Biogeography and Conservation Status

“…First, this suggests that propaedeutic taxonomical studies are needed to uncover the missing information about their conservation status. Genetic and phylogenetic studies have been underutilised for the establishment of priorities for conservation in most of the Mediterranean region [125]; delineating evolutionary entities, which must be those that will be subject to both ex situ and in situ conservation [126], is another crucial step towards better conservation of Sardinian flora. Second, further and larger collaborations among experts from different countries are necessary to define global conservation status of several unassessed taxa.…”