Phylogeny and Conservation

[Luis C. Muniz]

At 00:18 29/01/98 EST, you wrote:
>May I add my two cents to this thread? For the last four years I've worked for
>the largest conservation land-buying program in the U.S. (Florida's
>Conservation and Recreation Lands program).  We don't much think about the
>phylogenetic relationships of organisms we're trying to protect.   We use
>information on the relative rarity and endangerment of species, and their
>habitat requirements, but that's all.  And we tend to focus on buying the
>largest, most intact chunks of land in the hope that this will protect the
>natural world of Florida most efficiently.  Phylogenetic considerations are
>rather a luxury when we don't even know, for most species, how many
>populations in which spatial arrangements will be most viable.
>
>Mark A. Garland

Dear Garland,

I don't want to begin a debate with you, but only to express that Phylogeny
consideration is not a "luxury" and you must read more about this issue. You
can begin with this papers:

Gardner SL, Campbell ML 1992. Parasites as probes for biodiversity. J
Parasitol 78(4): 596-600.
Erwin TL 1991. An evolutionary basis for conservation strategies. Science
253: 750-751.
Wilson EO 1986. The current state of biological diversity. In Biodiverdity,
E.O. Wilson (ed.) National Academy Press, Washington DC., p. 3-18.

Best Wishes,
Luis
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Prof. Luis C. Muniz                                      _________________
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