Barnabas Daru

All Publications

• Herbaria unlock tripartite pollination responses to anthropogenic change. Trends in ecology & evolution Puleo, L. H., Fukami, T., Daru, B. H. 2026

  Abstract

  Pollination involves plants, pollinators, and microorganisms, challenging the traditional bipartite understanding. Floral nectar is the primary medium where tripartite plant-pollinator-microbe interactions occur. These interactions face anthropogenic disruptions temporally, geographically, and across diverse taxa. Herbarium specimens can provide untapped historical records to understand their long-term response to anthropogenic change.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2026.05.012

  View details for PubMedID 42315377

• Climate and regional plant richness drive diet specialization in butterfly caterpillars. Nature communications Gross, C. P., Kawahara, A. Y., Daru, B. H. 2026

  Abstract

  Studies of coevolution, ecosystem processes, and latitudinal diversity gradients are improved by understanding variation in resource specialization. Insect herbivory is one of the most ubiquitous terrestrial ecological associations, and is important for understanding the evolution of both plants and insects, yet the processes underlying global variation in diet breadth remain poorly understood. Here, we use global datasets of butterfly and plant distributions to investigate the patterns and drivers of butterfly larval diet breadth. Diet breadth showed a negative relationship with plant family richness, but this was offset by a direct effect of temperature acting in the opposite direction. Islands generally harbor species with broader diets, but islands with higher endemism had narrower diets than average. Our study provides a global baseline for understanding how plant and herbivore interactions structure ecological communities in the face of global environmental changes.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-026-73236-4

  View details for PubMedID 42225649

• Biogeographic processes underlying global patterns of plant diversity. Science (New York, N.Y.) Daru, B. H., Nichodemus, C. O., Henao-Diaz, L. F. 2026; 392 (6800): 845-849

  Abstract

  The uneven global distribution of plant diversity remains a fundamental question in biogeography. Using dated phylogenies of >300,000 plant species and ancestral biogeographical stochastic mapping, we show that in situ speciation is the predominant process underlying extant plant diversity and accounts for 78% of biogeographic events across realms. The Neotropic contributed 37% of in situ speciation, likely owing to its role as a center of species diversification. Dispersal between realms was less frequent (16% of events) but facilitated floristic exchanges, especially in the Eastern Hemisphere. Extinction was least frequent but more pronounced in East Asia. These findings support the tropical conservatism hypothesis in which many clades originated in the tropics and only recently expanded into temperate zones, where limited time and biome conservatism have restricted speciation and diversity.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.adv6172

  View details for PubMedID 42166568

• Late Quaternary Climate-Driven Shifts in Arctic Plant Distributions JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY Markley, P. T., Daru, B. H. 2026; 53 (3)

  View details for DOI 10.1111/jbi.70198

  View details for Web of Science ID 001720380200001

• From data to decisions: Toward a Biodiversity Monitoring Standards Framework. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Gonzalez, A., August, T., Bailey, S., Bobiwash, K., Boersch-Supan, P. H., Burgess, N. D., Daru, B. H., Elphick, C. S., Freckleton, R. P., Frick, W. F., Hughes, A. C., Isaac, N. J., Jones, J. P., Lambertini, M., Mac Aodha, O., Madhavapeddy, A., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Purvis, A., Salafsky, N., Sutherland, W. J., Tanshi, I., Vijay, V., Woodard, S. H., Williams, D. R. 2026; 123 (10): e2519347123

  Abstract

  Achieving the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) requires monitoring systems that can transform heterogeneous observations into consistent, decision-relevant knowledge. Yet current biodiversity data are fragmented, uneven in quality, and seldom comparable across space or time. Existing standards such as Darwin Core, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) and Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) principles provide important foundations, but they do not connect the full chain from field observation to policy reporting. We introduce the Biodiversity Monitoring Standards Framework (BMSF)-a unifying architecture that links ethical principles, standardized data collection, accredited analytical workflows, and transparent reporting into a single auditable "chain of evidence." The framework's novelty lies in its tiered and federated design, enabling national agencies, Indigenous knowledge holders, local communities, and private-sector actors to operate under shared principles while maintaining data sovereignty. By integrating Essential Variables, accredited analytical methods, and open-source implementation pathways, the BMSF allows locally generated data to be aggregated into credible, comparable indicators aligned with GBF targets. Concrete application, such as a national forest-connectivity assessment, demonstrates how the BMSF improves reproducibility, transparency, and policy relevance relative to existing approaches. Implemented generally, this framework would convert fragmented monitoring efforts into a coordinated, scalable system capable of tracking and guiding collective progress toward halting and reversing biodiversity loss.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2519347123

  View details for PubMedID 41779789

• Nine changes needed to deliver a radical transformation in biodiversity measurement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Sutherland, W. J., Burgess, N. D., Edwards, S. V., Jones, J. P., Soltis, P. S., Tilman, D., Allen, J. M., Andrianandrasana, H. T., Armour, C. J., August, T., Bawa, K. S., Bailey, S., Birch, T., Boersch-Supan, P. H., Cavender-Bares, J., Blaxter, M., Chaplin-Kramer, R., Daru, B. H., De Palma, A., Eisenberg, C., Elphick, C. S., Freckleton, R. P., Frick, W. F., Gonzalez, A., Goetz, S. J., Greenspoon, L., Grozingeree, C. M., Hankins, D. L., Hazell, J., Isaac, N. J., Lambertini, M., Lewin, H. A., Mac Aodha, O., Madhavapeddy, A., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Milo, R., O'Dwyer, J., Purvis, A., Salafsky, N., Tallis, H., Tanshi, I., Vijay, V., Wikelski, M., Williams, D. R., Woodard, S. H., Robinson, G. E. 2026; 123 (10): e2519345123

  Abstract

  Biodiversity is declining in many parts of the world. Biological diversity measurement and monitoring are fundamental to the assessment of the causes and consequences of environmental changes, identification of key areas for the protection of biodiversity or ecosystem services, determining the effectiveness of actions, and the creation of decision-support tools critical to maintaining a sustainable planet. Biodiversity measurement is rapidly changing due to advances in citizen science, image recognition, acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA, genomics, remote sensing, and AI. In this perspective, we outline the exciting opportunities these developments offer but also consider the challenges. Our key recommendations are to 1) Capitalize on the ability of novel technology to integrate data sources 2) agree to standard methods for data collection 3) ensure new technologies are calibrated with existing data; 4) fill data gaps by using emerging technologies and increasing capacity, especially in the tropics; 5) create living safeguarded databases of trusted information to reduce the risk of poisoning by AI hallucinated, or false, information; 6) ensure data generation is valued; 7) ensure respectful incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge; 8) ensure measurements enable the quantification of effectiveness of actions, and 9) increase the resilience of global datasets to technical and societal change. Radical new collaborations are needed between computer scientists, engineers, molecular biologists, data scientists, field ecologists, citizen scientists, Indigenous peoples, policymakers, and local communities to create the rigorous, resilient, accessible biodiversity information systems required to underpin policies and practices that ensure the maintenance and restoration of ecological systems.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2519345123

  View details for PubMedID 41779788

• Understanding the biogeographic processes behind the accumulation of modern-day marine biodiversity. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology Kesler, J. I., Gross, C. P., Daru, B. H. 2026

  Abstract

  Marine biodiversity is nonrandomly distributed, with high species richness in the Central Indo-Pacific and lower richness elsewhere 1. Understanding the biogeographic processes underlying these uneven marine biodiversity patterns can enable the formulation of fundamental theories for how biodiversity accumulates over time and in space 2. Here, we conduct a global cross-taxon ancestral range reconstruction for 14,856 species representing four marine groups: cetaceans, seagrasses, reef-forming corals, and ray-finned fishes, to investigate the processes underlying the accumulation of extant biodiversity across marine biogeographic realms. In-situ speciation was the dominant biogeographic process across all groups, particularly in the tropics for cetaceans, seagrasses, and corals. These groups also showed high numbers of emigration events originating in the tropics, supporting the tropical niche conservatism hypothesis 3,4. Meanwhile ray-finned fishes exhibit the highest per-lineage rates of in-situ speciation and dispersal at high latitudes, reaffirming the expectation of elevated speciation in polar and temperate regions 5. In seagrasses, corals, and fishes, extinction was lowest in the tropics, especially in the Central Indo-Pacific, supporting the center of survival hypothesis in which the Central Indo-Pacific realm had the lowest rate of extinction across evolutionary time 6. Our study shows that the processes that led to the accumulation of extant marine biodiversity are complex, with remarkable variation across taxa, biogeographic realms, and across evolutionary time.

  View details for DOI 10.64898/2026.01.09.697399

  View details for PubMedID 41542656

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12803097

• The macroecology of spines on woody plants. Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Tomlinson, K. W., Yu, F., Wang, X., Yao, X., Yu, C. C., Charles-Dominique, T., Anest, A., Zhao, Y., Prasetyo Agung, A., Adi Putra, A., Lapuz, R. S., Lefebvre, T., Davies, T. J., Hempson, G. P., Bezeng, B. S., Daru, B. H., Kabongo, R. M., Maurin, O., Muasya, A. M., van der Bank, M., Bond, W. J., Armani, M., Gélin, U. 2025

  Abstract

  Spines are a major ecological innovation supporting plant defence and diversification. Spine anatomy is diverse, having arisen in multiple plant lineages from many different plant organs and parts, which may differ in relative advantages across environmental gradients. Systematic analyses of the correlates of spiny plant diversity are limited, but climate and soil properties may be important. We analysed spatial patterns of the proportional richness of spiny woody plant species (fraction of total woody species richness) and the proportional richness of species with particular spine types (fraction of richness of spiny plants) across three regions with high plant geolocational data density spanning three continents, China (Asia), South Africa (Africa), and Australia. Spiny plants accounted for 12% of woody species, but there are strong phylogenetic biases in the evolution of spiny lineages and lineages bearing different spine types. The proportion of spiny plants increased towards drier environments and higher soil clay contents, and decreased towards soils with greater total N. Species bearing different spine types appear to be distributed differently across climate and soil gradients, suggesting trade-offs across productivity gradients, specialization for climate space, and constraints on environmental adaptability. The spatial richness of spiny plants was positively correlated with estimated historical richness of large herbivorous mammals (body mass >20 kg, diet >90% plant material), and species bearing different spine types also mostly show positive relationships with mammal richness. Plants with spines appear to be advantaged over non-spiny species when exposed to high mammal browsing pressure in arid environments or over certain soil conditions, and species bearing different spine types are differentially advantaged across climate and soil gradients.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/brv.70051

  View details for PubMedID 40770834

• Tracking hidden dimensions of plant biogeography from herbaria. The New phytologist Daru, B. H. 2025

  Abstract

  Plants are diverse, but investigating their ecology and evolution in nature across geographic and temporal scales to predict how species will respond to global change is challenging. With their geographic and temporal breadth, herbarium data provide physical evidence of the existence of a species in a place and time. The remarkable size of herbarium collections along with growing digitization efforts around the world and the possibility of extracting functional traits and geographic data from preserved plant specimens makes them invaluable resources for advancing our understanding of changing species distributions over time, functional biogeography, and conserving plant communities. Here, I synthesize core aspects of plant biogeography that can be gleaned from herbaria along changing distributions, attributes (functional biogeography), and conservation biogeography across the globe. I advocate for a collaborative, multisite, and multispecies research to harness the full potential of these collections while addressing the inherent challenges of using herbarium data for biogeography and macroecological investigations. Ultimately, these data present untapped resources and opportunities to enable predictions of plant species' responses to global change and inform effective conservation planning.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.70002

  View details for PubMedID 39953672

• The changing biodiversity of the Arctic flora in the Anthropocene. American journal of botany Markley, P. T., Gross, C. P., Daru, B. H. 2025: e16466

  Abstract

  The plants of the circumpolar Arctic occupy a dynamic system that has been shaped by glacial cycles and climate change on evolutionary timescales. Yet rapid climatic change can compromise the floristic diversity of the tundra, and the ecological and evolutionary changes in the Arctic from anthropogenic forces remain understudied. In this review, we synthesize knowledge of Arctic floral biodiversity across the entirety of the region within the context of its climatic history. We present critical gaps and challenges in modeling and documenting the consequences of anthropogenic changes for Arctic flora, informed by data from the Late Quaternary (~20 ka). We found that previous forecasts of Arctic plant responses to climate change indicate widespread reductions in habitable area with increasing shrub growth and abundance as a function of annual temperature increase. Such shifts in the distribution and composition of extant Arctic flora will likely increase with global climate through changes to the carbon cycle, necessitating a unified global effort in conserving these plants. More data and research on the continuity of tundra communities are needed to firmly assess the risk climate change poses to the Arctic.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ajb2.16466

  View details for PubMedID 39887966

• A global biogeographic regionalization for butterflies. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences Gross, C. P., Wright, A. M., Daru, B. H. 2025; 380 (1917): 20230211

  Abstract

  The partitioning of global biodiversity into biogeographic regions is critical for understanding the impacts of global-scale ecological and evolutionary processes on species assemblages as well as prioritizing areas for conservation. However, the lack of globally comprehensive data on species distributions precludes fine-scale estimation of biogeographical regionalization for numerous taxa of ecological, economic and conservation interest. Using a recently published phylogeny and novel curated native range maps for over 10 000 species of butterflies around the world, we delineated biogeographic regions for the world's butterflies using phylogenetic dissimilarity. We uncovered 19 distinct phylogenetically delimited regions (phyloregions) nested within 6 realms. Regional boundaries were predicted by spatial turnover in modern-day temperature and precipitation seasonality, but historical climate change also left a pronounced fingerprint on deeper- (realm-) level boundaries. We use a culturally and ecologically important group of insects to expand our understanding of how historical and contemporary factors drive the distribution of organismal lineages on the Earth. As insects and global biodiversity more generally face unprecedented challenges from anthropogenic factors, our research provides the groundwork for prioritizing regions and taxa for conservation, especially with the goal of preserving the legacies of our biosphere's evolutionary history.This article is part of the discussion meeting issue 'Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future'.

  View details for DOI 10.1098/rstb.2023.0211

  View details for PubMedID 39780589

• A global database of butterfly species native distributions. Ecology Daru, B. H. 2024: e4462

  Abstract

  Butterflies represent a diverse group of insects, playing key ecosystem roles such as pollination and their larval form engage in herbivory. Despite their importance, comprehensive global distribution data for butterfly species are lacking. This lack of comprehensive global data has hindered many large-scale questions in ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation at the regional and global scales. Here, I use an integrative workflow that combines occurrence records, alpha hull polygons, species' dispersal capacity, and natural habitat and environmental variables within a framework of species distribution models to generate species-level native distributions for butterflies at a global scale in the contemporary period. The database releases native range maps for 10,372 extant species of butterflies at a spatial grain resolution of 5 arcmin (~10 km). This database has the potential to allow unprecedented large-scale analyses in ecology, biogeography, and conservation of butterflies. The maps are available in the WGS84 coordinate reference system (EPSG:4326 code) and stored as vector polygons in the GEOPACKAGE format for maximum compression, allowing easy data manipulation using a standard computer. I additionally provide each species' spatial raster. All maps and R scripts are open access and available for download in Dryad and Zenodo, respectively, and are guided by FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles. By making these data available to the scientific community, I aim to advance the sharing of biological data to stimulate more comprehensive research in ecology, biogeography, and conservation of butterflies.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ecy.4462

  View details for PubMedID 39584487

• Climate change alters the future of natural floristic regions of deep evolutionary origins. Nature communications Minev-Benzecry, S., Daru, B. H. 2024; 15 (1): 9474

  Abstract

  Biogeographic regions reflect the organization of biotas over long evolutionary timescales but face alterations from recent anthropogenic climate change. Here, we model species distributions for 189,269 vascular plant species of the world under present and future climates and use this data to generate biogeographic regions based on phylogenetic dissimilarity. Our analysis reveals declines in phylogenetic beta diversity for years 2040 to 2100, leading to a future homogenization of biogeographic regions. While some biogeographic boundaries will persist, climate change will alter boundaries separating biogeographic realms. Such boundary alterations will be determined by altitude variation, heterogeneity of temperature seasonality, and past climate velocity. Our findings suggest that human activities may now surpass the geological forces that shaped floristic regions over millions of years, calling for the mitigation of climate impacts to meet international biodiversity targets.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-53860-8

  View details for PubMedID 39488541

• Predicting undetected native vascular plant diversity at a global scale. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Daru, B. H. 2024; 121 (34): e2319989121

  Abstract

  Vascular plants are diverse and a major component of terrestrial ecosystems, yet their geographic distributions remain incomplete. Here, I present a global database of vascular plant distributions by integrating species distribution models calibrated to species' dispersal ability and natural habitats to predict native range maps for 201,681 vascular plant species into unsurveyed areas. Using these maps, I uncover unique patterns of native vascular plant diversity, endemism, and phylogenetic diversity revealing hotspots in underdocumented biodiversity-rich regions. These hotspots, based on detailed species-level maps, show a pronounced latitudinal gradient, strongly supporting the theory of increasing diversity toward the equator. I trained random forest models to extrapolate diversity patterns under unbiased global sampling and identify overlaps with modeled estimations but unveiled cryptic hotspots that were not captured by modeled estimations. Only 29% to 36% of extrapolated plant hotspots are inside protected areas, leaving more than 60% outside and vulnerable. However, the unprotected hotspots harbor species with unique attributes that make them good candidates for conservation prioritization.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2319989121

  View details for PubMedID 39133854

• Indicators to monitor the status of the tree of life. Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology Gumbs, R., Chaudhary, A., Daru, B. H., Faith, D. P., Forest, F., Gray, C. L., Kowalska, A., Lee, W. S., Pellens, R., Pipins, S., Pollock, L. J., Rosindell, J., Scherson, R. A., Owen, N. R. 2023: e14138

  Abstract

  Following the failure to fully achieve any of the 20 Aichi biodiversity targets, the future of biodiversity rests in the balance. The Convention on Biological Diversity's Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) presents the opportunity to preserve nature's contributions to people (NCPs) for current and future generations by conserving biodiversity and averting extinctions. There is a need to safeguard the tree of life-the unique and shared evolutionary history of life on Earth-to maintain the benefits it bestows into the future. Two indicators have been adopted within the GBF to monitor progress toward safeguarding the tree of life: the phylogenetic diversity (PD) indicator and the evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE) index. We applied both to the world's mammals, birds, and cycads to show their utility at the global and national scale. The PD indicator can be used to monitor the overall conservation status of large parts of the evolutionary tree of life, a measure of biodiversity's capacity to maintain NCPs for future generations. The EDGE index is used to monitor the performance of efforts to conserve the most distinctive species. The risk to PD of birds, cycads, and mammals increased, and mammals exhibited the greatest relative increase in threatened PD over time. These trends appeared robust to the choice of extinction risk weighting. EDGE species had predominantly worsening extinction risk. A greater proportion of EDGE mammals (12%) had increased extinction risk compared with threatened mammals in general (7%). By strengthening commitments to safeguarding the tree of life, biodiversity loss can be reduced and thus nature's capacity to provide benefits to humanity now and in the future can be preserved.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/cobi.14138

  View details for PubMedID 37377164

• Reorganization of seagrass communities in a changing climate. Nature plants Daru, B. H., Rock, B. M. 2023

  Abstract

  Although climate change projections indicate significant threats to terrestrial biodiversity, the effects are much more profound and striking in the marine environment. Here we explore how different facets of locally distinctive α- and β-diversity (changes in spatial composition) of seagrasses will respond to future climate change scenarios across the globe and compare their coverage with the existing network of marine protected areas. By using species distribution modelling and a dated phylogeny, we predict widespread reductions in species' range sizes that will result in increases in seagrass weighted and phylogenetic endemism. These projected increases of endemism will result in divergent shifts in the spatial composition of β-diversity leading to differentiation in some areas and the homogenization of seagrass communities in other regions. Regardless of the climate scenario, the potential hotspots of these projected shifts in seagrass α- and β-diversity are predicted to occur outside the current network of marine protected areas, providing new priority areas for future conservation planning that incorporate seagrasses. Our findings report responses of species to future climate for a group that is currently under represented in climate change assessments yet crucial in maintaining marine food chains and providing habitat for a wide range of marine biodiversity.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41477-023-01445-6

  View details for PubMedID 37336970

  View details for PubMedCentralID 6691109

• Specimens trump field observations in capturing biodiversity trends NATURE ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION Daru, B. H., Rodriguez, J. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41559-023-02051-7

  View details for Web of Science ID 000980037500001

  View details for PubMedID 37127768

• Mass production of unvouchered records fails to represent global biodiversity patterns. Nature ecology & evolution Daru, B. H., Rodriguez, J. 2023

  Abstract

  The ever-increasing human footprint even in very remote places on Earth has inspired efforts to document biodiversity vigorously in case organisms go extinct. However, the data commonly gathered come from either primary voucher specimens in a natural history collection or from direct field observations that are not traceable to tangible material in a museum or herbarium. Although both datasets are crucial for assessing how anthropogenic drivers affect biodiversity, they have widespread coverage gaps and biases that may render them inefficient in representing patterns of biodiversity. Using a large global dataset of around 1.9 billion occurrence records of terrestrial plants, butterflies, amphibians, birds, reptiles and mammals, we quantify coverage and biases of expected biodiversity patterns by voucher and observation records. We show that the mass production of observation records does not lead to higher coverage of expected biodiversity patterns but is disproportionately biased toward certain regions, clades, functional traits and time periods. Such coverage patterns are driven by the ease of accessibility to air and ground transportation, level of security and extent of human modification at each sampling site. Conversely, voucher records are vastly infrequent in occurrence data but in the few places where they are sampled, showed relative congruence with expected biodiversity patterns for all dimensions. The differences in coverage and bias by voucher and observation records have important implications on the utility of these records for research in ecology, evolution and conservation research.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41559-023-02047-3

  View details for PubMedID 37127769

  View details for PubMedCentralID 5489731

• Mass production of unvouchered records fails to represent global biodiversity patterns Nature Ecology & Evolution Daru, B. H., Rodriguez, J. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41559-023-02047-3

• Woody plant phylogenetic diversity supports nature's contributions to people but is at risk from human population growth Conservation Letters Davies, T. J., Maurin, O., Yessoufou, K., Daru, B. H., Bezeng, B. S., Mankga, L. T., Schaefer, H., Thuiller, W., van der Bank, M. 2022; 15: e12914

  View details for DOI 10.1111/conl.12914

• Widespread homogenization of plant communities in the Anthropocene Nature Communications Daru, B. H., Davies, T. J., Willis, C. G., Meineke, E. K., Ronk, A., Zobel, M., Pärtel, M., Antonelli, A., Davis, C. C. 2021; 12: 6983

  Abstract

  Native biodiversity decline and non-native species spread are major features of the Anthropocene. Both processes can drive biotic homogenization by reducing trait and phylogenetic differences in species assemblages between regions, thus diminishing the regional distinctiveness of biotas and likely have negative impacts on key ecosystem functions. However, a global assessment of this phenomenon is lacking. Here, using a dataset of >200,000 plant species, we demonstrate widespread and temporal decreases in species and phylogenetic turnover across grain sizes and spatial extents. The extent of homogenization within major biomes is pronounced and is overwhelmingly explained by non-native species naturalizations. Asia and North America are major sources of non-native species; however, the species they export tend to be phylogenetically close to recipient floras. Australia, the Pacific and Europe, in contrast, contribute fewer species to the global pool of non-natives, but represent a disproportionate amount of phylogenetic diversity. The timeline of most naturalisations coincides with widespread human migration within the last ~500 years, and demonstrates the profound influence humans exert on regional biotas beyond changes in species richness.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-021-27186-8

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8648934

• Bias assessments to expand research harnessing biological collections Trends in Ecology and Evolution Meineke, E. K., Daru, B. H. 2021; 36: 1071-1082

  Abstract

  Biological collections are arguably the most important resources for investigations into the impacts of human activities on biodiversity. However, the apparent opportunities presented by museum-derived datasets have not resulted in consistent or widespread use of specimens in ecology outside phenological research and species distribution modeling. We attribute this gap between opportunity and application to biases introduced by collectors, curators, and preservation practices and an imperfect understanding of these biases and how to mitigate them. To facilitate broader use of specimen-based data, we characterize collection biases across key axes and explore interactions among them. We then present a framework for determining the bias assessments needed when extracting data from biological collections. We show that bias assessments required by particular ecological studies will depend on the response variables being measured and the predictor axes of interest. We argue that quantification of biases in specimen-derived datasets is needed to facilitate the widespread application of these data.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2021.08.003

• Migratory birds distribute seeds to new climates Nature Daru, B. H. 2021; 595: 34-36

  View details for DOI 10.1038/d41586-021-01547-1

  View details for PubMedCentralID 1805555

• Exploring a new way to think about climate regions eLife Daru, B. H. 2021; 10: e67422

  Abstract

  A new system for classifying climates emerges from modeling the environmental conditions that 26,000 species of tetrapods experience in their home range.

  View details for DOI 10.7554/eLife.67422

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7963472

• Impediments to understanding seagrasses’ response to global change Frontiers in Marine Science Rock, B. M., Daru, B. H. 2021; 8: 608867

  View details for DOI 10.3389/fmars.2021.608867

• Savanna tree evolutionary ages inform the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment of our hominin ancestors Scientific Reports Davies, T. J., Daru, B. H., Bezeng, B. S., Charles-Dominique, T., Hempson, G. P., Kabongo, R. M., Maurin, O., Muasya, A. M., van der Bank, M., Bond, W. J. 2020; 10: 12430

  Abstract

  Ideas on hominin evolution have long invoked the emergence from forests into open habitats as generating selection for traits such as bipedalism and dietary shifts. Though controversial, the savanna hypothesis continues to motivate research into the palaeo-environments of Africa. Reconstruction of these ancient environments has depended heavily on carbon isotopic analysis of fossil bones and palaeosols. The sparsity of the fossil record, however, imposes a limit to the strength of inference that can be drawn from such data. Time-calibrated phylogenies offer an additional tool for dating the spread of savanna habitat. Here, using the evolutionary ages of African savanna trees, we suggest an initial tropical or subtropical expansion of savanna between 10 and 15 Ma, which then extended to higher latitudes, reaching southern Africa ca. 3 Ma. Our phylogenetic estimates of the origin and latitudinal spread of savannas broadly correspond with isotopic age estimates and encompass the entire hominin fossil record. Our results are consistent with the savanna hypothesis of early hominin evolution and reignite the debate on the drivers of savanna expansion. Our analysis demonstrates the utility of phylogenetic proxies for dating major ecological transitions in geological time, especially in regions where fossils are rare or absent or occur in discontinuous sediments.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-020-69378-0

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7381606

• Endemism patterns are scale dependent. Nature Communications Daru, B. H., Farooq, H., Antonelli, A., Faurby, S. 2020; 11: 2115

  Abstract

  Areas of endemism are important in biogeography because they capture facets of biodiversity not represented elsewhere. However, the scales at which they are relevant to research and conservation are poorly analysed. Here, we calculate weighted endemism (WE) and phylogenetic endemism (PE) separately for all birds and amphibians across the globe. We show that scale dependence is widespread for both indices and manifests across grain sizes, spatial extents and taxonomic treatments. Variations in taxonomic opinions-whether species are treated by systematic 'lumping' or 'splitting'-can profoundly affect the allocation of WE hotspots. Global patterns of PE can provide insights into complex evolutionary processes but this congruence is lost at the continental to country extents. These findings are explained by environmental heterogeneity at coarser grains, and to a far lesser extent at finer resolutions. Regardless of scale, we find widespread deficits of protection for endemism hotspots. Our study presents a framework for assessing areas for conservation that are robust to assumptions on taxonomy, spatial grain and extent.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-15921-6

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7192928

• phyloregion: R package for biogeographic regionalization and macroecology Methods in Ecology and Evolution Daru, B. H., Karunarathne, P., Schliep, K. 2020; 11: 1483-1491

  View details for DOI 10.1111/2041-210X.13478

• Temperature controls phenology in continuously flowering Protea species of subtropical Africa Applications in Plant Sciences Daru, B. H., Kling, M. M., Meineke, E. K., van Wyk, A. E. 2019; 7: e01232

  Abstract

  Herbarium specimens are increasingly used as records of plant flowering phenology. However, most herbarium-based studies on plant phenology focus on taxa from temperate regions. Here, we explore flowering phenologic responses to climate in the subtropical plant genus Protea (Proteaceae), an iconic group of plants that flower year-round and are endemic to subtropical Africa.We present a novel, circular sliding window approach to investigate phenological patterns developed for species with year-round flowering. We employ our method to evaluate the extent to which site-to-site and year-to-year variation in temperature and precipitation affect flowering dates using a database of 1727 herbarium records of 25 Protea species. We also explore phylogenetic conservatism in flowering phenology.We show that herbarium data combined with our sliding window approach successfully captured independently reported flowering phenology patterns (r = 0.93). Both warmer sites and warmer years were associated with earlier flowering of 3-5 days/°C, whereas precipitation variation had no significant effect on flowering phenology. Although species vary widely in phenological responsiveness, responses are phylogenetically conserved, with closely related species tending to shift flowering similarly with increasing temperature.Our results point to climate-responsive phenology for this important plant genus and indicate that the subtropical, aseasonally flowering genus Protea has temperature-driven flowering responses that are remarkably similar to those of better-studied northern temperate plant species, suggesting a generality across biomes that has not been described elsewhere.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/aps3.1232

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6426162

• Spatial overlaps between the global protected areas network and terrestrial hotspots of evolutionary diversity Global Ecology and Biogeography Daru, B. H., le Roux, P. C., Gopalraj, J., Park, D. S., Holt, B. G., Greve, M. 2019; 28: 757-766

  View details for DOI 10.1111/geb.12888

• Invasive species differ in key functional traits from native and non-invasive alien plant species Journal of Vegetation Science Mathakutha, R., Steyn, C., le Roux, P. C., Blom, I. J., Chown, S. L., Daru, B. H., Ripley, B. S., Louw, A., Greve, M. 2019; 30: 994-1006

  View details for DOI 10.1111/jvs.12772

• A novel proof of concept for capturing the diversity of endophytic fungi preserved in herbarium specimens Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Daru, B. H., Bowman, E. A., Pfister, D. H., Arnold, A. E. 2018; 374: 20170395

  Abstract

  Herbarium specimens represent important records of morphological and genetic diversity of plants that inform questions relevant to global change, including species distributions, phenology and functional traits. It is increasingly appreciated that plant microbiomes can influence these aspects of plant biology, but little is known regarding the historic distribution of microbes associated with plants collected in the pre-molecular age. If microbiomes can be observed reliably in herbarium specimens, researchers will gain a new lens with which to examine microbial ecology, evolution, species interactions. Here, we describe a method for accessing historical plant microbiomes from preserved herbarium specimens, providing a proof of concept using two plant taxa from the imperiled boreal biome (Andromeda polifolia and Ledum palustre subsp. groenlandicum, Ericaceae). We focus on fungal endophytes, which occur within symptomless plant tissues such as leaves. Through a three-part approach (i.e. culturing, cloning and next-generation amplicon sequencing via the Illumina MiSeq platform, with extensive controls), we examined endophyte communities in dried, pressed leaves that had been processed as regular herbarium specimens and stored at room temperature in a herbarium for four years. We retrieved only one endophyte in culture, but cloning and especially the MiSeq analysis revealed a rich community of foliar endophytes. The phylogenetic distribution and diversity of endophyte assemblages, especially among the Ascomycota, resemble endophyte communities from fresh plants collected in the boreal biome. We could distinguish communities of endophytes in each plant species and differentiate likely endophytes from fungi that could be surface contaminants. Taxa found by cloning were observed in the larger MiSeq dataset, but species richness was greater when subsets of the same tissues were evaluated with the MiSeq approach. Our findings provide a proof of concept for capturing endophyte DNA from herbarium specimens, supporting the importance of herbarium records as roadmaps for understanding the dynamics of plant-associated microbial biodiversity in the Anthropocene.This article is part of the theme issue 'Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene'.

  View details for DOI 10.1098/rstb.2017.0395

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6282087

• Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society Meineke, E. K., Davies, T. J., Daru, B. H., Davis, C. C. 2018; 374: 20170386

  Abstract

  Global change has become a central focus of modern biology. Yet, our knowledge of how anthropogenic drivers affect biodiversity and natural resources is limited by a lack of biological data spanning the Anthropocene. We propose that the hundreds of millions of plant, fungal and animal specimens deposited in natural history museums have the potential to transform the field of global change biology. We suggest that museum specimens are underused, particularly in ecological studies, given their capacity to reveal patterns that are not observable from other data sources. Increasingly, museum specimens are becoming mobilized online, providing unparalleled access to physiological, ecological and evolutionary data spanning decades and sometimes centuries. Here, we describe the diversity of collections data archived in museums and provide an overview of the diverse uses and applications of these data as discussed in the accompanying collection of papers within this theme issue. As these unparalleled resources are under threat owing to budget cuts and other institutional pressures, we aim to shed light on the unique discoveries that are possible in museums and, thus, the singular value of natural history collections in a period of rapid change.This article is part of the theme issue 'Biological collections for understanding biodiversity in the Anthropocene'.

  View details for DOI 10.1098/rstb.2017.0386

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6282082

• Unravelling the evolutionary origins of biogeographic assemblages Diversity and Distributions Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Davies, T. J. 2018; 24

  View details for DOI 10.1111/ddi.12679

• Widespread sampling biases in herbaria revealed from large-scale digitization New Phytologist Daru, B. H., Park, D. S., Primack, R. B., Willis, C. G., Barrington, D. S., Whitfeld, T. J., Seidler, T. G., Sweeney, P. W., Foster, D. R., Ellison, A. M., Davis, C. C. 2018; 217: 939-955

  Abstract

  Nonrandom collecting practices may bias conclusions drawn from analyses of herbarium records. Recent efforts to fully digitize and mobilize regional floras online offer a timely opportunity to assess commonalities and differences in herbarium sampling biases. We determined spatial, temporal, trait, phylogenetic, and collector biases in c. 5 million herbarium records, representing three of the most complete digitized floras of the world: Australia (AU), South Africa (SA), and New England, USA (NE). We identified numerous shared and unique biases among these regions. Shared biases included specimens collected close to roads and herbaria; specimens collected more frequently during biological spring and summer; specimens of threatened species collected less frequently; and specimens of close relatives collected in similar numbers. Regional differences included overrepresentation of graminoids in SA and AU and of annuals in AU; and peak collection during the 1910s in NE, 1980s in SA, and 1990s in AU. Finally, in all regions, a disproportionately large percentage of specimens were collected by very few individuals. We hypothesize that these mega-collectors, with their associated preferences and idiosyncrasies, shaped patterns of collection bias via 'founder effects'. Studies using herbarium collections should account for sampling biases, and future collecting efforts should avoid compounding these biases to the extent possible.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.14855

• Understanding the processes underpinning patterns of phylogenetic regionalization Trends in Ecology and Evolution Daru, B. H., Elliott, T. L., Park, D. S., Davies, T. J. 2017; 32: 845-860

  Abstract

  A key step in understanding the distribution of biodiversity is the grouping of regions based on their shared elements. Historically, regionalization schemes have been largely species centric. Recently, there has been interest in incorporating phylogenetic information into regionalization schemes. Phylogenetic regionalization can provide novel insights into the mechanisms that generate, distribute, and maintain biodiversity. We argue that four processes (dispersal limitation, extinction, speciation, and niche conservatism) underlie the formation of species assemblages into phylogenetically distinct biogeographic units. We outline how it can be possible to distinguish among these processes, and identify centers of evolutionary radiation, museums of diversity, and extinction hotspots. We suggest that phylogenetic regionalization provides a rigorous and objective classification of regional diversity and enhances our knowledge of biodiversity patterns.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2017.08.013

• Ten years of barcoding at the African Centre for DNA barcoding Genome Bezeng, B. S., Davies, T. J., Daru, B. H., Kabongo, R. M., Maurin, O., Yessoufou, K., van der Bank, H., van der Bank, M. 2017; 60: 629-638

  Abstract

  The African Centre for DNA Barcoding (ACDB) was established in 2005 as part of a global initiative to accurately and rapidly survey biodiversity using short DNA sequences. The mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase 1 gene (CO1) was rapidly adopted as the de facto barcode for animals. Following the evaluation of several candidate loci for plants, the Plant Working Group of the Consortium for the Barcoding of Life in 2009 recommended that two plastid genes, rbcLa and matK, be adopted as core DNA barcodes for terrestrial plants. To date, numerous studies continue to test the discriminatory power of these markers across various plant lineages. Over the past decade, we at the ACDB have used these core DNA barcodes to generate a barcode library for southern Africa. To date, the ACDB has contributed more than 21 000 plant barcodes and over 3000 CO1 barcodes for animals to the Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Building upon this effort, we at the ACDB have addressed questions related to community assembly, biogeography, phylogenetic diversification, and invasion biology. Collectively, our work demonstrates the diverse applications of DNA barcoding in ecology, systematics, evolutionary biology, and conservation.

  View details for DOI 10.1139/gen-2016-0198

• Testing the reliability of the standard and complementary DNA barcodes for the monocot subfamily Alooideae from South Africa Genome Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Bello, A., Yessoufou, K. 2017; 60: 337-347

  Abstract

  Although a standard DNA barcode has been identified for plants, it does not always provide species-level specimen identifications for investigating important ecological questions. In this study, we assessed the species-level discriminatory power of standard (rbcLa + matK) and complementary barcodes (ITS1 and trnH-psbA) within the subfamily Alooideae (Asphodelaceae), a large and recent plant radiation, whose species are important in horticulture yet are threatened. Alooideae has its centre of endemism in southern Africa, with some outlier species occurring elsewhere in Africa and Madagascar. We sampled 360 specimens representing 235 species within all 11 genera of the subfamily. With three distance-based methods, all markers performed poorly for our combined data set, with the highest proportion of correct species-level specimen identifications (30%) found for ITS1. However, when performance was assessed across genera, the discriminatory power varied from 0% for all single markers and combinations in Gasteria to 63% in Haworthiopsis, again for ITS1, suggesting that DNA barcoding success may be related to the evolutionary history of the lineage considered. Although ITS1 could be a good barcode for Haworthiopsis, the generally poor performance of all markers suggests that Alooideae remains a challenge. As species boundaries within Alooideae remain controversial, we call for continued search for suitable markers or the use of genomics approaches to further explore species discrimination in the group.

  View details for DOI 10.1139/gen-2015-0183

• Integrating biogeography, threat and evolutionary data to explore extinction crisis in the taxonomic group of cycads Ecology and Evolution Yessoufou, K., Daru, B. H., Tafirei, R., Elansary, H. O., Rampedi, I. 2017; 7: 2735-2746

  Abstract

  Will the ongoing extinction crisis cause a severe loss of evolutionary information accumulated over millions of years on the tree of life? This question has been largely explored, particularly for vertebrates and angiosperms. However, no equivalent effort has been devoted to gymnosperms. Here, we address this question focusing on cycads, the gymnosperm group exhibiting the highest proportion of threatened species in the plant kingdom. We assembled the first complete phylogeny of cycads and assessed how species loss under three scenarios would impact the cycad tree of life. These scenarios are as follows: (1) All top 50% of evolutionarily distinct (ED) species are lost; (2) all threatened species are lost; and (3) only all threatened species in each IUCN category are lost. Finally, we analyzed the biogeographical pattern of cycad diversity hotspots and tested for gaps in the current global conservation network. First, we showed that threatened species are not significantly clustered on the cycad tree of life. Second, we showed that the loss of all vulnerable or endangered species does not depart significantly from random loss. In contrast, the loss of all top 50% ED, all threatened or all critically endangered species, would result in a greater loss of PD (Phylogenetic Diversity) than expected. To inform conservation decisions, we defined five hotpots of diversity, and depending on the diversity metric used, these hotspots are located in Southern Africa, Australia, Indo-Pacific, and Mexico and all are found within protected areas. We conclude that the phylogenetic diversity accumulated over millions of years in the cycad tree of life would not survive the current extinction crisis. As such, prioritizing efforts based on ED and concentrating efforts on critically endangered species particularly in southern Africa, Australia, Indo-Pacific, and Mexico are required to safeguarding the evolutionary diversity in the cycad tree of life.

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ece3.2660

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5395460

• Phylogenetic regionalization of marine plants reveals close evolutionary affinities among disjunct temperate assemblages Biological Conservation Daru, B. H., Holt, B. G., Lessard, J. P., Yessoufou, K., Davies, T. J. 2017; 213: 351-356

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.08.022

• Climate change may reduce the spread of non-native species Ecosphere Bezeng, B. S., Morales-Castilla, I., van der Bank, M., Yessoufou, K., Daru, B. H., Davies, T. J. 2017; 8: e01694

  View details for DOI 10.1002/ecs2.1694

• Spiny plants, mammal browsers and the origin of African savannas Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA Charles-Dominique, T., Davies, T. J., Hempson, G. P., Bezeng, B. S., Daru, B. H., Kabongo, R. M., Maurin, O., Muasya, A. M., van der Bank, M., Bond, W. J. 2016; 113: E5572–E5579

  Abstract

  Savannas first began to spread across Africa during the Miocene. A major hypothesis for explaining this vegetation change is the increase in C4 grasses, promoting fire. We investigated whether mammals could also have contributed to savanna expansion by using spinescence as a marker of mammal herbivory. Looking at the present distribution of 1,852 tree species, we established that spinescence is mainly associated with two functional types of mammals: large browsers and medium-sized mixed feeders. Using a dated phylogeny for the same tree species, we found that spinescence evolved at least 55 times. The diversification of spiny plants occurred long after the evolution of Afrotherian proboscideans and hyracoids. However, it is remarkably congruent with diversification of bovids, the lineage including the antelope that predominantly browse these plants today. Our findings suggest that herbivore-adapted savannas evolved several million years before fire-maintained savannas and probably, in different environmental conditions. Spiny savannas with abundant mammal herbivores occur in drier climates and on nutrient-rich soils, whereas fire-maintained savannas occur in wetter climates on nutrient-poor soils.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1607493113

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5035896

• Opportunities for unlocking the potential of genomics for African trees New Phytologist Daru, B. H., Berger, D. K., van Wyk, A. E. 2016; 210: 772–778

  View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.13826

• Multiple routes underground? Frost alone cannot explain the evolution of underground trees NEW PHYTOLOGIST Davies, T., Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Maurin, O., Bond, W. J. 2016; 209 (3): 910-912

  View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.13795

  View details for Web of Science ID 000373378000006

  View details for PubMedID 26756532

• Marine protected areas are insufficient to conserve global marine plant diversity Global Ecology and Biogeography Daru, B. H., le Roux, P. C. 2016; 25: 324–334

  View details for DOI 10.1111/geb.12412

• A novel phylogenetic regionalization of the phytogeographic zones of southern Africa reveals their hidden evolutionary affinities Journal of Biogeography Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Maurin, O., Yessoufou, K., Schaefer, H., Slingsby, J. A., Davies, T. J. 2016; 43: 155-166

  View details for DOI 10.1111/jbi.12619

• Multiple routes underground? Frost alone cannot explain the evolution of underground trees New Phytologist Davies, T. J., Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Maurin, O., Bond, W. J. 2016; 209: 910-912
• A search for a single DNA barcode for seagrasses of the world DNA Barcoding in Marine Perspectives: Assessment and Conservation of Biodiversity Daru, B. H., Yessoufou, K., Ghosh, S. K., Rehman, H. edited by Trivedi, S., Ansari, A. A. Springer International Publishing Switzerland. 2016: 313-330

  View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41840-7_19

• DNA barcodes reveal microevolutionary signals in fire response trait in two legume genera AoB PLANTS Bello, A., Daru, B. H., Stirton, C. H., Chimphango, S. B., van der Bank, M., Maurin, O., Muasya, A. M. 2015; 7: plv124

  Abstract

  Large-scale DNA barcoding provides a new technique for species identification and evaluation of relationships across various levels (populations and species) and may reveal fundamental processes in recently diverged species. Here, we analysed DNA sequence variation in the recently diverged legumes from the Psoraleeae (Fabaceae) occurring in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of southern Africa to test the utility of DNA barcodes in species identification and discrimination. We further explored the phylogenetic signal on fire response trait (reseeding and resprouting) at species and generic levels. We showed that Psoraleoid legumes of the CFR exhibit a barcoding gap yielding the combination of matK and rbcLa (matK + rbcLa) data set as a better barcode than single regions. We found a high score (100 %) of correct identification of individuals to their respective genera but a very low score (<50 %) in identifying them to species. We found a considerable match (54 %) between genetic species and morphologically delimited species. We also found that different lineages showed a weak but significant phylogenetic conservatism in their response to fire as reseeders or resprouters, with more clustering of resprouters than would be expected by chance. These novel microevolutionary patterns might be acting continuously over time to produce multi-scale regularities of biodiversity. This study provides the first insight into the DNA barcoding campaign of land plants in species identification and detection of the phylogenetic signal in recently diverged lineages of the CFR.

  View details for DOI 10.1093/aobpla/plv124

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4670488

• Spatial incongruence among hotspots and complementary areas of tree diversity in southern Africa Diversity and Distributions Daru, B. H., van der Bank, M., Davies, T. J. 2015; 21: 769-780

  View details for DOI 10.1111/ddi.12290

• Phylogenetic exploration of commonly used medicinal plants in South Africa Molecular Ecology Resources Yessoufou, K., Daru, B. H., Muasya, A. M. 2015; 15: 405-413

  View details for DOI 10.1111/1755-0998.12310

• A Global Trend towards the Loss of Evolutionarily Unique Species in Mangrove Ecosystems PLOS ONE Daru, B. H., Yessoufou, K., Mankga, L. T., Davies, T. 2013; 8 (6): e66686

  Abstract

  The mangrove biome stands out as a distinct forest type at the interface between terrestrial, estuarine, and near-shore marine ecosystems. However, mangrove species are increasingly threatened and experiencing range contraction across the globe that requires urgent conservation action. Here, we assess the spatial distribution of mangrove species richness and evolutionary diversity, and evaluate potential predictors of global declines and risk of extinction. We found that human pressure, measured as the number of different uses associated with mangroves, correlated strongly, but negatively, with extinction probability, whereas species ages were the best predictor of global decline, explaining 15% of variation in extinction risk. Although the majority of mangrove species are categorised by the IUCN as Least Concern, our finding that the more threatened species also tend to be those that are more evolutionarily unique is of concern because their extinction would result in a greater loss of phylogenetic diversity. Finally, we identified biogeographic regions that are relatively species-poor but rich in evolutionary history, and suggest these regions deserve greater conservation priority. Our study provides phylogenetic information that is important for developing a unified management plan for mangrove ecosystems worldwide.

  View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0066686

  View details for Web of Science ID 000320846500091

  View details for PubMedID 23805263

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3689665

• Phylogenetic Patterns of Extinction Risk in the Eastern Arc Ecosystems, an African Biodiversity Hotspot PLOS ONE Yessoufou, K., Daru, B. H., Davies, T. 2012; 7 (10): e47082

  Abstract

  There is an urgent need to reduce drastically the rate at which biodiversity is declining worldwide. Phylogenetic methods are increasingly being recognised as providing a useful framework for predicting future losses, and guiding efforts for pre-emptive conservation actions. In this study, we used a reconstructed phylogenetic tree of angiosperm species of the Eastern Arc Mountains - an important African biodiversity hotspot - and described the distribution of extinction risk across taxonomic ranks and phylogeny. We provide evidence for both taxonomic and phylogenetic selectivity in extinction risk. However, we found that selectivity varies with IUCN extinction risk category. Vulnerable species are more closely related than expected by chance, whereas endangered and critically endangered species are not significantly clustered on the phylogeny. We suggest that the general observation for taxonomic and phylogenetic selectivity (i.e. phylogenetic signal, the tendency of closely related species to share similar traits) in extinction risks is therefore largely driven by vulnerable species, and not necessarily the most highly threatened. We also used information on altitudinal distribution and climate to generate a predictive model of at-risk species richness, and found that greater threatened species richness is found at higher altitude, allowing for more informed conservation decision making. Our results indicate that evolutionary history can help predict plant susceptibility to extinction threats in the hyper-diverse but woefully-understudied Eastern Arc Mountains, and illustrate the contribution of phylogenetic approaches in conserving African floristic biodiversity where detailed ecological and evolutionary data are often lacking.

  View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0047082

  View details for Web of Science ID 000309831500134

  View details for PubMedID 23056587

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3466253