Abstract
Intraspecific diversity is fundamental for species' adaptation to environmental changes, and should hence be a main target for biodiversity conservation. However, attempts to identify priority conservation areas for intraspecific diversity remain scarce. Here, we used molecular data on six freshwater fish species sampled at a large spatial scale, to determine hot- and cold-spots of genetic diversity, and to identify priority conservation areas using a systematic conservation planning approach. We demonstrate that the systematic conservation planning is an efficient and relevant approach for preserving intraspecific diversity, although we identify weak congruencies and surrogacies among conservation solutions found for each species. These weak congruencies are due to among-species variation in the spatial distribution of hot-spots of genetic diversity. We finally provide operational guidelines to efficiently use systematic conservation planning methods with intraspecific genetic diversity data, and to identify priority conservation areas for intraspecific diversity.
Footnotes
Co-author’s e-mails: Simon Blanchet: simon.blanchet{at}sete.cnrs.fr, Virgilio Hermoso: virgilio.hermoso{at}gmail.com, Charlotte Veyssière: veyssiere.charlotte{at}gmail.com, Nicolas Poulet: nicolas.poulet{at}onema.fr, Gaël Grenouillet: gael.grenouillet{at}univ-tlse3.fr, Géraldine Loot: geraldine.loot{at}univ-tlse3.fr