Ecologists and conservation biologists have historically used species–area and distance–decay relationships as tools to predict the spatial distribution of biodiversity and the impact of habitat loss on biodiversity. These tools treat each species as evolutionarily equivalent, yet the importance of species' evolutionary history in their ecology and conservation is becoming increasingly evident. Here, we provide theoretical predictions for phylogenetic analogues of the species–area and distance–decay relationships. We use a random model of community assembly and a spatially explicit flora dataset collected in four Mediterranean-type regions to provide theoretical predictions for the increase in phylogenetic diversity – the total phylogenetic branch-length separating a set of species – with increasing area and the decay in phylogenetic similarity with geographic separation. These developments may ultimately provide insights into the evolution and assembly of biological communities, and guide the selection of protected areas.

The journal of the Western Australian Herbarium https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/nuytsia/ Nuytsia 34: 21-60

Davis, R.W. & Tauss, C. A new and rare species of Ptilotus (Amaranthaceae) from a suburban wetland of the eastern Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia. Nuytsia 21(3): 97-102. Ptilotus christineae R.W.Davis & Tauss, currently known from only one small population in the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands, about 14 km from the centre of the city of Perth, is described and illustrated. A key to Ptilotus R.Br. of the Swan Coastal Plain Biogeographical Region is provided.Ptilotus christineae is clearly distinguished from all congeners in the SCP by the combination of its slender rhizome, spathulate leaves, erect flowering shoot, five fertile stamens and wetland habitat.