Format: ORAL

Michael D. Pirie1, 14, Dirk U. Bellstedt2, Roderick W. Bouman3, Jaime Fagndez4,5 Berit Gehrke1, Martha Kandziora6, Nicholas C. Le Maitre7, Seth Musker8, Ethan Newman9, Nicolai M. Nrk10, E.G.H. Oliver11, Sebastian Pipins12, 13, Timotheus van der Niet9, Flix Forest12

1 University Museum, University of Bergen, Postboks 7800, N-5020 Bergen, Norway 2 Department of Biochemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa 3 Hortus botanicus Leiden, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9500, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands 4 Universidade da Coruña, BIOCOST research group, Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía (CICA), Rúa As Carballeiras, 15071, A Coruña, Spain 5 Universidade da Coruña, Departamento de Bioloxía, Facultade de Ciencias, 15071, A Coruña, Spain 6 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic 7 Department of Genetics, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa 8 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa 9 School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South Africa 10 Department of Plant Systematics, Bayreuth Centre of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER), University of Bayreuth, Universitätsstraße 30, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany 11 Department of Botany and Zoology, University of Stellenbosch, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa 12 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AE, United Kingdom 13 Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, UK; On the Edge, London, UK

Estimates of the numbers of vascular plant species currently under threat of extinction are shockingly high, with the highest extinction rates reported for narrow-range, woody plants, especially in Mediterranean climate and tropical biodiversity hotspots. The genus Erica is a prime example: of the around 850 species, all shrubs or small trees, a large proportion are narrowly endemic to localities within the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Just under 200 are known to be threatened and a further 100 are Data Deficient. We need to target conservation work as well as research to fill the most problematic knowledge gaps. This can be especially challenging in large genera such as Erica with numerous threatened species that are more or less closely related. One approach involves combining knowledge of phylogenetic diversity with that of IUCN threat status to identify the most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered (EDGE) species. We present an expanded and improved phylogenetic hypothesis for Erica (representing 67% of described species diversity) and combine this with available threat and distribution data of species to assess which species and geographic areas should be targeted for conservation effort to maximise preservation of phylogenetic diversity. This analysis delivers priority lists of phylogenetically diverse taxa - threatened, or data deficient - and of areas. Priority lists can be cross-referenced to existing living and seed banked ex situ collections and used to target new and updated threat assessments and conservation action.