An umbrella effect is the protection extended by the presence of an umbrella species

Umbrella species

Umbrella species are species selected for making conservation related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat. Species conservation can be subjective because it is hard to determine the...

 to other species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 in the same habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

. The umbrella species is often either a flagship species

Flagship species

The concept of flagship species is a surrogate species concept with its genesis in the field of conservation biology. The flagship species concept holds that by raising the profile of a particular species, it can successfully leverage more support for biodiversity conservation at large in a...

 whose conservation

Conservation biology

Conservation biology is the scientific study of the nature and status of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction...

 benefits other species or a keystone species

Keystone species

A keystone species is a species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance. Such species play a critical role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community, affecting many other organisms in an ecosystem and helping to determine the types and...

 which may be targeted for conservation due to its impact on an ecosystem

Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....

. More generally, an umbrella species determines the area over which conservation occurs. They are often representative of other species in their habitat, being an easily observable and known species. A good example of an umbrella species and its impact is summed up by Kimberly Andrews, a University of Georgia doctoral student at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory:

"Protecting a species like the canebrake has practical applications, as protection measures would have broad environmental

Natural environment

The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

 value because of an umbrella effect. That is, protecting the rattlesnakes would ensure protection of other wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

 species that use the same habitats but are less sensitive to development

Overdevelopment

Overdevelopment refers to a way of seeing global inequality that focuses on the negative consequences of excessive consumption. It exists as the mutually constitutive counterpart to the more commonly known concept of 'underdevelopment'....

 or require fewer resources."

The concept of an umbrella species is further utilized to create wildlife corridor

Wildlife corridor

A wildlife corridor or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities . This allows an exchange of individuals between populations, which may help prevent the negative effects of inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity that often occur within...

s or habitat corridor

Habitat corridor

A habitat corridor is a strip of land that aids in the movement of species between disconnected areas of their natural habitat. An animal’s natural habitat would typically include a number of areas necessary to thrive, such as wetlands, burrowing sites, food, and breeding grounds...

s with what are termed focal species. These focal species are chosen for a number of reasons and fall into several types, generally measured by their potential for an umbrella effect. By carefully choosing species based on this criterion, a linked or networked habitat can be created from single-species corridors. These criteria are determined with the assistance of geographic information systems

Geographic Information System

A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...

on the larger scale.
Regardless of the location or scale of conservation, the umbrella effect is a measurement of a species' impact on others and is an important part of determining an approach.