Cradles and museums of generic plant diversity across tropical Africa

• DOI: 10.1111/nph.16293
• Publication Date: 2019-10-30T21:15:19Z
• Authors: Léo‐Paul M. J. Da...; Steven B. Janssens; Gilles Dauby; Anne Blach‐Overgaard; Barbara A. Mackinder; Vincent Droissart; Jens‐Christian Sv...; Marc S. M. Sosef; Tariq Stévart; David J. Harris; Bonaventure Sonké; Jan J. Wieringa; Olivier J. Hardy; Thomas L. P. Couv...
• Keywords: Endemism; Phylogenetic diversity; Plant Diversity; Global biodiversity

Summary Determining where species diversify (cradles) and persist (museums) over evolutionary time is fundamental to understanding the distribution of biodiversity for conservation prioritization. Here, we identify cradles museums angiosperm generic diversity across tropical Africa, one most biodiverse regions on Earth. Regions containing nonrandom concentrations young (neo‐) old (paleo‐) endemic taxa were identified using data 1719 genera combined with a newly generated time‐calibrated mega‐phylogenetic tree. We then compared current network African protected areas (PAs). At level, phylogenetic endemism are mainly concentrated in biogeographically complex region Eastern Africa. show that mountainous centres both neo‐ paleo‐endemism. By contrast, Guineo‐Congolian lowland rain forest characterized by widespread lineages. found overlap between PAs high (> 85%). vital role played mountains acting simultaneously as plant biodiversity. rainforests act diversity. Our study shows incorporating large‐scale taxonomically verified datasets mega‐phylogenies lead an improved evolution.