High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change

This landmark study produced the first globally consistent, high-resolution maps of forest loss and gain in the 21st century using satellite imagery, quantifying deforestation at fine scale across the world. The resulting datasets transformed how researchers measure habitat change, including for forest-dependent cats such as tigers, jaguars, and clouded leopards. By providing transparent, repeatable, year-by-year forest-change data, the work became a standard input for analyses of habitat loss and fragmentation. It matters for felid conservation as the empirical foundation many studies use to track where and how fast cat habitat is disappearing, replacing patchy national statistics with a uniform global picture of forest dynamics directly relevant to land-use impact assessment.