Likewise, researchers in central Europe recently concluded that a list of 168 beetle species found on decaying wood would provide an effective umbrella for identifying and protecting relict stands of primeval forest. When researchers at the University of Florida applied a battery of ecological criteria to longleaf pine forests, they found that the gopher tortoise, another keystone species, provided a broader umbrella for threatened species in that habitat. But вЂњflagshipвЂќ and вЂњkeystoneвЂќ donвЂ™t automatically add up to umbrella species. ItвЂ™s also a вЂњkeystoneвЂќ species, meaning that it has a positive influence on the structure or function of its ecosystem. ItвЂ™s a вЂњflagshipвЂќ species in the sense that it has obvious charismatic appeal for engaging policy makers and the public. In FloridaвЂ™s longleaf pine forests, for instance, the red-cockaded woodpecker might seem like the natural umbrella species for establishing protected areas. The species that stand out to human eyes donвЂ™t always turn out to be the best umbrella species for their habitat. Making the umbrella concept effective, that study concluded, requires far more careful consideration of вЂњthe characteristics of the umbrella species, the reserve delineated on its behalf, and the similarity of the umbrella species to its purported background species.вЂќ For 52 background species of conservation concern, it was even worse: The umbrella covered as little as 0 to 63 percent of their habitat. According to the resulting report in the Journal of Wildlife Management, the proposed conservation umbrella would have protected only 82 percent of the stateвЂ™s sage grouse population.

The researchers mapped the extent of semi-protected habitat for sage grouse statewide and then overlaid that onto habitat maps for background species. In reality, Carlisle and his co-authors suggest, the protective umbrella created under the 2015 agreement should have been even larger, at least in Wyoming. Then, last August the Trump Administration threw out that Obama-era agreement and reopened sage grouse habitat on federal lands to additional mining, drilling, cattle grazing, and off-road vehicle use - all factors that helped imperil sage grouse in the first place. In 2015, an unprecedented consortium of states, federal agencies, private landowners, industry, and environmentalists agreed to a painstakingly negotiated collaboration to protect the sage grouse and to make it an umbrella for 350 other вЂњbackgroundвЂќ species in sagebrush habitat. ItвЂ™s widely considered (but not officially listed as) an endangered species, with a population down from millions of individuals across 16 states and three Canadian provinces a century ago to fewer than 400,000 in a sharply reduced and fragmented range today. But the complications quickly pile up.ДЄcross much of the American West, the greater sage grouse is one such umbrella species. вЂњThe umbrella species concept is an appealing shortcut,вЂќ says Jason Carlisle, who conducted the research as a doctoral candidate at the University of Wyoming. ItвЂ™s the idea routinely advocated by conservationists that establishing and managing protected areas for the benefit of one surrogate species - from gorillas to grizzly bears - will also indirectly benefit a host of other, less charismatic species sharing the same habitat.

ThatвЂ™s one implication of new research looking at the umbrella species concept, one of the fundamental ideas driving conservation efforts worldwide. Conservationists often criticize state fish and game departments for focusing single-mindedly on one species to the detriment of everything else - for instance, improving habitat for elk, which then browse down habitat for songbirds.В But what if conservationists - who donвЂ™t have that traditional hook-and-bullet mindset - nonetheless inadvertently do much the same thing?

Umbrella species