U.S.-Mexico Borderland & vegetation community map

People on both sides of the United States-Mexico border need a high-resolution, binational vegetation community map that spans the entire United States-Mexico borderlands. Traditionally, mapping efforts in this region were impeded by complex logistics related to the international border, differing national needs and plans, and resource allocations and priorities. To address this need, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Southwest Biological Science Center partnered with the Sonoran Joint Venture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Migratory Bird Program, data engineers from the Department of Biosystems Engineering at the University of Arizona, and collaborators from the Wildlands Network, the Borderlands Program to produce the first prototype land cover map within the overlapping Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative’s Bird Conservation Region 33 (BCR33) using Landsat satellite data. BCR33 is an area of high biodiversity, providing habitat for bird species of concern and other wildlife. The land cover map supports FWS recovery plan efforts related to conservation planning activities for many species, including Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus), Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium brasilianum cactorum), Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), Yuma Ridgway’s Rail (Rallus obsoletus yumanensis), Bendire’s thrasher (Toxostoma bendirei), LeConte’s thrasher (Toxostoma lecontei), Masked Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus ridgwayi), jaguar (Panthera onca), and endangered plants such as Bartram’s stonecrop (Graptopetalum bartramii) and the Pima pineapple cactus (Coryphantha robustispina ssp. robustispina). In 2024, a Phase-II map for the full BCR33 region was completed, increasing the understanding of the binational nature of natural communities. The published map and associated paper can be found here.