View article

Surrogate species are commonly used in conservation science due to the fact that it is not feasible to measure and manage each component of biodiversity independently; yet, there is much debate about their efficacy. We use long‐term monitoring data from six national park units in northern California and southern Oregon to test the focal species approach, wherein a suite of species is selected whose habitat requirements collectively encompass those of co‐occurring species. Specifically, we examine how well existing Partners in Flight (PIF) habitat‐based focal species lists and empirically derived focal species lists represent vegetation and three avian assemblages of interest: the entire assemblage, species of concern, and common species in steep decline. Existing PIF focal species lists were significantly correlated with the three alternative matrices of avian assemblages and vegetation, but not all parks and …