Cryptic genetic diversity in “widespread” Southeast Asian bird species suggests that Philippine avian endemism is gravely underestimated

Mistakenly classifying morphologically cryptic endemic species as populations of widespread species potentially interferes with the conservation of biodiversity because undetected endemics that are imperilled may lack appropriate protection. It also impedes the reconstruction of the evolutionary his...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological conservation 2010-08, Vol.143 (8), p.1885-1890
Main Authors: Lohman, David J., Ingram, Krista K., Prawiradilaga, Dewi M., Winker, Kevin, Sheldon, Frederick H., Moyle, Robert G., Ng, Peter K.L., Ong, Perry S., Wang, Luan Keng, Braile, Thomas M., Astuti, Dwi, Meier, Rudolf
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Aves
Biogeography
Biological and medical sciences
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
DNA barcodes
Endemism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
Phylogeography
Southeast Asia
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
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Summary:Mistakenly classifying morphologically cryptic endemic species as populations of widespread species potentially interferes with the conservation of biodiversity because undetected endemics that are imperilled may lack appropriate protection. It also impedes the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of a taxon by obscuring the number and distributional limits of species. Here, we present genetic and phylogenetic evidence corroborated by morphology that Philippine populations of seven widespread, non-migratory passerine birds might represent unrecognized, distinct species. An extrapolation based on this finding suggests that the proportion of endemic bird species in the Philippines could be much higher than currently estimated. This high degree of cryptic diversity in a well-studied, volant taxon implies that large numbers of unrecognized species can be expected in less thoroughly studied groups. We predict that genetic investigations of insular populations of widespread species will frequently reveal unrecognized island endemics, and because of the vulnerability of island habitats and their biota, these taxa may be particularly susceptible to extinction.
ISSN:0006-3207
1873-2917
DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.042