Phylogenetic diversity

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One of the important factors in prioritising areas for conservation is species richness. It is a widely used measure of diversity. However, it does not take into account the evolutionary relationship of species in an area. Species richness as a sole measure of diversity tends to underestimate true diversity. On the other hand, phylogenetic diversity incorporates the evolutionary relationship between species, as an additional parameter, to calculate diversity in an area. Therefore, in order to get a complete picture of the diversity in an area and for conservation prioritisation of an area, it is advocated to use both species richness as well as phylogenetic diversity.