Theme of the workshop: Two
simple phylogenetic tools for cetacean studies: analyzes of independent
contrasts and conservation priorities. In 1985 Felsenstein work on
"Phylogenetic Independence" changed the way biologists nowadays test
hypotheses in comparative studies of behavior, acoustics, conservation,
physiology, etc, emphasizing the need to account for phylogenetic
relationship among species. Nevertheless, many mammalian studies
continue to use standard statistical methods, often ignoring the
problem of non-independence. Standard regression analyses fail to
acknowledge that similarity in the character in question may be due to
common ancestry. Failing to account for known dependencies among
related species can give misleading results, which is why methods such
as 'independent contrasts' are becoming the standard for analyzing how
parameters relate to one another. Phylogenies also can inform on
conservation. Much information exists on extinction risk of species
(e.g. IUCN categories), but risk of extinction alone may not be a good
guide to how to allocate conservation effort. Species may differ
dramatically in the unique evolutionary history they preserve. For
example the duck billed platypus represent an ancient lineage
represented very few extant species. Extinction of such species would
thus erase much unique evolutionary history. In contrast, any single
species of Hawaiian Drosophila represents relatively little unique
evolutionary history for much of its history is preserved in numerous
close relatives. We will discuss a newly developed method that uses
both extinction risk, as well as phylogenetic diversity, to assess
conservation priorities. We will provide attendees with data matrices
that will be used in the workshop. We will demonstrate how the
evolutionary analysis packet Mesquite can be used to analyze
phylogenetically independent contrasts, and to assess conservation
priorities. We hope that the workshop provides people with a better
understanding of the importance and use of phylogenetics to address
evolutionary questions in our field, and in particular familiarize
attendees with the use of two simple but important methods.
Organizers: Laura J. May-Collado & Ingi Agnarsson
Date: October 11, 2009
Time: 9am - 12 a.m. (Half Day)
Location: RM 202
Cost: $25 CAN
Registration cost will include hot and cold drinks, snacks, and visual equipment.