EDGE Angiosperms: integrating phylogenetics and extinction risk data for conservation prioritisation in flowering plants

Extinction results not only in species loss, but also in loss of the unique evolutionary history that these species represent, including the irreplaceable features they may exhibit. Not all species are equal in evolutionary terms; an isolated species on the tree of life represent more unique evolutionary history than a recently evolved species with several close relatives. Species extinction also reduces evolutionary potential, the ability of a group of organisms to survive and adapt to future environmental changes.

There are around 350,000 species of vascular plants, many of which are dominant ecosystem components and vital for the survival of countless other species. With 40% of plants estimated to be at risk of extinction, obtaining an overview of which ones are these and which threats they face is central to protecting not only these species, but entire ecosystems.

Which species and areas should be prioritised in conservation programmes is a recurrent question, but even more so in large groups of organisms where a sizeable proportion is threatened. There is generally a consensus regarding the need to optimise the preservation of the tree of life. Thus, metrics based on evolutionary history have been proposed as approaches of choice to implement prioritization in conservation.

Various methods based on the concept of phylogenetic diversity have been proposed. The Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) approach ranks species according to their evolutionary distinctiveness and the level of extinction risk they face. This approach was adopted by the Zoological Society of London and applied to several animal groups (www.edgeofexistence.org) but has not been as widely used in flowering plants.

This PhD project will contribute to an ongoing programme which main objective is to produce a global priority conservation list for flowering plants based on their evolutionary distinctiveness and global endangerment and determine where these species are found in the highest concentrations. The project involves the compilation of a synthetic phylogenetic tree for all angiosperm species and an estimate of the extinction risk faced by each species, based directly or indirectly on conservation assessments. The development of a semi-automated pipeline will allow a regular re-calculation of these evolutionary metrics and provide objective means of monitoring the effectiveness of conservation efforts. The project will require the development of several novel approaches and methodologies to handle the large amount of data involved. It will also offer an internship with our partner On The Edge Conservation on various activities around their work supporting conservation and policy. The student will be encouraged to develop their project in the direction that best suits their personal interests, including phylogenetics, large scale data mining, spatial analysis, and machine learning, but will most likely comprise a combination of the above.