Effectiveness of protected areas for vertebrates based on taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity |
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| Authors: | Qing Quan Xianli Che Yongjie Wu Yuchun Wu Qiang Zhang Min Zhang Fasheng Zou |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Animal Conservation and Resource Utilization, Guangdong Public Laboratory of Wild Animal Conservation and Utilization, Guangdong Institute of Applied Biological Resources, Guangzhou 510260, China;2. Key Laboratory of Bio‐resources and Eco‐environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China;3. Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Establishing protected areas is the primary goal and tool for preventing irreversible biodiversity loss. However, the effectiveness of protected areas that target specific species has been questioned for some time because targeting key species for conservation may impair the integral regional pool of species diversity and phylogenetic and functional diversity are seldom considered. We assessed the efficacy of protected areas in China for the conservation of phylogenetic diversity based on the ranges and phylogenies of 2279 terrestrial vertebrates. Phylogenetic and taxonomic diversity were strongly and positively correlated, and only 12.1–43.8% of priority conservation areas are currently protected. However, the patterns and coverage of phylogenetic diversity were affected when weighted by species richness. These results indicated that in China, protected areas targeting high species richness protected phylogenetic diversity well overall but failed to do so in some regions with more unique or threatened communities (e.g., coastal areas of eastern China, where severely threatened avian communities were less protected). Our results suggest that the current distribution of protected areas could be improved, although most protected areas protect both taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity. |
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| Keywords: | conservation gaps conservation planning evolutionary distinctiveness hotspots species richness caracterí sticas evolutivas planeació n de la conservació n puntos calientes riqueza de especies vací os de conservació n 保 护 空 缺 保 护 规 划 多 样 性 热 点 物 种 多 样 性 进 化 独 特 性 |
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