RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Combining taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity reveals new global priority areas for tetrapod conservation
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.07.01.450689
DO 10.1101/2021.07.01.450689
A1 Enrico Tordoni
A1 Aurèle Toussaint
A1 Meelis Pärtel
A1 David Nogues-Bravo
A1 Carlos Pérez Carmona
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/02/2021.07.01.450689.abstract
AB We are in the midst of a sixth mass extinction but little is known about the global patterns of biodiversity when accounting for taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional information. Here, we present the first integrated analysis of global variation in taxonomic, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity of more than 17,000 tetrapod species (terrestrial mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds). We used a new metric (z-Diversity) able to synthetize taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic information across different sets of species to provide a comprehensive estimation of biodiversity. Our analyses reveal that hotspots of tetrapod diversity are clustered in specific regions of the world such as central Africa and the Indian peninsula, and that climate stability and energy availability have an overarching importance in explaining tetrapod spatial patterns. Future research might take advantage of these methods to perform an informed prioritization of protected areas.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.