ESF Workshop
ESF Exploratory Workshop: New tools for biodiversity
conservation through the advancement of phylogeographic methodologies
Convened by Vincent Moulton and Brent Emerson
July 4-6, 2006
University of East Anglia
Norwich, UK
Conservation and resource management agencies around the world face hard choices about where and how to conserve biodiversity with limited financial resources. If such choices are to be made in an informed way, there is the need for robust, quantitative methods for measuring, valuing and understanding the structure of biodiversity. In this interdisciplinary workshop we will bring together a unique combination of scientists working in the disciplines of biogeography, ecology, molecular evolution, statistics, and computer science with the goal of developing a new generation of quantitative tools for analyzing biodiversity. It is expected that these tools will make a significant contribution to the understanding and conservation of biodiversity.
To achieve this goal, we will concentrate on developing new analytical tools within the recent and rapidly developing field of phylogeography. Phylogeography is concerned with the analysis of the geographical distribution of genealogical lineages, with application to understanding the structure of biodiversity. While current tools for quantifying biodiversity typically measure the relative distributions of species within a region, phylogeography seeks to assess the geographical distribution of genetic variation within each species. Given the clear link between genetic variation and the potential for adaptive response, such assessments are critical for the long-term maintenance of individual species and species assemblages.
Programme and speakers