Protected area systems should conserve intra-specific genetic diversity. Since genetic data require resources to obtain, several approaches have been proposed for generating plans for protected area systems (prioritizations) when genetic data are not available. Yet such surrogate-based approaches remain poorly tested. We evaluated the effectiveness of potential surrogate-based approaches using microsatellite genetic data collected across the Iberian Peninsula for seven amphibian and three reptilian species. Here we show that long-term habitat suitability is not an effective surrogate for representing sites containing high genetic diversity (allelic richness). Indeed, prioritizations based on long-term habitat suitability had similar performance to randomly establishing protected areas. We also found that geographic distances and resistance distances based on contemporary habitat suitability are not always effective surrogates for identifying combinations of sites that contain individuals with different genetic compositions. Our results demonstrate that population genetic data based on commonly used neutral markers can inform prioritizations and we could not find an adequate substitute. Conservation planners will need to weigh the potential benefits of using genetic data against their acquisition costs. Article Impact Statement: Conservation plans generated using supposed surrogates of genetic data can perform much worse than those based directly on genetic data. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

中文翻译：

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评估保护规划的遗传多样性替代物


保护区系统应保护种内遗传多样性。由于遗传数据需要资源才能获取，因此提出了几种方法，用于在无法获得遗传数据时制定保护区系统计划（优先顺序）。然而，这种基于替代的方法仍然没有经过充分的测试。我们使用在伊比利亚半岛收集的七种两栖动物和三种爬行动物物种的微卫星遗传数据评估了潜在的基于替代方法的有效性。在这里，我们表明，长期栖息地适宜性并不能有效地代表含有高遗传多样性（等位基因丰富度）的地点。事实上，基于长期栖息地适宜性的优先顺序与随机建立保护区具有相似的表现。我们还发现，基于当代栖息地适宜性的地理距离和抵抗距离并不总是有效的替代方法来识别包含具有不同遗传组成的个体的地点组合。我们的结果表明，基于常用中性标记的群体遗传数据可以为优先级提供信息，但我们无法找到适当的替代品。保护规划者需要权衡使用遗传数据的潜在好处和获取成本。文章影响陈述：使用假设的遗传数据替代物生成的保护计划可能比直接基于遗传数据的计划表现得更差。本文受版权保护。版权所有。