Biodiversity refers to the variety of life. It is now agreed that there is a biodiversity
crisis corresponding to extinction rates of species that may be 1000 times what is thought to
be normal. Biodiversity science has a higher profile than ever with the new Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services involving more than 120
countries and 1000s of scientists. At the same time the discipline is re-evaluating its
foundations - including its philosophy and even core definitions. The value of biodiversity is
being debated. In this context the tree of life (phylogeny) is emerging as an important way to
look at biodiversity with relevance cutting across current areas of concern - from the
question of resilience within ecosystems to conservation priorities for globally threatened
species - while capturing the values of biodiversity that have been hard to quantify including
resilience and maintaining options for future generations.This increased appreciation of the
importance of conserving phylogenetic diversity from microbial communities in the human gut to
global threatened species has inevitably resulted in an explosion of new indices methods and
case studies. This book recognizes and responds to the timely opportunity for synthesis and
sharing experiences in practical applications. The book recognizes that the challenge of
finding a synthesis and building shared concepts and a shared toolbox requires both an
appreciation of the past and a look into the future. Thus the book is organized as a flow from
history concepts and philosophy through to methods and tools and followed by selected case
studies. A positive vision and plan of action emerges from these chapters that includes coping
with inevitable uncertainties effectively communicating the importance of this evolutionary
heritage to the public and to policy-makers and ultimately contributing to biodiversity
conservation policy from local to global scales.
