Linking GIS with models of ecological risk assessment for endangered species

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Abstract:

A model that links GIS to models for viability analysis and risk assessment is applied to endangered species, including the Spotted Owl in the northwestern US, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker in Louisiana, and the California Gnatcatcher in Orange County, California. The model integrates landscape data on habitat requirements with demographic data to analyze risks of extinction, evaluate management options, and assess human impact on wildlife populations. Other applications of the model involve design of nature reserves, wildlife management, and population viability analysis. The model analyzes habitat data exported from a GIS, and identifies the patches of habitat that can support a population. The structure of these patches, including their locations, sizes and distances from each other, define the spatial structure of the metapopulation. The spatial structure is combined with demographic data and other information on the ecology of the species to complete a metapopulation model, which incorporates age or stage structure and density dependence for each population, spatial correlation and dispersal among populations, environmental and demographic stochasticity and catastrophes. The model performs a risk analysis, and runs multiple simulations, automatically changing parameters to analyze the sensitivity of risks to input data.

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Reference Code: U96AKC01IDUS

Full Citation: Akcakaya, H. R. 1996, Linking GIS with models of ecological risk assessment for endangered species. Third International Conference on Integrating GIS and Environmental Modeling, Santa Fe, New Mexico, January 23, 1996. National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis, Santa Barbara, CA. Not paged.

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URL: http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/conf/SANTA_FE_CD-ROM/sf_papers/akcakaya_resit/... http://www.ramas.com/santafe.htm