Related plant species respond similarly to chronic anthropogenic disturbance: Implications for conservation decision-making

摘要

1. Many developing countries harbour large numbers of species that face little-understood, gradual changes in their environment, including chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD), a high frequency but low intensity form of disturbance. These countries also lack the resources to study each species, so conservation practices have been generalized, assuming that complete taxonomic groups may be managed in the same ways. This approach could be justified if closely related species respond similarly to threats. We assessed if related species respond similarly to CAD, whether this affects phylogenetic diversity and if such patterns occur in different systems.