For Shielding Endangered Neighbors, Pandas Make Flimsy Umbrellas
A new study challenges a common hypothesis about how protecting charismatic species also conserves animals that are less well known.
Pandas are an example of what’s called an umbrella species: a charismatic, well-known and endangered animal whose protection benefits an entire ecosystem and all the wildlife therein.Credit...Fang Wang
By Rachel Nuwer
Like many undergraduate biology students, Fang Wang was taught that pandas are a prime example of an umbrella species — a charismatic, well-known and usually endangered animal whose protection benefits an entire ecosystem and all the wildlife that lives there.