Loss of phylogenetic diversity under landscape change

Science of the Total Environment
By: , and 

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Abstract

Habitat alteration and destruction are primary drivers of biodiversity loss. However, the evolutionary dimensions of biodiversity loss remain largely unexplored in many systems. For example, little is known about how habitat alteration/loss can lead to phylogenetic deconstruction of ecological assemblages at the local level. That is, while species loss is evident, are some lineages favored over others? Using a long-term dataset of a globally, ecologically important guild of invertebrate consumers, stream leaf “shredders,” we created a phylogenetic tree of the taxa in the regional species pool, calculated mean phylogenetic distinctiveness for >1000 communities spanning >10 year period, and related species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and distinctiveness to watershed-scale impervious cover. Using a combination of changepoint and compositional analyses, we learned that increasing impervious cover produced marked reductions in all three measures of diversity. These results aid in understanding both phylogenetic diversity and mean assemblage phylogenetic distinctiveness. Our findings indicate that, not only are species lost when there is an increase in watershed urbanization, as other studies have demonstrated, but that those lost are members of more distinct lineages relative to the community as a whole.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Loss of phylogenetic diversity under landscape change
Series title Science of the Total Environment
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153595
Volume 822
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center
Description 153595, 8 p.
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