Mapping, explaining, and assessing the current and future protection of mammalian evolutionary diversity

该项目将合成两个独特的数据集，以量化所有陆地哺乳动物进化历史的分布。首先，范围分布图已经数字化到地理信息系统中，从而能够对不同地区的进化历史进行量化分析。其次，存在一个完整的物种水平进化树(“系统发育树”)，根据分子时钟和化石证据得出准确的分支长度。这两个数据集将被用来检验三个广泛的问题：1)物种数量和进化历史的分布在世界各地是否相似？2)基于物种统计的保护优先区域(例如热点或生态区)是否也保护大量的进化历史？3)进化历史高的地区是否也包含异常丰富的受威胁哺乳动物？这些问题对于理解4763种哺乳动物中近四分之一的物种目前面临灭绝的原因和地点至关重要。在过去的两个世纪里，人口增长、不可持续的资源利用和相关的环境变化加速了生物多样性的丧失。需要用有效的方法来衡量生物多样性，以便为保护工作奠定坚实的科学基础。一个成功和有影响力的战略是将地球划分为更高和更低保护关注度的地区。这些战略背后的动机是，物种数量将在目标地区得到更大的保护。这种方法可以通过使用进化树而不是物种数量本身来改进，就像这项研究将做的那样。因此，拟议的研究将把生态和进化的观点与保护政策结合起来，以帮助保护世界各地的生物多样性。

This project will synthesize two unique datasets to quantify the distribution of evolutionary history for all terrestrial mammals. First, range distribution maps have been digitized into Geographic Information Systems, permitting quantitative analysis of evolutionary history across different areas. Second, there exists a complete species-level evolutionary tree ("phylogeny"), with accurate branch lengths derived from molecular clocks and fossil evidence. These two datasets will be combined to examine three broad questions: 1) Do the distribution of species numbers and evolutionary history reside similarly around the world? 2) Do conservation priority areas based on species tallies (e.g. hotspots or ecoregions) also protect significant amounts of evolutionary history? 3) Do areas of high evolutionary history also contain unusual richness of threatened mammals? These questions are fundamental to understanding why and where almost a quarter of the 4763 mammal species are currently threatened with extinction. Human population growth, unsustainable resource use and associated environmental change have accelerated biodiversity losses over the last two centuries. Effective methods of measuring biodiversity are needed to develop a sound scientific basis for conservation. One successful and influential strategy has been to divide the planet into areas of higher and lower conservation concern. The motivation behind such strategies is that species numbers will be afforded greater protection in targeted regions. This approach can be improved by using evolutionary trees rather than species numbers per se, as will be done with this research. Thus, the proposed research will integrate ecological and evolutionary perspectives with conservation policy to help preserve biodiversity worldwide.