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‘Sum of inverse range-sizes’ (SIR), a biodiversity metric with many names and interpretations

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Abstract

Range restriction is an important measure of species rarity that is also interpreted as endemism. A simple biodiversity metric, the sum of inverse range-sizes (‘SIR’) for species within a sampling unit is useful for conservation planning but has multiple names and applications: for example, to highlight areas of high biodiversity and biological uniqueness (the hotspots problem, e.g. ‘weighted endemism’) and as a range proportion-explicit metric for calculating complementarity in reserve selection (the representation problem, e.g. ‘rarity-weighted richness’). This paper outlines the development, implementation and duplication of SIR. We propose that terminology for equivalent metrics can be unified if:- ‘SIR’ refers to them generally; those based on site or grid cell occupancy, or area of occupancy, are referred to specifically as ‘range-rarity richness’); while those aimed at measuring endemism based on extent of occurrence are referred to specifically as ‘georeferenced weighted endemism’. The phylogenetic equivalents would then be ‘phylogenetic range-rarity’ and ‘georeferenced phylogenetic endemism’, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network and the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

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Correspondence to Greg R. Guerin.

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Communicated by David Hawksworth.

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Guerin, G.R., Lowe, A.J. ‘Sum of inverse range-sizes’ (SIR), a biodiversity metric with many names and interpretations. Biodivers Conserv 24, 2877–2882 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0977-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-0977-6

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