Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions
Climate change is a major driver of biodiversity decline with pervasive effects in biodiversity hotspots, where many endemic and threatened species thrive. However, the biological drivers of extinction susceptibility remain largely elusive, which hampers the implementation of effective conservation...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.571587/full |
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| author | Rafael Molina-Venegas Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz |
| author_facet | Rafael Molina-Venegas Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz |
| author_sort | Rafael Molina-Venegas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Climate change is a major driver of biodiversity decline with pervasive effects in biodiversity hotspots, where many endemic and threatened species thrive. However, the biological drivers of extinction susceptibility remain largely elusive, which hampers the implementation of effective conservation policies. Here, we advocate for the use of phylogenies as a complementary tool to inform policy makers. If we assume that the traits that determine extinction susceptibility are somewhat evolutionarily conserved, identifying the clades that accumulate a disproportionate amount of threatened species may help to mitigate potential increases in extinction risk among currently unthreatened species in these clades, even if the underlying biological drivers are unknown. We focused on the complete endemic angiosperm flora of a Mediterranean hotpot (Iberian Peninsula) to examine phylogenetic patterns in extinction risk expressed as IUCN categories (Least Concern “LC”, Near Threatened “NT”, Vulnerable “VU”, Endangered “EN” and Critically Endangered “CR”) using alpha and beta diversity metrics, comparative methods and a “hot node” approach. Phylogenetic diversity was significantly low for EN species and marginally significant for NT and CR, while LC and VU categories showed random pattern. Phylogenetic beta diversity (PBD) between IUCN categories was intermediate (0.40 – 0.61) and predominantly due to the “true” turnover component of PBD. Phylogenetic turnover was significantly low between NT – VU and VU – EN, suggesting that closely related species tend to show different threat status. In contrast, the comparisons involving the CR category sit toward the higher tail of the distribution, indicating a somewhat higher degree of clade specificity for CR species. In line with these patterns, phylogenetic signal in extinction risk was rather low (lambda = 0.23). Several of the “hot” clades that accumulated a significantly high number of species with the same threat status were specific to certain IUCN categories, yet few of them were observed across the categories. Most notably, the Caryophyllales stood out as the main threat-accumulating lineage, particularly within the Plumbaginaceae. All in all, our results indicate that few phylogenetic clades concentrate a great fraction of the extinction-risk gradient in the endemic flora of the western Mediterranean, and monitoring programs should pay particular attention to these extinction-prone lineages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:09:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9130b1e2ff0148e5a14094b36726fd6b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-701X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T10:09:26Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj.art-9130b1e2ff0148e5a14094b36726fd6b2022-12-21T21:53:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2020-10-01810.3389/fevo.2020.571587571587Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation ActionsRafael Molina-Venegas0Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez1Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez2Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz3Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz4GLOCEE – Global Change Ecology and Evolution Group, Department of Life Sciences, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, SpainDepartment of Biology (Botany), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, SpainResearch Center on Biodiversity and Global Change (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, SpainDepartment of Biology (Botany), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, SpainResearch Center on Biodiversity and Global Change (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, SpainClimate change is a major driver of biodiversity decline with pervasive effects in biodiversity hotspots, where many endemic and threatened species thrive. However, the biological drivers of extinction susceptibility remain largely elusive, which hampers the implementation of effective conservation policies. Here, we advocate for the use of phylogenies as a complementary tool to inform policy makers. If we assume that the traits that determine extinction susceptibility are somewhat evolutionarily conserved, identifying the clades that accumulate a disproportionate amount of threatened species may help to mitigate potential increases in extinction risk among currently unthreatened species in these clades, even if the underlying biological drivers are unknown. We focused on the complete endemic angiosperm flora of a Mediterranean hotpot (Iberian Peninsula) to examine phylogenetic patterns in extinction risk expressed as IUCN categories (Least Concern “LC”, Near Threatened “NT”, Vulnerable “VU”, Endangered “EN” and Critically Endangered “CR”) using alpha and beta diversity metrics, comparative methods and a “hot node” approach. Phylogenetic diversity was significantly low for EN species and marginally significant for NT and CR, while LC and VU categories showed random pattern. Phylogenetic beta diversity (PBD) between IUCN categories was intermediate (0.40 – 0.61) and predominantly due to the “true” turnover component of PBD. Phylogenetic turnover was significantly low between NT – VU and VU – EN, suggesting that closely related species tend to show different threat status. In contrast, the comparisons involving the CR category sit toward the higher tail of the distribution, indicating a somewhat higher degree of clade specificity for CR species. In line with these patterns, phylogenetic signal in extinction risk was rather low (lambda = 0.23). Several of the “hot” clades that accumulated a significantly high number of species with the same threat status were specific to certain IUCN categories, yet few of them were observed across the categories. Most notably, the Caryophyllales stood out as the main threat-accumulating lineage, particularly within the Plumbaginaceae. All in all, our results indicate that few phylogenetic clades concentrate a great fraction of the extinction-risk gradient in the endemic flora of the western Mediterranean, and monitoring programs should pay particular attention to these extinction-prone lineages.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.571587/fullIUCN categoriesphylogenetic alpha diversityphylogenetic beta diversityphylogenetic signalhot nodesIberian Peninsula |
| spellingShingle | Rafael Molina-Venegas Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Ignacio Ramos-Gutiérrez Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz Juan Carlos Moreno-Saiz Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution IUCN categories phylogenetic alpha diversity phylogenetic beta diversity phylogenetic signal hot nodes Iberian Peninsula |
| title | Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions |
| title_full | Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions |
| title_fullStr | Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions |
| title_short | Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Endemic Flora of a Mediterranean Hotspot as a Guiding Tool for Preemptive Conservation Actions |
| title_sort | phylogenetic patterns of extinction risk in the endemic flora of a mediterranean hotspot as a guiding tool for preemptive conservation actions |
| topic | IUCN categories phylogenetic alpha diversity phylogenetic beta diversity phylogenetic signal hot nodes Iberian Peninsula |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2020.571587/full |
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