Applying evolutionary theory to biodiversity studies

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We would like to offer theoretical underpining and practical guidance for how we might best preserve evolutionary history in the face of imminent extinction. Every time a species goes extinct, the interacting complex of genes that it embodies dies with it. Some species have many close relatives, and so there is a lot of redundancy in this history (think of different mice species), while others are isolated on the Tree of Life and so are the sole conveyers of this genetic information (the Walrus and mountain beavers are prime Canadian examples). We can think of these lonely species as being particularly 'distinctive' and distinctiveness as one of many ways to value the elements of biodiversity. The proposal sets out a series of questions that need to be answered: what are the most robust, flexible and straightforward ways to measure evolutionary distinctiveness? In what ways are distinctive species expected to be different, and in what ways are they different? Which species are the most distinctive in Canada? Finally, and importantly, how do Canadians currently give value to individual species? Answers to all these questions should help us appreciate and safeguard our biological heritage.