MONARCH BUTTERFLIES

Eastern monarchs have declined by more than 80 percent over the past two decades, according to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), and monarch populations west of the Rocky Mountains have dropped 99 percent since the 1980s. In December, the USFWS added monarchs to the waiting list for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Threats to monarchs include pesticides, global climate change, sprawl and illegal logging of the forests where they migrate for the winter.

Why they matter: Beauty aside, pollinators are the basis of life, says O’Mara of the NWF. (Pollinators carry pollen in and between flowers of the same species, fertilizing them so they produce fruit and seeds.) “They’re the connective tissue of all ecosystems. Without healthy pollinators, the impact on humans is devastating.”

AMERICAN PIKAS

Climate change is having an impact on these mango-size rabbit relatives living above the tree line in mountain ranges in the West. Warmer winters mean a loss of the snowpack that acts as insulation for them and their food stores, and hotter summers put them at risk of being unable to forage for food because of overheating. (Their thick fur means they can die when it’s 78 degrees or warmer.)

Why they matter: As pikas are trapped on warming mountaintops with no place else to go, they may offer a vision of the plight we may find ourselves ina s climate change intensifies, says Shaye Wolf, climate science director for the CBD. “That winter snowpack is critical.” Its loss threatens not just the pikas but the winter recreational industry and drinking water for many Western states.