Where to now with the evolutionarily significant unit?

作者：A. Rus Hoelzel · 发表于：Trends in Ecology & Evolution · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1016/j.tree.2023.07.005 · 被引用次数：69 · 研究领域：Genetic diversity and population structure、Species Distribution and Climate Change、Evolution and Genetic Dynamics

The designation of units for conservation has been a necessary but challenging objective since conservation efforts began. Most species are divided, typically by environment, into populations with independent evolutionary trajectories. There are practical conservation objectives for defining these boundaries. Separate genetic clusters provide future evolutionary potential as environments change, and individuals in isolated populations may lose fitness when population size is reduced. The history of the effort to define units is briefly reviewed here, but I focus on finding a process that may facilitate uniform and effective application at a time when conservation urgency is great. I propose a refinement of the designated unit concept, distinguishing between conservation units (CUs) and evolutionarily sustaining conservation units (ESCUs).