More Ecologically Important Species?

When charismatic fauna take up all of our limited attention and conservation resources, the suffering of other species may ensue. One of the most essential and also toughest part of research is prioritising of research efforts. Prioritising charismatic fauna can also result in a misrepresentation of the environment and ecosystem, since only the popular and well-financed species would be understood and studied well enough to be labelled “endangered”.

Fundamentally, decisions made in the name of conservation have real and direct impacts for protecting species in question, and our biasness towards the charismatic fauna leaves many other ecologically more important species in the lurch. 

Proponents of the phenomenon argue that charismatic fauna are often keystone species as well; species with a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem, and are therefore critical for the health and structural integrity of their ecosystem. However, this argument may not be entirely true, as many endangered charismatic animals do not fall into the category of keystone species.

A good example would be the giant pandas, once again. While they definitely have a role to play in maintaining the stability of their ecosystems, as do all species, there are, arguably, many more important species with even more crucial interactions within the biosphere that cannot be lost, lest collapse be upon their ecosystems. For instance, soil invertebrates, having an impact on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil, are crucial keystone species. Without them, many important ecological issues, including soil fertility, erosion, and toxicity, would arise, leading to much disturbance in their ecosystems. Despite the fact that declining soil invertebrate diversity and abundance could mean the loss of many crucial ecosystem services provided by these species, they continue to be insufficiently monitored and studied, silently going extinct while species of comparatively less ecological important such as pandas receive all the love and concern for being cute and cuddly. 

Overall, forgetting about these more ecologically significant species by channelling all funding and efforts into protecting charismatic fauna instead might be inefficient prioritisation of resources, if we want to keep ecosystems healthy.