Restoring arid western habitats: Native plants maximize wildlife conservation effectiveness

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and other pollinating insects have garnered a lot of attention recently from federal and state wildlife officials. These two species and pollinators share dwindling sagebrush habitat in the western United States that is putting their populations at risk. Sagebrush landscapes transformed by disturbances often require significant effort to restore their ecological function, and achieving desired results can be far more difficult and slow without the correct strategy. Fortunately, habitat restoration efforts focused on increasing the abundance and diversity of critical forbs can simultaneously benefit all three at-risk populations.