Use of focal species in marine conservation and management: a review and critique

1. Focal species (i.e. indicators, keystones, umbrellas, and flagships) hav e been advocated for the management and conservation of natural environment s. 2. The assumption has been that the presence or abundance of a focal specie s is a means to understanding the composition and/or state of the more comp lex community. 3. We review the characteristics of focal species, and evaluate their appro priateness and utility judged against conservation objectives. 4. It appears that indicator species (of both composition and condition) ma y be of greatest general utility, and that several types of focal species m ay exhibit useful indicator properties. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Son s, Ltd.