Priority-setting tool applied to Canada's landbirds based on concern and responsibility for species

As a contribution to Partners in Flight-Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Servi ce developed a ranking system to help set priorities for landbird species. Two complementary species list were generated; one with scores for "concern " representing vulnerability and population trend, and one for "responsibil ity" for regionally characteristic fauna. The concern score gave equal weig ht to vulnerability, a composite score based on abundance and breadth of ra nge, and population trend, because its purpose was to give early warning of potential problems. Responsibility scores were scale-free and were assigne d for the season in which the species is most abundant. Other systems for i dentifying species of concern may be more appropriate for other jurisdictio n or organisms, but the responsibility ranking is widely applicable. This s ystem is a coarse filter that generated preliminary ranks; additional infor mation should be considered in deciding how to allocate scarce resources fo r conservation. Unrefined results are nonetheless useful for a variety of p urposes, as illustrated by the scores for Canadian landbirds. About 25% of Canada's high-responsibility species are also of high concern. These high-c oncern species are not associated with specific habitats or migration patte rns. Conservation of species ranking high on concern and responsibility mer its cooperation with the United States and Mexico in particular. The scores identified improved monitoring as a priority conservation activity for Can ada.