Conserving avian evolutionary history can effectively safeguard future benefits for people

Abstract

Phylogenetic diversity (PD)—the evolutionary history of a set of species—is conceptually linked to the maintenance of yet-to-be-discovered benefits from biodiversity or “option value.” We used global phylogenetic and utilization data for birds to test the PD option value link, under the assumption that the performance of sets of PD-maximizing species at capturing known benefits is analogous to selecting the same species at a point in human history before these benefits were realized. PD performed better than random at capturing utilized bird species across 60% of tests, with performance linked to the phylogenetic dispersion and prevalence of each utilization category. Prioritizing threatened species for conservation by the PD they encapsulate performs comparably to prioritizing by their functional distinctiveness. However, species selected by each metric show low overlap, indicating that we should conserve both components of biodiversity to effectively conserve a variety of uses. Our findings provide empirical support for the link between evolutionary history and benefits for future generations.

Prioritising Functionally Distinct and Globally Endangered (FuDGE) sharks for conservation action

“…The weak correlation between shark functional and evolutionary distinctiveness echoes recent studies that challenge the longstanding assumption that phylogenetic diversity should be employed as a surrogate for functional diversity (17,44). Instead, phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity are associated yet distinct dimensions of biodiversity, the conservation of which is of value to both ecosystems (40,45,46) and human wellbeing (33,34). Indeed, our work further highlights the complex and non-linear relationship between major adaptive change and evolutionary time (47)(48)(49).…”

“…Previous studies on plants (33,50) and birds (34) indicate that functionally and evolutionarily distinct species are disproportionately utilised by humans. Our work shows the same is true in sharks with respect to both functional distinctiveness and evolutionary distinctiveness.…”

“…However, sharks are one of the most imperilled vertebrate clades (30% of species threatened with extinction) (2,30), and many species are experiencing population declines due to overexploitation, habitat degradation and climate change (31). Overfishing is one of the primary threats faced by sharks (32) and species targeted by humans might be distinct in different biodiversity facets (33,34). These declines threaten the stability and health of aquatic ecosystems globally and require focused conservation action to prevent irreversible loss (35,36).…”

Global conservation status of the jawed vertebrate Tree of Life

“…The conservation of evolutionary history, typically measured using phylogenetic diversity (PD; the amount of evolutionary history represented by the phylogenetic branches connecting a set of species across the Tree of Life) 5 , is linked to the maintenance of evolutionary features, increased ecosystem productivity 6,7 , and human well-being 4,[8][9][10] . Evidence suggests that Amazonian forests that contain greater evolutionary history have higher wood productivity 7 , and selecting sets of species to maximise evolutionary history can effectively capture species with known uses by people across the world's plants 4 and birds 11 . As such, PD provides a versatile tool with which to differentiate and prioritise amongst species [12][13][14] and geographic areas 1,2,15,16 for conservation action.…”

Dense city centers support less evolutionary unique bird communities than sparser urban areas

“… 27 , 66 Currently, it is also recognized that protecting the avian evolutionary history can help to maintain ecosystem functioning and, consequently, human well-being. 67 …”