Does phylogenetic diversity offer benefits to people?

在2012年《自然》杂志的一篇备受瞩目的综述中，将系统发育学纳入生物多样性和保护领域被列为四大重要“新兴趋势”之一。自2007年以来，我的长期目标是(i)开发和使用新的方法来研究我们如何使用系统发育学来更有效地确定特定种群、物种或区域的保护活动，以及（ii）应用该方法来记录和预测生物多样性的变化。我们对第一个“如何”的问题做出了重大贡献，并且我们已经进行了几项研究，探索“在哪里和什么”的问题，这些问题直接指向人为变化对生命之树的影响。然而，我们在一定程度上受到其他人的有力论点的推动，他们认为系统发育实际上是值得关注的保护焦点。这个发现基金周期的短期目标是退后一步，问“为什么”这个问题：我提出了一系列比较测试，以帮助回答“系统发育多样性（PD）给人类带来了什么好处？”这个基本问题。以hqp为重点的拟议项目将要求(i)如何将区域和地方PD联系起来（根据预期和调查数据）；（ii）本地PD如何随时间变化（结合BioTIME数据系列与大型脊椎动物和植物系统发育）；（iii）自然系统中局部PD是否与植物生态系统功能相关（使用HerbDivNet数据，与L. Fraser和J. Pither合作）；（iv） PD是否预测了更多过去人类对植物的利用（将SESYNC工作组的数据与植物系统发育相结合）；(v)中性和假定的适应性遗传变异如何在种群中共同变化（使用来自莺和大西洋鲑鱼的基因组数据）。

Integrating phylogenies into the fields of biodiversity and conservation was listed as one of four important "emerging trends" in a high-profile review in Nature in 2012. The long-term objective of my Discovery-funded research program since 2007 has been to (i) develop and use novel methods to investigate how we can use phylogenies to more efficiently prioritize particular populations, species or areas for conservation activity, and (ii) to apply the approach to document and predict biodiversity change. We have made significant contributions to this first "how" question, and we have undertaken several studies exploring the "where and what" questions directed at the effects of anthropogenic change on the Tree of Life. However, we have been carried along partly by the strength of arguments by others that the phylogeny is in fact a worthy focus of conservation attention. The short-term objective of this Discovery Grant cycle is to take a step back to ask the "why" question: I propose a series of comparative tests to help answer the basic question "What benefits does phylogenetic diversity (PD) offer to people?" The proposed HQP-focussed projects will ask (i) how regional and local PD are linked (in expectation and with survey data); (ii) how local PD has changed through time (combining BioTIME data series with large-scale vertebrate and plant phylogenies); (iii) whether local PD is associated with plant ecosystem function in natural systems (using HerbDivNet data with L. Fraser and J. Pither); (iv) whether PD predicts more past human uses of plants (combining data from a SESYNC working group with plant phylogenies); (v) how neutral and putative adaptive genetic variance co-vary across populations (using genomic data from warblers and Atlantic salmon).