The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) aims at the conservation of all three levels of biodiversity, that is, ecosystems, species and genes. Genetic diversity represents evolutionary potential and is important for ecosystem functioning. Unfortunately, genetic diversity in natural populations is hardly considered in conservation strategies because it is difficult to measure and has been hypothesised to co‐vary with species richness. This means that species richness is taken as a surrogate of genetic diversity in conservation planning, though their relationship has not been properly evaluated. We tested whether the genetic and species levels of biodiversity co‐vary, using a large‐scale and multi‐species approach. We chose the high‐mountain flora of the Alps and the Carpathians as study systems and demonstrate that species richness and genetic diversity are not correlated. Species richness thus cannot act as a surrogate for genetic diversity. Our results have important consequences for implementing theCBDwhen designing conservation strategies.

We used four potentially unlinked nuclear DNA regions from the gene family encoding the second largest subunit of the RNA polymerases, as well as the psbE-petG spacer and the rps16 intron from the chloroplast genome, to evaluate the origin of and relationships within Heliosperma (Sileneae, Caryophyllaceae). Relative dates of divergence times are used to discriminate between hybridization and gene duplication/loss as alternative explanations for topological conflicts between gene trees. The observed incongruent relationships among the three major lineages of Heliosperma are better explained by homoploid hybridization than by gene duplication/losses because species branching events exceed gene coalescence times under biologically reasonable population sizes and generation times, making lineage sorting an unlikely explanation. The origin of Heliosperma is complex and the gene trees likely reflect both reticulate evolution and sorting events. At least two lineages have been involved in the origin of Heliosperma, one most closely related to the ancestor of Viscaria and Atocion and the other to Eudianthe and/or Petrocoptis.