Rikki Gumbs

Zoological Society of London

Phylogenetic diversity (PD)—the evolutionary history of a set of species—is conceptually linked to the maintenance of yet-to-be-discovered benefits from biodiversity or “option value.” We used global phylogenetic and utilization data for birds to test the PD option value link, under the assumption that the performance of sets of PD-maximizing speci...

The biodiversity crisis is set to prune the Tree of Life in a way that threatens billions of years of evolutionary history. To secure this evolutionary heritage along with the benefits it provides to humanity, there is a need to understand where in space the greatest losses are predicted to occur. We therefore present threatened evolutionary histor...

In the midst of the sixth mass extinction, limited resources are forcing conservationists to prioritize which species and places will receive conservation action. Evolutionary distinctiveness measures the isolation of a species on its phylogenetic tree. Combining a species’ evolutionary distinctiveness with its extinction risk creates a measure cal...

Following our failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents us with the opportunity to preserve Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) for current and future generations throug...

Human-driven extinction threatens entire lineages across the Tree of Life. Here we assess the conservation status of jawed vertebrate evolutionary history, using three policy-relevant approaches. First, we calculate an index of threat to overall evolutionary history, showing that we expect to lose 86-150 billion years (11-19%) of jawed vertebrate e...

Genetic diversity (GD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) respectively represent species' evolutionary potential and history, and support most of the biodiversity benefits to humanity. Yet, these two biodiversity facets have been overlooked in previous biodiversity policies. As the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted the Ku...

The conservation of evolutionary history has been linked to increased benefits for humanity and can be captured by phylogenetic diversity (PD). The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric has, since 2007, been used to prioritise threatened species for practical conservation that embody large amounts of evolutionary history. Wh...

Genetic diversity (GD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) respectively represent species' evolutionary potential and history, and support most of the biodiversity benefits to humanity. Yet, these two biodiversity facets have been overlooked in previous biodiversity policies. As the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity plan to meet in Dece...

Over half of all crocodylians are threatened with extinction, with many species considered to be functionally extinct throughout their historical ranges. How such losses impact crocodylian functional diversity (FD) and its conservation is poorly understood, but can be investigated using measurable traits. Where such information is unavailable, phyl...

A bstract Phylogenetic metrics are essential tools in ecology, evolution and conservation, and Phylogenetic Diversity (PD) is one of the most prominent measures of biodiversity. PD is based on the idea that biological features accumulate along the branches of phylogenetic trees, and that these features are of biological importance. We argue that PD...

The global biodiversity crisis threatens the natural world and its capacity to provide benefits to humans into the future. The conservation of evolutionary history, captured by the measure phylogenetic diversity (PD), is linked to the maintenance of these benefits and future options. The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) metric...

Despite important implications for human health, distribution, abundance and behaviour of most medically relevant snakes remain poorly understood. Such data deficiencies hamper efforts to characterise the causal pathways of snakebite envenoming and to prioritise management options in the areas at greatest risk. We estimated the spatial patterns of...

Deciphering global trends in phylogenetic endemism is crucial for understanding broad-scale evolutionary patterns and the conservation of key elements of biodiversity. However, knowledge to date on global phylogenetic endemism and its determinants has been lacking. Here, we conduct the first global analysis of phylogenetic endemism patterns of land...

Following our failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity's Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents us with the opportunity to preserve Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) for current and future generations through conse...

Phylogenetic Diversity (PD) is increasingly recognised as a useful tool for prioritising species and regions for conservation effort. Increased availability of spatial and phylogenetic data for reptiles now facilitates their inclusion in phylogenetically-informed conservation prioritisation efforts. Geckos are a highly divergent and diverse clade t...

Phylogenetic diversity measures are increasingly used in conservation planning to represent aspects of biodiversity beyond that captured by species richness. Here we develop two new metrics that combine phylogenetic diversity and the extent of human pressure across the spatial distribution of species-one metric valuing regions and another prioritis...

In Nepal, gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) currently occur in the Narayani and Rapti Rivers in Chitwan National Park (CNP) and the Karnali and Babai Rivers in Bardia National Park (BNP). Nesting is known to occur in the Naryani-Rapti River system, but there is no current confirmed evidence of gharials nesting in the Karnali and Babai Rivers. Herein,...

Phylogenetic Diversity (PD) is increasingly recognised as an important measure that can provide information on evolutionary and functional aspects of biodiversity for conservation planning that are not readily captured by species diversity. Here we develop and analyse two new metrics that combine the effects of PD and human encroachment on species...

The scale of the ongoing biodiversity crisis requires both effective conservation prioritisation and urgent action. As extinction is non-random across the tree of life, it is important to prioritise threatened species which represent large amounts of evolutionary history. The EDGE metric prioritises species based on their Evolutionary Distinctivene...

ED and EDGE scores. The ED and EDGE scores for all amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles, and the robust priority species from each group. (XLSX)

Examination of robust species assumption. (DOCX)

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Red List) details the extinction risk of the world's species and presents an important biodiversity indicator for conservation policy. Its continued utility relies on it containing up-to-date information on the extinction risk of species. This requires both regular reassessments and the timely assessment of...

The scale of the ongoing biodiversity crisis requires both effective conservation prioritisation and urgent action. The EDGE metric, which prioritises species based on their Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) and Global Endangerment (GE), relies on adequate phylogenetic and extinction risk data to generate meaningful priorities for conservation. How...