Biodiversity conservation GIS: using geographic information systems to support conservation management decisions
Article No.: 58, Page 1
Abstract
Global changes threaten natural ecosystems that are collapsing and even completely disappearing. Their conservation is a priority to halt the biodiversity loss, and is currently assured by conventions and programmes that aim at maintaining and restoring natural habitats. Different management methods have to be used to keep them in a favourable state of conservation, like the control of the natural succession and of the physical structure of the vegetation. The European heathland habitat is a typical example of such an active management. We present here the results of three studies that have been developed using GIS to support and improve heathland conservation management.
In the first study we used a diachronic spatial approaches and predictive modelling to study the vegetation dynamics of a managed heathland over a period of 8 years. This approach allowed us to: quantify the plant community changes, assess the conservation needs of a heathland, identify the processes that threaten this highly-valued habitat, and to modelled the predicted changes if the management methods continue to be applied in the same manner as at present. This spatial approach has given us the opportunity to identify the correlation between the dynamics of heathland and the spatial variability of soil. These findings, will contribute to the design of reliable management methods for heathland.
In the second study, the using of GIS tools allowed us to analyse the evolution of the spatio-temporal dynamics of forest -- heathland interface over a period of 60 years. This allowed us to better understand and describe the processes of recolonisation by woody species over the abandoned heathlands and to evaluate the role of the spatial variability of local physiographic factors, namely the slope and the aspect of local stands on the processes of forest recolonisation and the persistence of the heathlands.
In the third study, we investigated the relationship between landscape spatio-temporal heterogeneity and biodiversity in the mosaic-landscape (heathland/forest) to give general recommendations for the most appropriate management methods for the long term conservation of mosaic-landscape biodiversity, and more particularly for this semi-natural heathland habitat in these specific spatial conditions.
Our Previous studies demonstrate how spatial methods can used to identifying and monitoring vegetation change and contribute therefore, to the design of reliable management methods of habitats such as the heathlands and other open habitats, which needs constant management to prevent succession to woodland.
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- Biodiversity conservation GIS: using geographic information systems to support conservation management decisions
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Copyright © 2011 Authors.
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Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY, United States
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Published: 23 May 2011
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COM.Geo '11
COM.Geo '11: 2nd International Conference on Computing for Geospatial Research & Application
May 23 - 25, 2011
DC, Washington, USA
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