Cuckoo as indicator of high functional diversity of bird communities: A new paradigm for biodiversity surrogacy

The implications for conservation are many: Hotspots determined by the occurrence of the cuckoo are areas with higher functional richness and evenness, also indicating high potential resilience. If host species are functionally diversified, the bird community provides higher resilience to any eventual catastrophic events. Finally, we underline how the cuckoo is a charismatic species, easy to monitor and adequate for citizen science, providing new information on the paradigm of surrogacy in ecology.