*3.1. Phylogenetic Position*

The Sunshine Coast heath taxa list comprised 366 species, excluding ferns and orchids, covering 26 orders, 73 families, and 201 genera. Ten of these families contained 10 or more species, and included Myrtaceae (42 species), Cyperaceae (34 species), Poaceae (29 species), Fabaceae (27 species), Ericacae (22 species), Mimosaceae and Proteaceae (19 species each), Restionaceae and Rutaceae (12 species each), and Laxmanniaceae (10 species). Over the 80 sites of data collection, 280 species were encountered, which represented 76.6% of the Sunshine coast heath taxa of 366 species. These 280 species came from 157 genera and 56 families, with some of the families more frequently encountered on sites than others; Myrtaceae, Cyperaceae, Proteaceae, Xanthorrhoeaceae, and Fabaceae were each encountered on more than 70 of the 80 sites.

Whilst the south-east and central Queensland rainforest and heath species share some orders, the heath species are not represented by any unique orders. The heath taxa of 366 species are grouped within the larger south-east Queensland and central Queensland rainforest and heath phylogeny (Figure 2). Some orders, such as the Magnoliales, Pandanales, and Piperales, are not represented within the heath, many orders were poorly represented, including the Laurales, Solanales, and the Sapindales, whilst orders such as the Poales (including the families Restionaceae and Cyperaceae) and the Ericales are richly represented.

**Figure 2.** Phylogenetic position of the Sunshine Coast heath species (indicated in red) within the wider south-east Queensland and central Queensland rainforest phylogeny.

### *3.2. Species Richness and Phylogenetic Diversity Metrics*

While the total combined species richness of the regional ecosystems ranged from 61 for RE 12.12.10 (3 sites) to 151 species for RE 12.2.12 (22 sites in total), reflecting in part the differential sampling across regional ecosystems, the mean species richness per site for each regional ecosystem varied from 28.7 to 43.3 species/1000 m<sup>2</sup> and was not significantly different (Table 2). The phylogenetic diversity of the individual nine regional ecosystems ranged from 2376 to 4258, with a total PD for the Sunshine Coast heath taxa of 8156 (Table 1). All regional ecosystems had a lower PD than expected in the context of the Sunshine Coast heath regional species pool (*p* < 0.05), except for the shrublands of rocky peaks, RE 12.12.10 (Table 1). The endangered dry open heath on dunes, RE 12.2.13 was the only heath type identified as "phylogenetically clustered" with a significant NRI (*p* < 0.05), with all other regional ecosystems identified as "phylogenetically random" (Table 1, Figure 3). Six of the nine regional ecosystems had a mean nearest taxon index (NTI) higher than expected by chance (*p* < 0.05), meaning that the species in these communities are more closely related at the terminal nodes (Table 1). Furthermore, when sites were grouped by regional ecosystems and compared, the NRI was found to be significantly higher (more clustered) in the heaths of the dunes compared to the alluvial closed heath: the NRI in RE 12.2.9 and in RE 12.2.13 were higher compared with RE 12.3.13 (Kruskal Wallis chi-squared = 20.912, *p* = 0.0074) (Table 2). There were no other significant differences in PD, MPD, MNTD and NTI, SR, GR, or FR between sites grouped by regional ecosystem (Table 2).

**Table 2.** Summary of mean diversity values of the Sunshine Coast heath sites grouped by regional ecosystem.


For each regional ecosystem (RE), the species richness (SR), genus richness (GR), family richness (FR), phylogenetic diversity (PD), mean phylogenetic distance (MPD), mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD), net relatedness index (NRI), and nearest taxon index (NTI) are given. Values that were significantly different in Kruskal–Wallis tests (*p* < 0.05) are indicated with letters. Means sharing the same letter are not significantly different. Please note, the higher the NRI or NTI, the more closely the taxa in the community are related. Standard deviations are shown in brackets.

Across the 80 sites, diversity, as measured by species richness, varied widely, from 6–58 species per 1000 m2, whilst genus richness ranged from 6–51 genera per 1000 m2, suggesting few instances of congenic species in each site (Table 3). Indeed, species richness was positively correlated with genus richness (Spearman rho = 0.986, *p* < 0.001) and family richness (Spearman rho = 0.9256, *p* < 0.001) as well as PD (Spearman rho = 0.994, *p* < 0.001). Moreover, 19 of the individual sites had a lower PD than expected by chance: across the individual 80 sites, PD ranged from 443 to 2585, with no sites having a higher PD than expected (*p* < 0.05) (Table 3). The NTI showed that 17 sites contained species significantly more clustered on the terminal nodes than expected by chance (*p* < 0.05) (Table 3). Based on the NRI, seven of the 80 sites were "phylogenetically even" (*p* < 0.05), and these sites were found in RE 12.2.12, 12.3.13, and 12.3.14, ecosystems of alluvial or seasonally waterlogged areas (Table 3). Six sites were "phylogenetically clustered" (*p* < 0.05), and both these "clustered" and "even" sites were scattered across the Sunshine

Coast (Figure 1). Phylogenetically clustered sites were found in regional ecosystems 12.2.9, 12.3.14, 12.8.19, and 12.5.9, with the Banksia aemula heath of the dunes (12.2.9) found to have more phylogenetically clustered sites than expected by chance, and the closed heathland on alluvial plains (12.3.13) found to contain more phylogenetically even sites than expected (χ<sup>2</sup> = 28.76, *p* = 0.026).

**Figure 3.** Phylogenetic position of the Regional Ecosystems represented against the phylogenetic tree of the Sunshine Coast heath site taxa.



**Table 3.** *Cont.*


**Regional Ecosystem Site SR GR FR PD MPD MNTD NRI NTI 12.8.19 Heath and rock pavement with scattered shrubs or open woodland on Cainozoic igneous hills and mountains** 13962 6 6 4 443.7 \*L 203.2 66.1 0.34 2.46 \*H MB819-12 12 11 7 721.5 \*L 197.7 74.0 1.22 1.73 \*H MCNP819-40 44 38 23 2234.2 213.6 68.9 −1.35 −0.32 MCNP819-41 38 33 20 1916.6 213.4 62.2 −1.14 0.73 ME212-29 45 41 24 2121.7 211.6 58.4 −0.76 0.84 ME819-1 34 31 21 1824.7 213.4 72.1 −1.07 0.13 ME819-11 42 37 21 1961.2 212.5 52.4 −1 1.66 ME819-30 48 42 25 2286.6 208.2 56.6 0.35 0.84 WHM819-9 12 12 5 573.8 \*L 185.4 46.4 2.60 \*C 3.11 \*H **12.9-10.22 Closed sedgeland/shrubland on sedimentary rocks, generally coastal** COO910-20 49 45 20 1975.0 \*L 210.7 46.9 −0.48 1.97 \*H COO910-54 45 40 23 2087.8 205.2 64.8 1.32 0.03 COO910-55 50 44 26 2458.4 211.8 69.3 −0.94 −0.88 COO910-70 44 41 22 2025.4 210.1 60.0 −0.3 0.67 ES910-33 53 41 27 2402.4 210.2 60.5 −0.4 0.08 ES910-71 50 44 23 2255.8 210.9 59.8 −0.59 0.37 NNS910-34 16 12 8 818.2 \*L 198.1 59.6 1.67 2.34 \*H NNS910-72 33 30 19 1906.3 214.5 82.6 −1.29 −0.74 **12.12.10 Shrubland of rocky peaks on Mesozoic to Proterozoic igneous rocks** MNP1210-30 27 25 15 1483.3 206.2 69.9 0.69 0.91 MNP1210-66 29 25 19 1632.1 207.7 80.7 0.38 −0.08 SP1210-31 35 30 21 1735.4 206.6 66.3 0.76 0.61

**Table 3.** *Cont.*

For each site, the species richness (SR), genus richness (GR), family richness (FR), phylogenetic diversity (PD), mean phylogenetic distance (MPD), mean nearest taxon distance (MNTD), net relatedness index (NRI), and nearest taxon index (NTI) are given. Values that were significantly different from random (*p* = 0.05) are indicated with an asterisk. Letters indicate whether these values are higher (\*H) or lower (\*L) than expected or whether they are significantly even (\*E) or clustered (\*C).
