USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN WILDLIFE SCIENCE
β β β β βY = β0 + β1x1+ β2x2 + β3x3 + βnxn ……
Brian KertsonWildlife Science GroupSFR/WACFWRU
COUGARS IN A RAPIDLY URBANIZING WORLDURBANIZING WORLD
COUGAR STUDY CHALLENGES
• Far‐ranging :• Far‐ranging :
‐M: 505 km2
‐F: 168 km2
• Movements:• Movements:‐M: 4.17 km/day
‐F: 2.82 km/day
STUDYING COUGAR
• Often requires capture
• Outfit with GPS radio llcollars
‐2 – 4 hr fix location inter alsintervals
‐Lots of spatial data
V‐Very accurate
WHY USE GIS?WHY USE GIS?
• Straight‐forward integration of spatial‐Straight forward integration of spatialtemporal data sets over large geographic areasareas
• Spatial analyses and queries not available in other software packagesother software packages
• Preparation of data files for statistical l i i h R SPSS M l banalysis with R, SPSS, Matlab, etc.
• Making pretty and impressive maps
USES OF GIS IN WILDLIFE SCIENCEUSES OF GIS IN WILDLIFE SCIENCE
• Home range size and overlapHome range size and overlap
• Movement analyses
Q if i h bi• Quantifying habitat
‐Loss and conversion
• Wildlife‐landscape relationships
• Landscape planning and conservationLandscape planning and conservation
GIS WILDLIFE EXTENTSIONSGIS WILDLIFE EXTENTSIONS
• Hawth’s ToolsHawth s Tools
• Home Range Tools (HRT)
C id i• Corridor Design
• Geospatial Modeling Environment (GME)
• Fragstats
• Many othersMany others
GIS IMAGERY APPLICATIONS
• Powerful tool for conveying complex ideas in a simple wayp y
• Critical for explaining spatial data
• A multitude of available options for analysis• A multitude of available options for analysis and display
RESOURCE UTILIZATION FUNCTIONS
99% Utilization DistributionAnimal relocations
99% Utilization Distribution(Use values) Sampling grid
Use and habitat covariates
Ruf.fit
UD ESTIMATION
• Fixed kernel
• Min. of 30 relocations
‐Preferably n ≥ 50
• Resolution (grid size):(g )
‐25 or 30 m common
• Bandwidth smoothing (h)Bandwidth smoothing (h)
‐Most critical component
F136 F327
M324M323M323
LANDSCAPE LAYERSLANDSCAPE LAYERS
Distance to Water
WILDLIFE‐LANDSCAPE RELATIONSHIPSWILDLIFE LANDSCAPE RELATIONSHIPS
RESOURCE COMPARISONRESOURCE COMPARISON
MAPPING PREDICTED OCCURRENCE
GIS CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONSMANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
• Identify key resources to manage and conserveIdentify key resources to manage and conserve
• Identify high quality habitats
l i i• Develop proactive management strategies
‐71.5% of confirmed interactions occurred in high and med‐high use habitats
‐Management hotspotsg p
• Direct applications, many formerly unavailable
THE FUTURETHE FUTURE
• Increasing technological advancements increase g gdata quality and quantity
• Increasing use of GIS across disciplines‐Wildlife‐ForestryW t R‐Water Resources‐TransportationUrban Planning‐Urban Planning
• GIS knowledge and skills are extremely valuable and highly sought afterg y g
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