| Abstract Detail
Symposia: Emerging Results from Studies of Gymnosperms on the Tree of Life II Baloch, Elisabeth [1], Brummitt, Neil A. [2], Bachman, Steve [3], Hollingsworth, Pete M. [4], Liston, Aaron [5], Little, Damon [6], Mathews, Sarah [7], Rai, Hardeep [7], Stevenson, Dennis Wm. [8], Thomas, Philip [9], Forest, Felix L. [1]. Identifying the evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered species of Gymnosperms: the EDGE-Gymnosperm project. Evolutionarily distinct species have very few or no close relatives on the Tree of Life, and therefore tend to be extremely distinct from other species. A high proportion of globally endangered species are also evolutionarily distinct. The EDGE of Existence programme (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered), initiated by the Zoological Society of London and launched in 2007, offers a new approach to prioritising species conservation action, and is the sole global conservation initiative to focus specifically on threatened species that represent a disproportionate amount of unique evolutionary history. EDGE scores can be calculated for any clade of more than 100 species, providing that a dated species-level phylogeny exists for the group, and that each species has been assessed using the IUCN Categories and Criteria. Extant Gymnosperms fulfil both these requirements, and are therefore a prime candidate plant group to be incorporated into the EDGE of Existence programme, thus becoming the first plant group to be included in the EDGE project. We reconstructed a phylogenetic tree of extant Gymnosperms based on the plastid gene rbcL and obtained molecular time estimates using nine calibration points from the fossil record. Because extant Gymnosperms are potentially not monophyletic, we compiled EDGE scores for each of the five groups within extant Gymnosperms (Pinaceae, Cupressophytes, Gnetophytes, Cycads and Ginkgo). We present here the top EDGE species for each group and discuss the implications of this metric for the conservation of these evolutionarily isolated and threatened species. Broader Impacts:
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EDGE - Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered
1 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Jodrell Laboratory, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3DS, UK
2 - Natural History Museum, Department of Botany, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
3 - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Herbarium, Library, Art & Archives, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK
4 - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburg, EH3 5LR, UK
5 - Oregon State University, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, 2082 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA
6 - The New York Botanical Garden, Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Program for Molecular Systematic Studies, 200th St. & Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York, 10458-5126, USA
7 - Harvard University, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
8 - The New York Botanical Garden, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Blvd., Bronx, NY, 10458-5126
9 - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20 A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH3 5LR, UK
Keywords:
gymnosperms
EDGE
evolutionarily distinct
globally endangered
IUCN
rbcL.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY1
Location: Ballroom C/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: SY1002
Abstract ID:319 |
