The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center developed a Monarch Relevant Land Cover data set covering the area of Mexico. We used the 2010 land cover data set produced by the tri-national North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) and supported by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) that depicts year 2010 land cover across North America at 30-meter spatial resolution, and incorporated additional spatially-explicit information to develop this land cover map. Additional sources of information included 2004 railroad data provided by Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía and the CEC, 2011 roads data provided by Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, 2017 protected areas data provided by the CEC, and 2006 Mexico municipalities data provided by Sistemas de Información Geográfica.

The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center developed a Monarch Relevant Land Cover data set covering the area of Canada. We used the 2010 land cover data set produced by the tri-national North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS) and supported by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) that depicts year 2010 land cover across North America at 30-meter spatial resolution, and incorporated additional spatially-explicit information to develop this land cover map. Additional sources of information included 2004 railroad data provided by The Atlas of Canada and the CEC, 2017 roads data provided by Statistics Canada, 2017 protected areas data provided by the CEC, and 2016 Canada provincial/territory boundary file data provided by Statistics Canada.

The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center developed a Monarch Butterfly Relevant Land Cover data set covering the conterminous United States of America. This data set was used primarily to assist in forecasting the number of milkweed stems on the landscape. Milkweed are required by monarch butterflies for reproduction and one possible cause for the decline in monarch butterfly numbers is thought to be the loss of milkweed. We used the Cropland Data Layer 2015 as well as additional spatially explicit information to develop the monarch relevant land cover data set. Additional sources of information included 2014 United States Department of Agriculture Conservation Reserve Program enrollment locations; railroad, power line, and road rights of way; marginal versus productive farmland as determined by the 2012 United States Department of Agriculture National Commodity Cropland Productivity Index; and a characterization of urban versus outside urban environs. Due to the inherent sensitivity of the Conservation Reserve Program and Transmission line data sets, we created this non-sensitive version of the Monarch Butterfly Relevant Land Cover data set for distribution with those two data sets not used in the development.

The decline of the iconic monarch butterfly in North America has motivated research on the impacts of land use and land cover (LULC) change and climate variability on monarch habitat and population dynamics. We investigated spring and fall trends in LULC, milkweed and nectar resources over a 20-year period, and ~30 years of climate variables in Mexico and Texas, a key region supporting spring and fall migration during monarchs annual life cycle. We estimated a 2.9% decline in milkweed in Texas, but little to no change in Mexico. Fall and spring nectar resources declined <1% in both countries. Vegetation greenness increased in both the fall and spring in Mexico while the other climate variables, for both countries, did not. Monarch habitat in Mexico and Texas appears relatively more intact than in other parts of their range, particularly the midwestern agricultural landscapes of the US. Given the relatively modest observed changes, it seems unlikely that habitat loss (quantity and quality) in Mexico and Texas has caused large declines in population size or survival during migration.

The USDA Forest Service (USFS) builds two versions of percent tree canopy cover data, in order to serve needs of multiple user communities. These datasets encompass conterminous United States (CONUS), Coastal Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands (PRUSVI). The two versions of data within the v2021-4 TCC product suite include: The initial model outputs referred to as the Science data; And a modified version built for the National Land Cover Database and referred to as NLCD data. The NLCD product suite includes data for years 2011 through 2021. The NCLD data are processed to remove small interannual changes from the annual TCC timeseries, and to mask TCC pixels that are known to be 0 percent TCC, non-tree agriculture, and water. A small interannual change is defined as a TCC change less than an increase or decrease of 10 percent compared to a TCC baseline value established in a prior year. The initial TCC baseline value is the mean of 2008-2010 TCC data. For each year following 2011, on a pixel-wise basis TCC values are updated to a new baseline value if an increase or decrease of 10 percent TCC occurs relative to the 2008-2010 TCC baseline value. If no increase or decrease greater than 10 percent TCC occurs relative to the 2008-2010 baseline, then the 2008-2010 TCC baseline value is caried through to the next year in the timeseries. Pixel values range from 0 to 100 percent. The non-processing area is represented by value 254, and the background is represented by the value 255. The Science and NLCD tree canopy cover data are accessible for multiple user communities, through multiple channels and platforms. For information on the Science data and processing steps see the Science metadata. Information on the NLCD data and processing steps are included here.

Stabilizing the eastern, migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is expected to require substantial habitat restoration on agricultural land in the core breeding area of the Upper Midwestern U.S. Previous research has considered the potential to utilize marginal land for this purpose because of its low productivity, erodible soils, and high nutrient input requirements. This strategy has strong potential for restoring milkweed (Asclepias spp.), but may be limited in terms of its ability to generate additional biophysical and socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Here we explore the possibility of restoring milkweed via the creation of continuous riparian buffer strips around perennial and intermittent streams throughout the region. We use a GIS-based analysis to consider the potential of several different buffer-width scenarios to meet milkweed restoration targets. We further estimate the ability of these habitat areas to provide additional functionality in the form of crop pollination and water quality regulation across the entire region. Finally, we estimate the conservative economic value of these ecosystem services and compare it with the lost value of crops associated with each scenario. Results suggest that riparian buffers could be used to meet 10-43% of the total milkweed restoration target of 1.3 billion new stems with moderate management. The value of water quality and pollination benefits provided by buffers is estimated to exceed costs only for our smallest buffer-width scenario, with a cost-benefit ratio of 1:2.05. Larger buffer widths provide more milkweed, but costs to farmers exceed the benefits we were able to quantify. The large-scale restoration of multifunctional riparian corridors thus has the potential to add milkweed stems while also providing a variety of other valuable benefits. This suggests the potential to leverage monarch habitat restoration efforts for the benefit of a wider variety of species and a broader coalition of beneficiaries.

Stabilizing the eastern, migratory population of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) is expected to require substantial habitat restoration on agricultural land in the core breeding area of the Upper Midwestern U.S. Previous research has considered the potential to utilize marginal land for this purpose because of its low productivity, erodible soils, and high nutrient input requirements. This strategy has strong potential for restoring milkweed (Asclepias spp.), but may be limited in terms of its ability to generate additional biophysical and socioeconomic benefits for local communities. Here we explore the possibility of restoring milkweed via the creation of continuous riparian buffer strips around perennial and intermittent streams throughout the region. We use a GIS-based analysis to consider the potential of several different buffer-width scenarios to meet milkweed restoration targets. We further estimate the ability of these habitat areas to provide additional functionality in the form of crop pollination and water quality regulation across the entire region. Finally, we estimate the conservative economic value of these ecosystem services and compare it with the lost value of crops associated with each scenario. Results suggest that riparian buffers could be used to meet 10-43% of the total milkweed restoration target of 1.3 billion new stems with moderate management. The value of water quality and pollination benefits provided by buffers is estimated to exceed costs only for our smallest buffer-width scenario, with a cost-benefit ratio of 1:2.05. Larger buffer widths provide more milkweed, but costs to farmers exceed the benefits we were able to quantify. The large-scale restoration of multifunctional riparian corridors thus has the potential to add milkweed stems while also providing a variety of other valuable benefits. This suggests the potential to leverage monarch habitat restoration efforts for the benefit of a wider variety of species and a broader coalition of beneficiaries.

This 30-meter resolution data set represents the tree canopy layer for the conterminous United States for the 2001 time period. The data have been arranged into four tiles to facilitate timely display and manipulation within a Geographic Information System, browse graphic: nlcd01-partition.jpg The National Land Cover Data Set for 2001 was produced through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. The MRLC Consortium is a partnership of Federal agencies (www.mrlc.gov), consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). One of the primary goals of the project is to generate a current, consistent, seamless, and accurate National Land Cover Database (NLCD) circa 2001 for the United States at medium spatial resolution. For a detailed definition and discussion on MRLC and the NLCD 2001 products, refer to Homer and others (2004) and http://www.mrlc.gov/mrlc2k.asp. The NLCD 2001 was created by partitioning the United States into mapping-zones. A total of 68 mapping-zones browse graphic: nlcd01-mappingzones.jpg were delineated within the conterminous United States based on ecoregion and geographical characteristics, edge-matching features, and the size requirement of Landsat mosaics. Mapping-zones encompass the whole or parts of several states. Questions about the NLCD mapping zones can be directed to the NLCD 2001 Land Cover Mapping Team at the USGS/EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov.

This 30-meter resolution data set represents the tree canopy layer for the conterminous United States for the 2001 time period. The data have been arranged into four tiles to facilitate timely display and manipulation within a Geographic Information System, browse graphic: nlcd01-partition.jpg The National Land Cover Data Set for 2001 was produced through a cooperative project conducted by the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) Consortium. The MRLC Consortium is a partnership of Federal agencies (www.mrlc.gov), consisting of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). One of the primary goals of the project is to generate a current, consistent, seamless, and accurate National Land Cover Database (NLCD) circa 2001 for the United States at medium spatial resolution. For a detailed definition and discussion on MRLC and the NLCD 2001 products, refer to Homer and others (2004) and http://www.mrlc.gov/mrlc2k.asp. The NLCD 2001 was created by partitioning the United States into mapping-zones. A total of 68 mapping-zones browse graphic: nlcd01-mappingzones.jpg were delineated within the conterminous United States based on ecoregion and geographical characteristics, edge-matching features, and the size requirement of Landsat mosaics. Mapping-zones encompass the whole or parts of several states. Questions about the NLCD mapping zones can be directed to the NLCD 2001 Land Cover Mapping Team at the USGS/EROS, Sioux Falls, SD (605) 594-6151 or mrlc@usgs.gov.