Browsing by Subject "Geographic Information System (GIS)"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    A GIS Approach to Habitat Restoration Site Selection and Prioritization in the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary
    (2005) Kunert, Kelly
    The New York-New Jersey Harbor is an urban estuary that has suffered the effects of industrial pollution, urban development, and harbor dredging. One of the most prominent issues arising from the Harbor’s urban history is the loss of wetland habitat. The New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program (HEP) has made it a priority to protect and restore habitat in the Harbor. The current method employed by the HEP to identify and prioritize habitats for restoration is a consensus decision approach. While this approach has been effective for identifying approximately 60 acquisition sites and 88 restoration projects, concern has been expressed by representatives from the agencies that fund these restoration projects that the current method is not scientifically grounded. This paper explores an alternate approach to habitat restoration site selection and prioritization in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary using a geographic information system (GIS). A set of habitat restoration criteria was developed and criteria grids depicting the developed parameters were created and analyzed using ArcGIS 9.0. The analysis results in three maps, identifying wetland sites, HEP acquisition sites, and HEP restoration sites that are most suitable for restoration efforts. From the maps, ten sites were identified as recommended sites for inclusion on the HEP Priority Acquisition and Restoration Sites List. Two accompanying tables prioritize the HEP acquisition and restoration sites based on their final suitability values indicated by the maps. Grids of the current HEP restoration and acquisition sites were overlain on the final wetlands suitability grid to compare the current restoration site selection method with the GIS approach. The comparison indicates that three wetland sites identified as top priority restoration sites by the GIS method were also identified by the current HWG consensus planning method. Seven of the GIS-selected sites are not currently listed on the HEP Priority Acquisition and Restoration Sites List.
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    A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF VERREAUX’S SIFAKA HABITAT IN KIRINDY MITEA NATIONAL PARK, MADAGASCAR
    (2007-05) Nagy, Heather
    Kirindy Mitea National Park contains one of the largest continuous tracts of dry forest left in Madagascar. Most of the dry, deciduous forest of western Madagascar is degraded and fragmented after years of deforestation from slash and burn agriculture and logging. Kirindy Mitea is a new research site, so little is known about the park as a whole and the species living there. This focal species of this project is the park’s largest lemur, Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi). The goals of this project were to determine the average home range size and group size of the species in Kirindy Mitea, and then compare those numbers to two other sites in southwestern Madagascar, Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve and Kirindy Forest/CFPF. In addition, GIS analyses were performed to look at the land cover changes that took place in Kirindy Mitea during a 16 year period. The results of that analysis were used to perform a GIS based threat analysis of the forest in the park, in order to determine what areas are at the highest risk of deforestation in the future. I found that the average home range size of Verreaux’s sifaka in Kirindy Mitea is larger than the average home range sizes in Beza Mahafaly and Kirindy CFPF (p=0.010). In addition, the home ranges have less overlap with neighboring groups in Kirindy Mitea, most likely due to a difference in habitat and a lack of tamarind trees. The land cover change analysis revealed that during 1990-2006, there has actually been a gain of over 4,000 ha of forest. However, during the most recent time period, 2000-2006, there was an overall loss of almost 2,000 ha of forest, and these areas of forest loss were concentrated around the park boundary and the savanna. The threat analysis determined that the factors that will most likely lead to deforestation in the future in Kirindy Mitea are proximity to the park boundary, the roads in the park, and the savanna. Using the results of the threat analysis, I was able to determine that about 10,500 ha of viable lemur habitat in the park is at high risk of deforestation in the future. Currently, the forest in Kirindy Mitea is quite continuous, and there is an adequate amount left to support large lemur species like Verreaux’s sifaka. It will be important for park managers to continue protecting the forest so that it does not become fragmented like most of the dry forest left in Madagascar. I recommend creating a buffer area around the park boundary and investing in additional security and park staff to monitor the remaining forest around the park boundary and near roads and savanna. Kirindy Mitea is a rare park in that it actually contains a large amount of continuous forest, so conserving those remaining large tracts of forest should be a top priority for park managers.
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    Estimating the Lower Temperature Limit of Bottlenose Dolphins Along the North Carolina Coast
    (2004) Shoemaker, Mandy
    During winter, the coastal ecotype of bottlenose dolphins are at the northern limit of their range off the coast of North Carolina. In this study, the distribution of coastal bottlenose dolphins in North Carolina was evaluated in response to variation in sea surface temperature to determine whether the distribution of dolphins was limited directly or indirectly by winter temperature minima. Observations of dolphin distribution were obtained from monthly aerial surveys conducted along the North Carolina coast during February 2000 through July 2001. Sea surface temperatures were obtained for each survey from NOAA’s Pathfinder satellite, using PO.DAAC Ocean ESIP Tool (POET). Where necessary, the sea surface temperature data was interpolated (krigged) over areas of cloud cover. The northern latitudinal and lower temperature distribution was determined for each survey. During winter months bottlenose dolphins were not distributed throughout their known range of 10-32 °C. Dolphins may be limited directly by temperature, due to the limits of their thermal neutral zone, or indirectly by temperature, through distribution of their prey. To determine how temperature is affecting dolphin distribution in the Western North Atlantic, future research should focus on determining the thermal neutral zone of dolphins in this region. In addition, it would be useful to build a model including other dynamic factors that may affect dolphin distribution. Although results suggest that more research is necessary, there is potential for using results from this type of analysis for management.
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    GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER HABITAT PRIORITIZATION IN CENTRAL TEXAS
    (2007-05) Belaire, J. Amy
    I examined the conservation opportunity for Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat represented by the initiation of the Fort Hood Recovery Credit System in the area immediately outside the boundaries of Fort Hood, Texas. Conservation planning requires a thorough and thoughtful examination of the landscape to achieve conservation goals as efficiently as possible in the face of limited financial resources. To successfully accomplish this challenging task, various components of Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat needs must be assessed to ensure that the patches with the greatest value to the species are conserved. However, the “best” sites are frequently not obvious or necessarily adequate in conservation planning scenarios. To aid in the conservation planning process, areas of Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat within 15 km of Fort Hood were identified and delineated using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Habitat patch values with respect to area, quality, and connectivity were also determined. Calculations for the area and quality metrics were fairly straightforward using GIS. The connectivity portion of this analysis used graph theory to examine the relationships among patches in the context of the surrounding landscape. Four aspects of connectivity were assessed using graph theory: (1) source/sink strength of each patch, (2) change in landscape traversability with patch removal, (3) the centrality (betweenness) of each patch, and (4) patch connection to important habitat areas within Fort Hood. The resulting product of this analysis is a table of values (area, effective area, and four connectivity metrics) to accompany each patch identified in the region surrounding Fort Hood. This information can help guide the conservation planning process in the face of financial constraints and varying levels of landowner cooperation.
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    MODELING GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER HABITAT IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
    (2007-05) Brown, Jamison
    The 2.5 percent annual decline of the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) over the past 39 years has concerned staff from various wildlife agencies and conservation organizations, prompting increased research to better identify and protect habitat for this neo-tropical migratory warbler. To aid the North Carolina Audubon Society in identifying lands for further research or survey efforts, the objectives of this project included: 1) Using a combination of geographic information systems (GIS) spatial analysis and three statistical modeling approaches – a Classification and Regression Tree (CART), a Generalized Linear Model (GLM), and MaxEnt – to predict suitable habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler across the study area; 2) Combining the results of all three modeling techniques to generate a conservative estimate of predicted habitat; 3) Mapping the results in a GIS, and; 4) Refining and prioritizing the predicted habitat. The results of this statistical analysis suggested that the variables of elevation, distance from developed open space, and the focal mean value of Montane Oak forest may be the most useful in predicting habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler in western North Carolina. To refine the raw, three model combined output, patches less than 10 hectares were omitted. Also, to prioritize patches, three scenarios involving lands managed for conservation and open space and North Carolina Audubon Important Bird Areas (IBAs) were compared by area, number of patches, and county in which the predicted habitat occurred. Finally, several factors may limit the practical use of this modeling effort. Thus, the mapped predicted habitat should only be used to guide further research and is not intended as a basis for management recommendations.
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    SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF CRUISE LINES AND CRITICAL BENTHIC HABITATS
    (2007-05) Thomas, Emma
    Due to concerns regarding the proximity of cruise line discharge to critical marine benthic habitats (i.e. corals and seagrasses), a science panel for the International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) has recently updated recommendations for the improvement of discharge practices. No previous spatial component exists to assess the distance relationship of cruise liners to critical benthic habitats. Duke University and Conservation International have collaborated on a pilot project to create a series of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) maps, indicating cruise ship track density and discharge locations with respect to “sensitive marine habitats”, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and the 20-meter depth contour in the southeastern Florida cruise line corridor from Fort Lauderdale to the Dry Tortugas. The pilot project will be used as a future reference point for mapping other high-density cruise line corridors in the Caribbean Sea.
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    Summer Habitat Preference of Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus Leucas) in Cook Inlet, Alaska
    (2005) Goetz, Kimberly T.
    The Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) lives in a confined body of water and therefore is susceptible to physical, ecological, and anthropogenic stresses. With approximately 360 animals remaining in the population and ongoing efforts to increase development in the area, it is important to identify habitat preferences of these whales. Advances in technology and statistical methods allow the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and environmental science to understand species distribution and habitat preferences. The present study aims to identify summer habitat areas using GIS applications. In predicting beluga habitat, twelve years of on-effort survey data were analyzed using logistic regression and Classification and Regression Tree (CART) to determine the importance of 1) bathymetry, 2) mudflats, and 3) flow accumulation values. Results suggest that mudflats are a significant predictor of beluga whale distribution during the summer months. While the importance of flow accumulation varied between the two models, belugas preferred higher flow accumulation inlets overall. The logistic regression and CART models produced similar habitat regions in terms of calculated area and relative location to beluga sightings. The habitat models developed in this study will aid biologists and wildlife managers in meeting conservation goals and making future legislative decisions to prevent the further decline of Cook Inlet belugas.
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    SUPPORTING INDICATOR-BASED MANAGEMENT: USING A GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM TO ASSESS THE INFLUENCE OF LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISTICS ON STREAM TURBIDITY IN THE LONG ISLAND SOUND WATERSHED
    (2007-05) Anson, Robie
    Officials with the Long Island Sound Study (LISS) are presently reviewing the suite of indicators used to assess and report on Long Island Sound’s ecological health and the programmatic success of the LISS. As part of this evaluation, managers seek to determine whether there are environmental variables that offer valuable information on ecosystem condition but that have not historically been tracked, or have not been utilized to their fullest potential. This paper reviews the use of ecological indicators by the LISS, explores the literature documenting relationships between land use/land cover and water quality and documents the use of a geographic information system (GIS) to perform an analysis of the impact that land use/land cover, slope and soil characteristics have on turbidity within the Long Island Sound (LIS) drainage basin. This paper then compares two models’ ability to predict turbidity: the first model includes information on land use/land cover, slope and soil characteristics while the second accounts for soil characteristics. Although the land use/land cover-based model outperforms the soil parameters-based model in predicting stream turbidity, neither model’s predictive ability is sufficiently strong to accurately forecast turbidity in the study area. These results are contrary to those documented in previous investigations. Further examination should be undertaken to determine whether an alternate methodology or inclusion of other relevant parameters would yield a more robust turbidity model.
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    The Effects of Scale on Conservation Prioritization for the Southern Piedmont, NC
    (2007-05) Moyer, Marissa L
    Opportunistic conservation, in which organizations wait for a crisis situation or for landowner initiation, is increasingly being abandoned in the land trust community for conservation prioritization. The advent of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) easily allows for the integration of geospatial data into a type of suitability analysis, allowing an organization to rank prospective sites. When prioritizing efforts, however, the question of what scale at which the analysis should be completed is an inevitable challenge. In this study, both county- and regional-level prioritizations were completed for the 10 counties of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin in the Southern Piedmont of North Carolina, the operating region for the LandTrust for Central North Carolina (LandTrust). In the county-level analysis, the top 10 parcels from each county were identified, while in the regional-level analysis, the top 100 parcels overall were identified. Finally, the LandTrust’s currently protected properties were evaluated to determine their conservation value. The analysis, based on the goals of the LandTrust, incorporates species and ecosystem, water feature, and adjacency to protected property criteria. Results suggest that conservation value is not equally distributed across the region; rather, more value is found in 2 counties (Richmond and Montgomery). The LandTrust may not want to exclusively focus on these counties, however, especially due to the heavy state and federal involvement in these areas. Additionally, the agricultural counties of the region may benefit from the protection of water quality. Analysis of the LandTrust’s currently protected properties shows that while much conservation value has been protected through their efforts, there are a number of unprotected properties remaining that may have more overall value than their past projects. Therefore, it will be important for the LandTrust to continue protecting properties throughout their region, but also to incorporate the results of the regional prioritization into their conservation efforts, so as to more effectively achieve their goals.
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    The Use of Geographic Information System for the Adaptive Reuse of Historical Sites: A Study of the Durham Belt Line Trail
    (2018) Kwon, Joungwon

    The Durham Belt Line, created in the 1800s, has since evolved in the 21st century into an adaptive reuse project. This thesis uses the trail as a model of adaptive reuse to highlight the value of incorporating GIS to understand a community in its historical context. This thesis first reviews and summarizes the evolution of urban redevelopment theory and practice, then presents relevant studies of adaptive reuse including New York City’s High Line and Greensboro’s Downtown Greenway. Following the cases studies, this thesis briefly explores the history of Durham and then discusses a digital trail of the Durham Belt Line Trail that reflects a comprehensive narrative of the past, present, and future of the city with the use of ESRI’s ArcGIS and StoryMap to present qualitative and quantitative socio-cultural information about Durham. This parallel digital trail offers the opportunity to explore the trail online and will assist users in making connections that are not visible when experiencing the physical space of the trail.

    The Durham Belt Line Trail is an adaptive reuse project with advantages and disadvantages. Thorough understanding of adaptive reuse as an urban development strategy is necessary to address the threats of abandoning Durham’s history and losing or fragmenting its well-established community in the process of physical transformation. Thus, Durham’s historical ties to tobacco and the present interests of the Durham community are investigated here, and Durham’s future is envisioned as one that can integrate awareness of the past and present communities into a vision for the future. By spatially integrating historical and contemporary narratives spatially, the GIS project of this thesis visualizes Durham’s transition into a digital city.

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    USING TAX RECORDS TO TRACK FOREST OWNERSHIP CHANGES: LAKE COUNTY, MINNESOTA 1996-2006
    (2007-05) Halvorsen, Jessica L.
    Over time, due to economic and social trends, patterns of forestland ownership change. Because forestland owners have differing goals and levels of forestry expertise, shifts in ownership can affect ecosystems and timber supply. In order to anticipate the effects of ownership change, it is important to track forestland ownership change as it occurs. Completed in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Extension, this master’s project examines changes in forestland ownership in Lake County, Minnesota between 1996 and 2006 by piloting an approach to categorization and analysis of county forestland tax records. Each owner was categorized into an ownership category, such as Corporate and Non-Industrial Private Forest Owner (NIPF). Changes in the acreages for the ownership types were mapped on a section-by-section basis in a geographic information system (GIS). By exploring the resulting maps in concert with the underlying dataset, patterns of forestland ownership, as well as individual land transfers, can be identified. The results of this project reveal the benefits and drawbacks of approaching land ownership change through tax records, while also providing insight into the dynamics of land ownership in Lake County. Forest industry ownership declined dramatically during the 1996-2006 period, and split into the NIPF, Nonprofit, and “Unknown” ownership types. Because of the low spatial resolution possible with this method, it is best used in concert with other investigatory methods.