Abstract Substitute species (common species used to represent endangered species) are used to evaluate a range of conservation strategies globally. However, the effectiveness of this approach has not been empirically evaluated. We leveraged a large-scale habitat restoration experiment to test the validity of the substitute species concept. We selected a common butterfly, Satyrodes appalachia, that is on first inspection as near a substitute as possible - it is closely related to, overlaps in distribution, habitat requirements, host use, and life history with Neonympha mitchellii francisci, an endangered butterfly. We integrated small-scale measures of behavior, habitat preference, and demography of both species in our test, demonstrating that subtle differences between two species cause the substitute relationship to fail. Despite nearly identical habitat requirements, we found the endangered butterfly used different host plants, had higher larval survival in restored sites, and was found in more open habitat than the common butterfly. These differences added up to differences in abundances; the endangered species was more abundant than the common species in restored sites, the opposite was true in un-restored sites. Management decisions based on unvalidated substitute species run the risk of doing more harm than good for endangered species conservation. Instead, using experiments to evaluate a target species' response to management will result in effective recovery strategies.

中文翻译：

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替代物种是否有助于或阻碍濒危物种管理？

摘要 替代物种（用于代表濒危物种的常见物种）用于评估全球范围内的一系列保护策略。然而，这种方法的有效性尚未经过经验评估。我们利用大规模栖息地恢复实验来测试替代物种概念的有效性。我们选择了一种常见的蝴蝶 Satyrodes appalachia，它在首次检查时尽可能接近替代品 - 它与濒危蝴蝶 Neonympha mitchellii francisci 密切相关，在分布、栖息地要求、宿主使用和生活史方面有重叠。我们在测试中整合了两个物种的行为、栖息地偏好和人口统计的小规模测量，证明两个物种之间的细微差异导致替代关系失败。尽管栖息地要求几乎相同，但我们发现濒临灭绝的蝴蝶使用不同的寄主植物，在恢复地点的幼虫存活率更高，并且比普通蝴蝶在更开阔的栖息地中被发现。这些差异加起来就是丰度的差异；濒危物种比恢复地点的常见物种更丰富，而在未恢复地点则相反。基于未经验证的替代物种的管理决策冒着对濒危物种保护弊大于利的风险。相反，使用实验来评估目标物种对管理的反应将产生有效的恢复策略。并且在比普通蝴蝶更开放的栖息地中被发现。这些差异加起来就是丰度的差异；濒危物种比恢复地点的常见物种更丰富，而在未恢复地点则相反。基于未经验证的替代物种的管理决策冒着对濒危物种保护弊大于利的风险。相反，使用实验来评估目标物种对管理的反应将产生有效的恢复策略。并且在比普通蝴蝶更开放的栖息地中被发现。这些差异加起来就是丰度的差异；濒危物种比恢复地点的常见物种更丰富，而在未恢复地点则相反。基于未经验证的替代物种的管理决策冒着对濒危物种保护弊大于利的风险。相反，使用实验来评估目标物种对管理的反应将产生有效的恢复策略。