Umbrella Species - All For One And One For All!

Last Friday I wrote about the large Blue butterfly and referred to it as an umbrella species. So in this post I want to look into what exactly an umbrella species is and how important they actually are!

There are several slightly different definitions, but the general consensus is that an umbrella species is a species which conservation contributes to the general ecosystem due to it possessing a large habitat or other requirements which filter down to benefit different species.

As I’m sure you can gather from the definition umbrella species they are extremely importa

nt in the whole scheme of things. The majority of species which are currently undergoing conservation efforts are umbrella species. For example tigers, wolves and other large predators all of which require huge ranges to source their prey from make fantastic umbrella species. This in turn acts as a reason for large reserves to be set up and so target prey species and non-prey species to benefit from the predator’s conservation efforts. Another umbrella species which we’ve recently discussed on this blog is the Giant Panda. If you read the weekly article a few weeks ago you will know that pandas are no longer on the IUCN red list as an endangered species.

There are however some species which are not apex predators but are still known as an umbrella species. An example of which would be the Sage Grouse as they require a variety of very specific habitats throughout the year for both forage and lekking.

The term umbrella species can also be stretched into the aquatic and marine environments as well as specific reserves will not only benefit the target species but it will also protect other species from over fishing, giving them a safe environment to flourish in (depending on fishing regulations). This has been seen in the endangered humphead wrasse which is found within coral reef systems meaning effort to save this species help many thousands of other species which are found on the reefs.

An article published from the University of Washington Conservation (2001) determined that there are three areas which a species needs to possess to be a successful umbrella species. The first of which is co-occurrence of species, by this they mean that the species has to have a range which includes the greatest number of other species as possible. This makes them the ‘most profitable’ in terms of biodiversity to protect. Secondly degree of ubiquity is important, as if they are to common they will be found in all sorts of habitats and so some of those areas will have a low biodiversity and so not be a beneficial area to put the effort into. On the other hand if the species is to rare they won’t inhabit an area large enough to benefit enough other species to be classed as an umbrella species. The final areas where a species needs to excel to be a good umbrella species is sensitivity to human disturbance as animals which are sensitive are targeted as if they can be conserved other species which are either as sensitive or less sensitive will also be successful.

So umbrella species are an extremely important conservation tool, which are leading conservation efforts into more ecosystem protection rather than individual species approach.

Thanks for reading!

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