Recommendations for Assessing the Effectiveness of Surrogate Species Approaches

Abstract

Surrogate species approaches, including flagship, focal, keystone, indicator, and umbrella, are considered an effective means of conservation planning. For conservation biologists to apply surrogates with confidence, they must have some idea of the effectiveness of surrogates for the circumstances in which they will be applied. We reviewed tests of the effectiveness of surrogate species planning to see if research supports the development of generalized rules for (1) determining when and where surrogate species are an effective conservation tool and (2) how surrogate species should be selected such that the resulting conservation plan will effectively protect biodiversity or achieve other conservation goals. The context and methods of published studies were so diverse that we could not draw general conclusions about the spatial or temporal scales, or ecosystems or taxonomic groups for which surrogate species approaches will succeed. The science of surrogate species can progress by (1) establishing methods to compare diverse measures of effectiveness; (2) taking advantage of data-rich regions to examine the potential effectiveness of surrogate approaches; (3) incorporating spatial scale as an explanatory variable; (4) evaluating surrogate species approaches at broader temporal scales; (5) seeking patterns that will lead to hypothesis driven research; and (6) monitoring surrogate species and their target species.

Using risk prediction models and species sensitivity maps for large-scale identification of infrastructure-related wildlife protection areas: The case of bird electrocution

“…The SSM was obtained by applying an objective method to evaluate the spatial information concerning sensitive species employed as indicator/focal species (Andelman and Fagan, 2000;Favreau et al, 2006;Bright et al, 2008). Focal species were selected according to two criteria: conservation status in Spain and sensitivity to electrocution (Madroño et al, 2004).…”

Selection criteria for flagship species by conservation organizations

“…The finding that a non-charismatic species has the potential to fill the role of a flagship species when information that it is also an indicator species is provided, suggests that the ideal flagship species will be both a charismatic and an indicator species. Applications with the most efficient results originate from a combination of concepts (see Favreau et al 2006). Although the correlation between the probability of presence of an apparently non-charismatic species and increases in utility estimates suggests that public information has the ability to add to the influence of charisma, further research is required to compare the effects of simple probability of presence with the effects of a combination of presence and information about a link with ecological quality.…”

Protected area surface extension in Madagascar: Do endemism and threatened species remain useful criteria for site selection ?

“…as it helps to protect many other threatened species, biodiversity and ecosystems (Landres et al 1988, Favreau et al 2006. This has previously been demonstrated in the Manambolomaty site by using the critically-endangered Madagascar fish eagle as a flagship species (Rabearivony et al 2008).…”