title: Phylogenetic diversity meets conservation policy: small areas are key to preserving eucalypt lineages.
abstract: Evolutionary and genetic knowledge is increasingly being valued in conservation theory, but is rarely considered in conservation planning and policy. Here, we integrate phylogenetic diversity (PD) with spatial reserve prioritization to evaluate how well the existing reserve system in Victoria, Australia captures the evolutionary lineages of eucalypts, which dominate forest canopies across the state. Forty-three per cent of remaining native woody vegetation in Victoria is located in protected areas (mostly national parks) representing 48% of the extant PD found in the state. A modest expansion in protected areas of 5% (less than 1% of the state area) would increase protected PD by 33% over current levels. In a recent policy change, portions of the national parks were opened for development. These tourism development zones hold over half the PD found in national parks with some species and clades falling entirely outside of protected zones within the national parks. This approach of using PD in spatial prioritization could be extended to any clade or area that has spatial and phylogenetic data. Our results demonstrate the relevance of PD to regional conservation policy by highlighting that small but strategically located areas disproportionally impact the preservation of evolutionary lineages.
authors.affiliation: School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia laurajs@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Laura J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Pollock
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Dan F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Rosauer
authors.affiliation: Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia Australian National Herbarium, CSIRO, Plant Industry, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Thornhill
authors.affiliation: School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Heini
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kujala
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Crisp
authors.affiliation: Australian National Herbarium, CSIRO, Plant Industry, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D005052:Eucalyptus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D011640:Public Policy; D013045:Species Specificity; D014739:Victoria
keywords: Australia; Eucalyptus; phylogenetic diversity; reserve selection; spatial prioritization; species distribution modelling