Biology subjects

Owen, N. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Owen, N. R..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

300 billion years of angiosperm evolution at risk of extinction

Extinction results in not only loss of species, but also loss of the unique evolutionary history that they represent and the irreplaceable features they exhibit. There is broad consensus regarding the necessity to optimise the preservation of the tree of life by including evolutionary information in conservation prioritisation, a notion also endorsed by major policy frameworks1-4. However, evolutionarily-informed prioritisations are lacking for most plants, resulting in a taxonomic imbalance in the evolutionary information incorporated in global biodiversity analyses, which has undermined conservation for decades. Here, we use comprehensive species-level phylogenetic trees, and extinction risk estimates, to generate the first global assessment of angiosperm evolutionary history at risk, and to identify phylogenetically-informed conservation priorities for the worlds flowering plants. We estimate that more than one fifth of angiosperm evolutionary history is at risk of extinction in the short term. Using the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered5,6 approach, we identify 9,945 threatened plant species that disproportionately account for total evolutionary history at risk. Species and area prioritisations incorporating evolutionary history are urgently needed to correct imbalances between plants and animals, monitor the effectiveness of conservation efforts, and optimise conservation resource allocation in the face of increasing human pressures on Earths biodiversity.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

EDGE2: advancing the prioritisation of threatened evolutionary history for conservation action

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 has, since 2007, been used to identify species for conservation action that embody large amounts of threatened evolutionary history. In 2017, we convened a workshop to update the EDGE metric to incorporate advances in the field of phylogenetically-informed conservation. Building on that workshop, we devised the metric EDGE2, which we present here. EDGE2 uses a modular, tiered approach to provide priority rankings--and associated measures of uncertainty in both phylogenetic and extinction risk data--for all species in a clade. EDGE2 takes into account the extinction risk of closely-related species to better reflect the contribution a species is expected to make to overall PD in the future. We applied EDGE2 to the worlds mammals to identify an updated list of priority EDGE species and compare the results with the original EDGE approach. Despite similarity in the priority lists produced between EDGE and EDGE2, EDGE2 places greater priority on species with fewer close relatives on the Tree of Life. As we approach a crossroads for global biodiversity policy, EDGE2 exemplifies how academic and applied conservation biologists can collaborate to guide effective priority-setting to conserve the most irreplaceable components of biodiversity upon which humanity depends.

zoology↗

bioRxiv2021

The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework must safeguard the Tree of Life

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 Diversitys Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents us with the opportunity to preserve Natures Contributions to People (NCPs) for current and future generations through conserving biodiversity and averting extinction across the Tree of Life. Here we call attention to our need to conserve the Tree of Life to maintain its benefits into the future as a key mechanism for achieving intergenerational equity. We highlight two indicators available for adoption in the post-2020 GBF to monitor our progress towards safeguarding the Tree of Life. The Phylogenetic Diversity indicator, adopted by IPBES, can be used to monitor biodiversitys capacity to maintain NCPs for future generations. The EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered) Index monitors how well we are performing at averting the greatest losses across the Tree of Life by conserving the most distinctive species. By committing to safeguarding the Tree of Life post-2020, we can reduce biodiversity loss to preserve natures contributions to humanity now and into the future.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2019

Global priorities for conservation of reptilian phylogenetic diversity in the face of human impacts

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 range size -- one metric valuing regions and another enabling species prioritisation. We evaluate these metrics for reptiles, which have been largely neglected in previous studies, and contrast these results with equivalent calculations for all terrestrial vertebrate groups. We find that high human impacted areas unfortunately coincide with the most valuable areas of reptilian diversity, more than expected by chance. We also find that, under our species-level metric, the highest priority reptile species score far above the top mammal and bird species, and they include a disproportionate number of species with insufficient information on potential threats. Such Data Deficient species are, in terms of our metric, comparable to Critically Endangered species and may require urgent conservation attention.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Tetrapods on the EDGE: Overcoming data limitations to identify phylogenetic conservation priorities

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. However, comprehensive phylogenetic analyses of large clades are extremely rare and, even when available, become quickly out-of-date due to the rapid rate of species descriptions and taxonomic revisions. Thus, it is important that conservationists can use the available data to incorporate evolutionary history into conservation prioritisation. We compared published and new methods to impute ED for species missing from a phylogeny whilst simultaneously correcting the ED scores of their close taxonomic relatives. We found that following artificial removal of species from a phylogeny, the new method provided the closest estimates of their \"true\" score, differing from the true ED score by an average of less than 1%, compared to the 31% and 38% difference of the previous imputation methods. Previous methods also substantially under- and over-estimated scores as more species were artificially removed from a phylogeny. We therefore used the new method to estimate ED scores for all tetrapods. From these scores we updated EDGE prioritisation rankings for all tetrapod species with IUCN Red List assessments, including the first EDGE prioritisation for reptiles. Further, we identified criteria to identify robust priority species in an effort to further inform conservation action whilst limiting uncertainty and anticipating future phylogenetic advances.

zoology↗