[3][4] The wood white was added to the UK BAP Priority Species list in 2005 due to a substantial decline in the population, especially in England.

Conservation efforts are currently striving to understand how to best maintain woodland regions and are examining the effect of climate change (particularly during the winter months) on egg survival.

[1] Since the species is currently depleting in size throughout England, it is primarily found in woodland pockets, such as the Haugh and Wigmore Woods of Herefordshire.

The wood white is found in the midlands and southern parts of the United Kingdom, largely in the clearings among woodlands or nearby shrubbery.

One of the most consistently populous regions of England in terms of L. sinapis is in Herefordshire, particularly the Haugh Wood and Wigmore Rolls woodlands.

Substantial habitat loss for wood whites occurs as a result of too much shrubbery or shade in their living environments.

[6] The female wood white flies near woodland areas with substantial shrubbery, and lays its eggs on tall food-plants.

There are, on average, four larval instars, which all tend to stay on the food-plant during development, eating the leaves of the plant onto which they hatched.

The resulting pale green or brown pupae are generally found on grass stems and on rose plants.

A population genetic study of male L. sinapis, L. reali and L. juvernica individuals showed no evidence for gene flow after divergence.

The two species tend to lay eggs on the same plants, causing researchers to hypothesize that host-plant selection is not the primary reason for niche-separation and later speciation.

A female would not want to be subjected to the long courtship ritual only to bear the cost of having hybridized offspring, so there is niche separation to prevent heterospecific mating.

Studies about how climate changes during the winter months affect pupation are being conducted to help develop conservation plans.

wood white males would need to mate with as many conspecific females as possible to maximize the number of viable offspring, while females benefit from only mating once, since the egg-laying process of choosing the best food-plant on which to oviposit is so time and energy intensive—mating multiple times would not be a good use of resources.

It had been long held that butterfly species feeding on nectar had served as pollinator vectors, but the L. sinapis demonstrates that this is not always the case.

in the woodlands where the butterflies lay their eggs and moist or colder weather during ovipositing season contribute to the lower quantities of adult wood whites during the months of June through August.

[3] The wood white butterfly was named a UK BAP Priority Species candidate in 2005, due to the substantial drop in population size in the last quarter century.