THE COLLAPSING FOREST: MAPPING THE LOSS OF IVORY-BILL HABITAT

The dramatic loss of Ivory-bill habitat—from a large expanse of the southeastern United States to a small scrap of land in one swamp forest—can be tracked in this progression of maps, the first six of which are adapted from James Tanner’s research in the 1930s.

In Map 1 the white area shows the wide expanse of the Ivory-bill’s original distribution, which means that the bird might have been found within this area wherever habitat was suitable.

Maps 2 to 4 show the steady loss of habitat as the great riverbottom forests of the American South were cleared away after Reconstruction.

Maps 5 and 6 narrow the focus to the Singer Tract, the Louisiana forest where the Ivory-bill made its last known stand in the United States.

Map 7 shows the site of the successful searches for the Ivory-bill in Cuba in the mid-1980s.