It’s Alive! “Living Maps” offer a state-of-the-art wildlife habitat monitoring system

Abstract

Until recently, wildlife habitat maps were static documents that can quickly become outdated anytime landscape conditions changed due to disturbances like wildfire, drought, and timber harvest. But now, researchers at the Rocky Mountain Research Station and their collaborators have developed an approach for producing near-real-time wildlife habitat maps using Google Earth Engine. These products are called Living Maps because of their ability to stay up to date - incorporating new input data and remaining accurate over time - thus functioning like an automated wildlife habitat monitoring system.

Citation

Miller, Sue; Jones, Gavin. 2026. It’s Alive! “Living Maps” offer a state-of-the-art wildlife habitat monitoring system. Science You Can Use Tool, February 2026. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 2 p.