Benefits of Golden-winged Warbler and Cerulean Warbler habitat restoration for non-target forest birds: An empirical examination of the focal species concept

Despite the growing popularity of using single species as surrogates for biodiversity, conservation interventions for a single taxon do not always benefit other species within the community. Using a suite of multiple focal species, together, may better guide management that benefits entire ecological communities. Here, we provide the first empirical evaluations of community-level outcomes of two real-world management programs structured around focal species. Specifically, we assess the extent to which forest management intended to benefit a pair of imperiled songbird species, the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea), provides benefits to non-target forest bird species in the eastern United States. Using data from 803 sites surveyed over seven years across three central Appalachian states, we demonstrate that silvicultural treatments designed to benefit the two focal species also increased occupancy probabilities for 25 of 64 non-focal species, including 6 of 25 species identified as high-priority for the regions. Focal-species treatments also on average supported 4-7 more bird species per point than reference unmanaged, mature forests. Only 4 of 64 species were found to have lower occupancy probability in treated forests. These results provide evidence that forest management for Golden-winged and Cerulean Warblers provides meaningful co-benefits to other species in the central Appalachians and thus support use of multiple focal species to efficiently conserve a larger proportion of the avian community.