explanation of the use of gis and remote sensing in wildlife and forestry.

1. USE OF GIS AND REMOTE
SENSING IN WILDLIFE AND
FORESTRY
PRESENTED BY
WAITON SHEREKETE

2. USE OF GIS IN WILDLIFE
• GIS TECHNOLOGY IS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR MANAGING,
ANALYZING, AND MAPPING WILDLIFE DATA SUCH AS
POPULATION SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION, HABITAT USE AND
PREFERENCE, CHANGES IN HABITATS, AND REGIONAL
BIODIVERSITY.

3. SPATIAL ECOLOGY & RS/GIS
• SE IS THE STUDY OF PATTERNS AND PROCESSES
OCCURRING IN A GEOGRAPHIC SPACE OR LANDSCAPE THAT
INFLUENCE CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANT AND ANIMAL
POPULATIONS SUCH AS DENSITIES, DISTRIBUTIONS AND
MOVEMENTS.
• GIS CAN BE USED FOR COLLATING, ANALYSING, UPDATING
AND MANAGING DATA IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT OR
RESEARCH PROJECTS.
• GIS ACTS AS A COMPUTERISED DATABASE MANAGEMENT
TOOL THAT OFFERS SOLUTIONS FOR PLANNING, PROBLEM
ANALYSIS AND MONITORING WILDLIFE

4. HO W DO WE USE SPATIAL
DATA?
• HOME RANGES
• HABITAT SELECTION
• BIOGEOGRAPHY QUESTIONS

5. HABITAT SELECTIO NMETHO DS
• POINTS ON A MAP
• POINTS ARE THEN ASSOCIATED WITH LOCATION-SPECIFIC DATA
• E.G. VEGETATION TYPE, DISTANCE FROM WATER, SLOPE, ELEVATION,
ASPECT, SOIL TYPE ETC.
• MANY DIFFERENT STATISTICAL ANALYSES OF RESULTS
• DEMO OF SIMPLE PROPORTIONAL OCCURRENCE
• BUFFALO AND VEGETATION TYPE, DISTANCE TO WATER

6. HABITAT RESTORATION
• CONSERVING WILDLIFE POPULATIONS OFTEN CONSISTS
OF RESTORING OR PROTECTING THREATENED HABITATS.
• THE VISUALIZATION ABILITY OF BOTH THEMATIC AND
STATISTICAL DATA MAKES GIS TECHNOLOGY WELL SUITED
TO MONITORING HABITATS.
• AREA FOUND TO BE SUFFERING FROM HUMAN
DISRUPTION, WEATHER, FOREST FIRES, OR OTHER
INTERFERENCES ARE TARGET AREAS FOR
CONSERVATION PRACTICES TO BE IMPLEMENTED.

7. BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION
• GIS TECHNOLOGY ENABLES MONITORING OF WILDLIFE
AND THEIR HABITATS SO THAT THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
CAN BE TRACKED AND POLICIES CAN BE IMPLEMENTED
TO PROTECT THREATENED AREAS.
• THE EARTH’S BIODIVERSITY IS ITS GUARANTEE OF
SURVIVAL. WHEN DEFORESTATION, EXTINCTION, AND
FRAGMENTATION HARM THIS BIODIVERSITY, THE
STRENGTH OF THE ENVIRONMENT DIMINISHES.

8. SPATIAL ECOLOGY & RS/GIS
• THE ABILITY TO OVERLAY SUCH DATA MAKES GIS
INSTRUMENTAL IN DELINEATING RELATIONSHIPS
BETWEEN WILDLIFE AND OUTSIDE FORCES
• THIS ENABLES THE VISUALIZATION OF BOTH WHERE
CONSERVATION PRACTICES NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED
AND WHAT CURRENT PROTECTION PLANS ARE
EFFECTIVE.

9. HO W DO WE USE SPATIAL
DATA?
• HOME RANGES
• HABITAT SELECTION
• BIOGEOGRAPHY QUESTIONS

10. TYPES OF DATA COLLECTED
• CENSUS OF WILDLIFE POPULATIONS AND SPATIAL
DISTRIBUTIONS IN THE RANGELANDS;
• SPECIES COMPOSITION ASSESSMENTS (RARE, THREATENED
(VUL 2 ENDANGEREMENT), ENDANGERED SPECIES (FACING
RISK O F EXTINCTIO N); AND
• HABITAT/ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES (HUMAN SETTLEMENT,
VEGETATION STRUCTURE, SURFACE WATER, AGRICULTURAL
ACTIVITIES, ETC) IN WILDLIFE AREAS.

11. DISEASE MONITORING
• GIS AND REMOTELY SENSED DATA CAN BE UTILIZED TO IMPROVE
THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF ANIMAL DISEASE CONTROL.
• THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES FOR SUCH MEASURES COULD BE:
(1) DEVELOP A DIGITAL DATABASE OF VEGETATION COVERAGE
USING SATELLITE IMAGERY; IN ORDER TO
(2) DEVELOP A MODEL TO CLASSIFY HABITAT
(3) TO IDENTIFY GEOGRAPHIC AND HABITAT FACTORS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE REPORTED ANIMAL DISEASE AND FINALLY
(4) TO DEVELOP A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT
INCORPORATED
THE RESULTS OF THIS RESEARCH INTO A TOOL FOR GAME
MANAGERS.

12. SUMMARY
GIS TECHNOLOGY IS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR MANAGING, ANALYZING,
AND VISUALIZING WILDLIFE DATA TO TARGET AREAS WHERE
INTERVENTIONAL , MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ARE NEEDED AND TO
MONITOR THEIR EFFECTIVENESS. GIS HELPS WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS EXAMINE AND ENVISION THE
FOLLOWING
• HABITAT REQUIREMENTS AND RANGES
• POPULATION PATCHES AND LINKAGES
• DISEASE LEVELS WITHIN POPULATIONS
• PROGRESS OF MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES
• HISTORICAL AND PRESENT WILDLIFE DENSITIES

13. USE OF GIS IN FORESTRY
MANAGEMENT.

14. GIS USAGE
GIS CAN BE USED:
• TO CREATE FORESTRY RESOURCES INVENTO RY AND
GENERATE DATABASE AT DIFFERENT SCALES.
• GIS CAN BE USED FOR SIMULATIO NOF VARIOUS SCENARIOS,
WHICH WOULD BE HELPFUL IN UNDERSTANDING
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN LANDUSE/COVER, AND FOR
GENERATING ACTION ORIENTED PRODUCTS OF USE TO
RESOURCE MANAGERS AND DEVELOPING A RELEVANT
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM (DSS).

15. GIS IN NATURAL RESOURCES
GIS SUPPORTS THE STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
OF DATA, INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS OF
THE RESOURCE DATA, AND DEVELOPMENT OF
THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS (RMP'S).
RESOURCE USE ALTERNATIVES ARE
FORMULATED, AND THE GIS IS USED TO
EVALUATE EACH IN TERMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT, ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS, ACREAGE,
AND POTENTIAL USE CONFLICT.
ONE IMPORTANT FUNCTION OF GIS IS TO ASSIST
IN RECOGNISING UNDERLYING PATTERNS IN
DATA.


16. RS & GIS IN FORESTRY
• DETAILED MAPPING OF FOREST MORPHOLOGY AND RELATED
HABITATS
• DEVELOPMENT OF SPATIAL AND NON-SPATIAL DATABASE
RELATED TO FORESTS AND FORESTRY ECOSYSTEMS
• DOCUMENTATION OF THE HEALTH OF FOREST ECOSYSTEMS
WITH REMOTE SENSING BASED APPROACHES

17. FORESTRESOURCESANDECOLOGICAL
MANAGEMENT
FORMULATION OF EFFECTIVE FOREST
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
REQUIRES DETAILED INFORMATION SUCH AS:
• GIS DATABASE OF THE FOREST
• TAXONOMIC DATABASE OF THE FLORA
(HERBS, SHRUBS, TREES, SEEDLINGS,
SAPLINGS, CLIMBERS)
• FOREST SOIL DATABASE (INCLUDING SOIL
CARBON)
• FOREST LITTER DATABASE

18. RS & GIS IN FORESTRY
• MONITORING HISTORICAL AND RECENT CHANGES IN FOREST
ECOSYSTEMS TO DETERMINE EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC
ACTIVITIES AND GLOBAL CHANGE, AND TO PROVIDE EARLY
WARNING OF SUCH STRESSFUL EVENTS (FIRES,
DEFORESTATION, LAND REFORM)
• GENERATING MAPS AND OTHER PRODUCTS OF IMMEDIATE
USE TO FORESTRY PLANNERS, MANAGERS, AND TO
DIFFERENT RESOURCE USER COMMUNITIES ON REGULAR
BASIS (I. E. TIMBER INDUSTRY, TOURISM, ETC.)

19. CONTIN….
• FRAGMENTATION AND BIODIVERSITY CHARACTERISATION
CAN BE CARRIED OUT BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF
LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY USING GIS.
• FOREST CARBON SEQUESTRATION PATTERNS CAN BE
STUDIED BASED ON THE BIOMASS, ESTIMATED THROUGH
AREA AND
REGION SPECIFIC BIOMASS EQUATIONS.
LANDUSE CHANGE AND ITS GRADIENT CAN BE ESTIMATED
USING SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES AND GIS
UTILISING MULTI-TIME DATASETS.