USGS mapping of western mule deer migration featured in new global atlas

The atlas, billed as a "living atlas" that will include more migrations in the future, was created by an international team of scientists and wildlife managers working under the auspices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, a treaty of the United Nations. Ungulates are hoofed mammals, many of which migrate long distances and play critical roles in their ecosystems.

"In the American West, it has taken close collaboration with many partners to map ungulate migration routes, and it's been exciting to team up with this global community of researchers," said Matt Kauffman, a USGS research wildlife biologist who helped lead the international team. "In this new international effort, we've expanded the scientific approach to understanding migrations by leveraging existing workflows we developed for sharing data, analyzing migration tracks, and making the resulting migration maps publicly available."

Using lessons learned from mapping migrations in the western U.S., Kauffman played a key role in the Global Initiative for Ungulate Migration, informing the mapping of migrations for species as diverse as wildebeest, zebra and Mongolian gazelle.

The new atlas features detailed migration maps created from tracking data collected by wildlife managers and researchers from around the world. The team has also compiled a fact sheet for each migration, and the full set is available to the public so they can be used for conservation planning amid a growing human footprint.

Prior to the work of this international team, the USGS has worked with its state and Tribal partners to build a science-based approach to migration conservation. Since 2018, the USGS has worked collaboratively to map nearly 200 migration routes for ungulate herds in the American West. These maps have proven crucial for informing decisions about conservation, infrastructure development and policy.

"Globally, the impact of linear infrastructure, such as roads and fences, is an increasingly common threat to ungulate migrations, which are critical to maintain abundant ungulate populations and the associated ecosystem services they provide. The detailed maps in the Atlas of Ungulate Migration are and will be an important resource for those looking to conserve these ecologically important populations," said Kauffman.

To learn more, visit the digital Atlas of Ungulate Migration, the USGS ungulate migration corridor mapping project webpage, and the Convention on Migratory Species news release announcing the Atlas.