R scripts to identify optimized grassland restoration sites in Kansas (version 1.0.0)

Ecological restoration is essential to meeting global biodiversity conservation goals. Given limited conservation budgets, deciding where to restore habitat is a key challenge for the coming decade. We developed a modeling approach to maximize conservation benefit/restoration cost ratios to optimize restoration. 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 animal 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. The modeling approach described here is flexible and can be updated for different ecosystems, species, and conservation priorities.