Capturing Richness-Independent Phylogenetic Diversity and Testing Surrogates in Woody Plant Communities

Phylogenetic diversity (PD) indices quantify the evolutionary history of a community. Studies have shown how decoupling between taxon richness (TR) and PD provides useful insights into biodiversity. The present study on three dry deciduous forest patches (Nandi, Savandurga and Devarayandurga) shows such decoupling patterns. Our analysis of unique (endemic) taxa revealed that whereas the high PD in Nandi was contributed largely by its unique taxa which were composed of different evolutionary lineages, unique taxa in Savandurga contributed negatively due to highly shared lineages. Also, the use of higher-level TR did not provide an adequate surrogate for PD. We, therefore, propose the use of an integrative approach (both TR and PD) to quantify biodiversity for gaining better insights into the composition and evolutionary history of a community.