Spatial mismatch and congruence between taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity: the need for integrative conservation strategies in a changing world

Abstract

Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 1030–1040 Abstract Functional and phylogenetic diversity are increasingly quantified in various fields of ecology and conservation biology. The need to maintain diversity turnover among sites, so‐called beta‐diversity, has also been raised in theoretical and applied ecology. In this study, we propose the first comprehensive framework for the large‐scale mapping of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity and of their respective turnover. Using high‐resolution data on the spatial distribution and abundance of birds at a country scale, we disentangled areas of mismatches and congruencies between biodiversity components. We further revealed unequal representation of each component in protected areas: functional diversity was significantly under‐represented whereas taxonomic diversity was significantly over‐represented in protected areas. Our results challenge the use of any one diversity component as a surrogate for other components and stress the need to adopt an integrative approach to biodiversity conservation.

Bibliographic Information