Applications of Biosystematics

THE FUTURE OF PHYLOGENETIC SYSTEMATICS IN CONSERVATION

BIOLOGY: LINKING BIODIVERSITY AND SOCIETY ( P E L L E N S , F A I T H & G R A N D C O L A S ,
2016)

THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY: EVOLUTIONARY APPLICATIONS TO

MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH ( N E S S E & S T E A R N S , 2 0 0 8 )

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 INTRODUCTION TO TRANSFORMATION OF IMPACTS OF CHANGES IN
PHYLOGENETIC DIVERSITY SYSTEMATICS BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION

Highlights of the
First Article

CONCLUDES WITH
EXPLAINING THE POSSIBILITY
OF DEFINING “PLANETARY
BOUNDARIES” FOR
BIODIVERSITY ON THE BASIS
OF PHYLOGENETIC
DIVERSITY, ITS IMPORTANT
ROLE IN LINKING
BIODIVERSITY INTO
BROADER SOCIETAL
9/23/2019 JODP_BFSYS2019FILES PERSPECTIVES AND NEED. 2
Modern Systematics and NGS Methods: the tree first,
then the species
TRADITIONAL DATA PROCESSING NEW AND UPCOMING DATA PROCESSING

Reference: Roseli PellensEmail authorDaniel P. FaithPhilippe Grandcolas (2016)

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 availability of phylogenies with adequate taxon and character sampling at fine
scale.

facilitate the transition across scales,

/ a fundamental need well highlighted in
international conservation guidelines, and historically so difficult to achieve.

Impacts on Biodiversity Conservation

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 “Planetary boundaries” refer to the idea of a “safe operating
space” for humanity.

Phylogenetic PD framework considers processes relating to climate change,

diversity as a biodiversity loss, land-system change, biogeochemical flows,
stratospheric ozone depletion, ocean acidification, freshwater

basis for defining use, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution.

“planetary
boundaries” for The PD calculus may provide ways to describe boundaries
related to phylogenetic diversity ‘tipping points” (Faith et al.

biodiversity 2010)

The tipping points, and corresponding boundaries, then link

naturally to concerns about the loss of evolutionary or
ecosystem services, including option values and evolutionary
potential.

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 Do evolutionary biology and What benefits could be expected How would studying medical
medicine and public health offer if evolution were brought fully to problems advance evolutionary
each other enough to make bear on the problems of research?

Highlights of the bridge building worthwhile? medicine?

Second Article

Do doctors need to learn What practical steps will promote

evolution, or is it valuable mainly the application of evolutionary
for researchers? biology in the areas of medicine
where it offers the most?

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Review Current
and Potential POPULATION GENETICS SERIAL TRANSFER

Applications of PRODUCTION OF LIVE

VACCINES

Evolutionary
Biology to
Medicine and
Public Health
PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS

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 infectious disease aging research

Dramatic Recent
Progress
Open opportunity in: epidemiology

understanding the
regulation of bodily
psychiatry
defenses, applying
evolutionary principles

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 Evolutionary Perspective challenges
the prevalent but fundamentally
incorrect metaphor of the body as a
machine designed by an engineer.
Also…
Bodies are instead, bundles of
compromises shaped by natural
selection in small increments to
maximize reproduction, not health.

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 Recommendations

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 The Gap
1. PH have made use of only a
fraction of what evolution
has to offer.
2. Many medical students do
not even accept the theory
of evolution.
3. No medical school teaches a
course in evolutionary
biology as a basic medical
science.
Figure 1
Citation patterns (Rosvall and Bergstrom 2007).
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 Distinction between evolutionary and proximate questions (Mayr, 1982)
but it was Tinbergen’s (1963) article that outlined the four questions that
must be answered to provide a full explanation for any biological trait.

Proximate Questions:

New Questions 1. How does the mechanism work?

2. What is the ontogeny of the mechanism?
Evolutionary Questions:
3. How has this mechanism given a selective advantage?
4. What is the phylogeny of this mechanism?

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Categories of evolutionary questions.

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