Established and empirically derived landbird focal species lists correlate with vegetation and avian metrics

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 alternate matrices performed with equal correlative strength and/or significance. For example, existing PIF focal species lists were significantly correlated to the entire assemblage at five of the six parks and had ecologically meaningful correlations (>0.70) at four. However, PIF focal species list correlations with park specific species of concern and common species in steep declined varied widely, with correlations between 0.040–0.943 and 0.210–0.556, respectively. Averaged across park units the empirical focal species lists developed to represent both vegetation metrics and species of concern improved correlation with all alternative matrices of avian assemblages and vegetation metrics. We found that the focal species approach generally represented the entire avian community, but did not adequately represent suites of species of concern or common species in decline. Empirical testing is a critical step in validating or refining suites of focal species at management relevant scales, and in some instances, a more refined focal species list may increase overall utility of the surrogate species approach.