Southern California. Photo credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, The SeaWiFS Project and ORBIMAGE, Scientific Visualization Studio

Protected areas most often encompass rare habitats, or “typical” exemplars of ecoregions and geomorphic provinces.  This approach focuses on current biodiversity, and typically ignores the evolutionary processes that control the gain and loss of biodiversity at other levels (e.g., genetic, ecological). 

In order to include evolutionary process in conservation planning efforts, its spatial components must first be identified and mapped.  We have developed a GIS-based approach for explicitly mapping patterns of genetic divergence and diversity for multiple species (a “Multi-species Genetic Landscape”, or MGL).  Using this approach, we analyzed 21 mitochondrial DNA datasets from vertebrate and invertebrate species in Southern California to identify areas with common phylogeographic breaks and high intralineage diversity. The result is an evolutionary framework for southern California within which genetic biodiversity can be analyzed in the context of historical processes, future evolutionary potential and current reserve design.

More information can be viewed at http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sandiego/EvolHotspots.html. For more information, contact Amy Vandergast, Western Ecological Research Center.