Phylogeny and Conservation

Considers how phylogeny can help understand the processes that have generated today's diversity and the processes that now threaten it.

Andrew Purvis (Edited by), John L. Gittleman (Edited by), Thomas Brooks (Edited by)

9780521532006, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 September 2005

448 pages, 33 b/w illus. 2 colour illus. 30 tables
23 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.716 kg

'… a judicious volume that combines the original work and reviews of a wide range of experts into four main sections, within and across which chapters are well edited to interconnect, with cohesively styled and clear graphics. …This book is an excellent example of how diligent editors can pull together a controversial part of a field, particularly if backed by institutions with sufficient clout and resources to attract top participants. With its timely contributions, this volume will be valuable as supplementary reading for any course in conservation genetics, and will be particularly useful to advanced graduate students.' Oryx

Phylogeny is a potentially powerful tool for conserving biodiversity. This book explores how it can be used to tackle questions of great practical importance and urgency for conservation. Using case studies from many different taxa and regions of the world, the volume evaluates how useful phylogeny is in understanding the processes that have generated today's diversity and the processes that now threaten it. The novelty of many of the applications, the increasing ease with which phylogenies can be generated, the urgency with which conservation decisions have to be made and the need to make decisions that are as good as possible together make this volume a timely and important synthesis which will be of great value to researchers, practitioners and policy-makers alike.

1. Phylogeny and conservation Andy Purvis, John L. Gittleman and Thomas M. Brooks
Part I. Units and Currencies: 2. Molecular phylogenetics for conservation biology Elizabeth A. Sinclair, Marcos Pérez-Losada and Keith A. Crandall
3. Species: demarcation and diversity Paul-Michael Agapow, 4. Phylogenetic units and currencies above and below the species level John C. Avise
5. Integrating phylogenetic diversity in the selection of priority areas for conservation: does it make a difference? Ana S. L. Rodrigues, Thomas M. Brooks and Kevin J. Gaston
6. Evolutionary heritage as a metric for conservation Arne Ø. Mooers, Stephen B. Heard and E. Chrostowski
Part II. Inferring Evolutionary Processes: 7. Age and area revisited: identifying global patterns and implications for conservation Kate E. Jones, Wes Sechrest and John L. Gittleman
8. Putting process on the map: why ecotones are important for preserving biodiversity Thomas B. Smith, Sassan Saatchi, Catherine Graham, Hans Slabbekoorn and Greg Spicer
9. The oldest rainforests in Africa: stability or resilience for survival and diversity? Jon C. Lovett, Rob Marchant, James Taplin and Wolfgang Küper
10. Late Tertiary and Quaternary climate change and centres of endemism in the southern African flora Guy F. Midgley, Gail Reeves and C. Klak
11. Historical biogeography, diversity and conservation of Australia's tropical rainforest herpetofauna Craig Moritz, Conrad Hoskin, Catherine H. Graham, Andrew Hugall and Adnan Moussalli
Part III. Effects of Human Processes: 12. Conservation status and geographic distribution of avian evolutionary history Thomas M. Brooks, J. D. Pilgrim, Ana S. L. Rodrigues and Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca
13. Correlates of extinction risk: phylogeny, biology, threat and scale Andy Purvis, Marcel Cardillo, Richard Grenyer and Ben Collen
14. Mechanisms of extinction in birds: phylogeny, ecology and threats Peter M. Bennett, Ian P. F. Owens, Daniel Nussey, Stephen T. Garnett and Gabriel M. Crowley
15. Primate diversity patterns and their conservation in Amazonia José M. Cardoso da Silva, Anthony B. Rylands, José S. Silva Júnior, Claude Gascon and Gustavo A. B. da Fonseca
16. Predicting which species will become invasive: what's taxonomy got to do with it? Julie Lockwood
Part IV. Prognosis: 17. Phylogenetic futures after the latest mass extinction Sean Nee
18. Predicting future speciation Timothy G. Barraclough and T. Jonathan Davies.

Subject Areas: Conservation of the environment [RNK], Genetics [non-medical PSAK], Ecological science, the Biosphere [PSAF]