MAV Forest Protection Model

<div><p>FOR non-AGOL ACCOUNT HOLDERS, DOWNLOAD THIS GEOSPATIAL DATA HERE: </p><p>https://gis-fws.opendata.arcgis.com/search?tags=lmvjv</p></div><font size='3'><font color='#000000' face='futura-pt'><span style='letter-spacing:1.32px;'>We assessed the conservation–protection status of land within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley because without protection, existing forests are subject to conversion to other uses. We found that only 10% of total land area was currently protected, although 28% of extant forest was in the current conservation estate. For forest patches, we prioritized their need for additional conservation–protection based on benefits to forest bird conservation afforded by forest patch area, geographic location, and hydrologic condition. Based on these criteria, we found that 4712 forest patches warranted conservation–protection, but only 109 of these forest patches met our desired conservation threshold of &gt;2000 ha of core forest that was &gt;250 m from an edge. Overall, 35% of the area of forest patches warranting conservation–protection was protected within the conservation estate. Even so, for those forest patches identified as most in need of conservation–protection, less than 10% of their area was currently protected.</span></font></font>