The value of phylogenetic data to spatial community analysis

With the increasing availability of large phylogenetic trees, the opportunity now exists to use this for characterising species assemblages and define spatial variation in biological diversity in far more detail than seen through the use of simple species lists. In this seminar I will discuss two case studies that demonstrate the value of incorporating phylogenetic information into the spatial analysis of biological communities. Firstly I will outline the process used to produce a new global map of terrestrial zoogeographic regions, which combined data on the distributions and phylogenetic relationships of 21,037 species of amphibians, birds and mammals. This map distinguishes 20 distinct zoogeographic regions, which are grouped into 11 larger realms, showing both consistencies and inconsistencies with regions previously defined based on distributional data. Secondly, I will discuss an on-going project which incorporates phylogenetic and morphometric information into the largest marine sightings database in the world, the REEF volunteer fish survey project (www.reef.org).  Using null model analysis, I consider the evidence that significant additional information is being provided through the inclusion of phylogenetic data and whether such data can serve as a useful substitute in the absence of morphological/functional data.