Model Outputs Showing Optimized Grassland Restoration Sites in the Great Plains Region of Kansas

Ecological restoration is essential to meet global biodiversity conservation goals. Given limited conservation budgets, deciding where to restore habitat is a key challenge for the coming decade. This dataset includes optimal restoration sites selected from multiple restoration model scenarios. We developed a modeling approach to maximize conservation benefit/restoration cost ratios to prioritize restoration, and we illustrate this approach using a case study for highly threatened grassland ecosystems in the Great Plains region of Kansas, USA. We selected five grassland wildlife species [greater prairie chickens (Tympanuchus cupido), lesser prairie chickens (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), swift fox (Vulpes velox), pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), and regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia)] as indicators of restoration benefit across taxa.