title: Global distribution and conservation of evolutionary distinctness in birds.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Integrated, efficient, and global prioritization approaches are necessary to manage the ongoing loss of species and their associated function. "Evolutionary distinctness" measures a species' contribution to the total evolutionary history of its clade and is expected to capture uniquely divergent genomes and functions. Here we demonstrate how such a metric identifies species and regions of particular value for safeguarding evolutionary diversity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the world's 9,993 recognized bird species, evolutionary distinctness is very heterogeneously distributed on the phylogenetic tree and varies little with range size or threat level. Species representing the most evolutionary history over the smallest area (those with greatest "evolutionary distinctness rarity") as well as some of the most imperiled distinct species are often concentrated outside the species-rich regions and countries, suggesting they may not be well captured by current conservation planning. We perform global cross-species and spatial analyses and generate minimum conservation sets to assess the benefits of the presented species-level metrics. We find that prioritizing imperiled species by their evolutionary distinctness and geographic rarity is a surprisingly effective and spatially economical way to maintain the total evolutionary information encompassing the world's birds. We identify potential conservation gaps in relation to the existing reserve network that in particular highlight islands as effective priority areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presented distinctness metrics are effective yet easily communicable and versatile tools to assist objective global conservation decision making. Given that most species will remain ecologically understudied, combining growing phylogenetic and spatial data may be an efficient way to retain vital aspects of biodiversity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8106, USA; Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK. Electronic address: walter.jetz@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jetz
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
authors.forename: Gavin H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, 165 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8106, USA; Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada; BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
authors.forename: Jeffrey B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Joy
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
authors.forename: David W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Redding
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 49, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada. Electronic address: amooers@sfu.ca.
authors.forename: Arne O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Mooers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000235:genetics*; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D005843:Geography; D010802:Phylogeny; D060047:Reproductive Isolation