Theodosius Dobzhansky - "Nothing in biology makes sense except from an evolutionary point of view." The "tree of life" is a metaphor used to describe what all life on earth shares and a unique evolutionary history, with branches representing evolutionary time. Longer branches des

Theodosius Dobzhansky - "Nothing in biology makes sense except from an evolutionary point of view."

The "Tree of Life" is a metaphor used to describe all things on Earth A shared and unique evolutionary history of life, with branches representing evolutionary time. Longer branches describe a longer period of time and therefore have more opportunities for new traits and characteristics to evolve. Branch length therefore provides a proxy for measuring this diversity, which forms the basis of a measure known as phylogenetic diversity (PD). For example, 84 mammal species have become extinct since 1500 (IUCN, 2020), resulting in a loss of phylogenetic diversity of 250 million years, which is 0.7% of the tree of life. If all 1,244 threatened mammal species disappeared, this number would increase to 4.5 billion years (11.9%). More unique species, with longer branches on the tree, have a greater chance of losing phylogenetic diversity, so not all extinctions are created equal.

The longer the branches of the phylogenetic tree, the longer it takes to produce unique traits. By ensuring the survival of the most evolutionarily characterized and globally endangered species, we can minimize the loss of phylogenetic diversity. Recent research shows that even if the number of extinctions is the same, if we protect these "highly endangered" species relative to a random selection of threatened mammals, we can protect 110% more mammalian diversity. Since 1993, approximately 26 million years of mammalian phylogenetic diversity in 13 species and 120 million years of avian phylogenetic diversity in 26 species have been saved through conservation actions. These concepts form the basis of the Global Endangered Species Institute's approach to bringing the most evolutionarily unique and threatened species back from the brink of extinction.

By elucidating the phylogenetic relationships between species, we can provide a historical context for how their unique adaptations evolved from a common ancestor and thereby estimate how much evolutionary novelty each species represents. This is critical for deciding where to prioritize limited resources in conservation efforts and for designing effective solutions to the problems facing our planet. For example, insights into past evolutionary responses of different species to climate change, habitat loss, invasive species, and other human activities can help us predict how these species will adapt to future changes. Determining the mechanisms and rates of current change can improve mitigation strategies and support decisions to implement policies needed to protect rare and endangered species.

Protecting biodiversity also protects productivity and provides nature’s benefits to humans. Recent research suggests that maximizing the amount of evolutionary history preserved can improve human well-being by accessing greater benefits, such as material resources, food, fuel, and medicines. By understanding more fully how biodiversity benefits humans and implementing evolution-based conservation approaches, we can prevent the loss of unknown benefits through species extinction and enable natural resources to be used more efficiently.

asked some Global Endangered Species Institute researchers why they think evolutionary history is important for conservation, and here’s what they had to say:

Rajkumar – Frog – 2019-2021

“Studying evolution is important for better understanding The species is very important and will help inform future conservation action plans. Since the Milky Way frogs are only found in four subpopulations in southern India, I wanted to know more about their past," said researcher Rajkumar. Galaxy frog found in the high western mountains of India.

Ayush Thor – Giant Soft Shell Turtle – 19-2021

“I think it’s easier for environmentalists to decide what to save and what not to save. This is important because at this point you can’t save everything. So, I think it is crucial to understand the evolutionary history of the animal or plant we plan to protect before embarking on a conservation project and to understand what impact it will have on the planet."

Luan Luan - Botsford's Leaf Frog - 2018-2020

" When we examine data about a species in museum collections, we only know very simple information, which sometimes leads us to misunderstand the species.We learn more about them when you study evolutionary history and the combination of genetic data and ecology and other methods. It supports you for better conservation management. "

Marina - Four EDGE Frogs - 2020-2022

"Human activity and climate change can affect species fitness, so to ensure we are protecting all frog populations, because we cannot protect all species, it is important To understand how species evolve over time and how species adapt to this change in their environment. This is also very important for policy and decision-making. "