You can assign a selection (curves, follicles, CVs, hair system) to either an existing hair system or a new hair system.
If the selection consists of hairs that are currently part of another hair system and you assign this to a new hair system, the original hair system will be duplicated and the selected hairs attached to that duplicate. Thus this provides a means where one can take a few hairs and adjust hair system settings for just those hairs.
To assign a selection to a hair system