The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sites that had once been crop or pasture land were restored anywhere from one to four years ago, according to Winkler. This involved taking the areas down to the bare ground and then seeding native grasses. Winkler used data from multiple sites taken over a one-year period. As expected, the younger sites had fewer ant species, with the numbers and diversity increasing over time. The restoration areas at age 1 had seven different species, while at age 2, the number had increased to nine and by age 3 to 10 species, Winkler reported. She expected the fourth year restorations to be even closer to the 17 species present in the undisturbed remnants, but what she saw was a slight decrease to eight species. Based on other research, she anticipates that the restored areas should peak in terms of species diversity within seven to eight years.