Ecology is an integral part of teaching middle school. The use of GIS software can connect the students with real world information in formats they can manipulate and be interactive with. Articles and information connected with GIS maps can bring a new dimension into the classroom.

http://www.nps.gov/gis/mapbook/ecosystems/ecosystems.html

This website illustrates the use of GIS software’s many uses for the analysis of ecosystems. The National Park Service uses the system to present information to ordinary people and to scientists. The information they present can be analyzed for landscape, resource preservation, and animal distributions. Each article on the website demonstrates a different application of the system. The articles range from chemical control, topographic mapping, and ecoregions.

http://www.nps.gov/gis/mapbook/tech/72.html

The article focuses on the restoration of tidal zones near Cape Cod. Several collections of data are compiled to construct levels of restoration. Different information is needed to give an idea of the changes occurring to the areas. Included in the information is salinity and species documentation. The reason for restoration was the removal of dikes constructed for encroaching development.

http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/conf/SANTA_FE_CD-ROM/sf_papers/horssen_peter/santa_fe.html

Ecological modeling in GIS is emphasized in this article. The article discusses the conditions of the water quality in the Netherlands. The water quality is affecting the vegetation that depends on the water table. GIS is being used to model the responses of vegetation after variables are changed in the environment. It is also being used for landscape modeling that is helpful in the data collection and documenting impacts on wetland ecosystems.

http://gis2.esri.com/library/userconf/proc03/p0218.pdf

The use of GIS was implemented in analyzing the Ozark Highlands ecosystems. The Ozark Highlands’ ecology has been altered because of years of fire suppression. Fire is considered to be an important to maintaining processes in forests and woodland areas. The result of fire repression is an unsustainable ecosystem. The use of GIS helped research groups manage the ecosystem.

http://www.caes.state.ct.us/aquaticplants/documents/ESRI_abstract.pdf

In Connecticut the use of GIS models were implemented to show the affects of invasive aquatic plant life. Invasive species are thought to be the second in line for causing species extinction. In using the GIS system the management of the in aquatic species is greatly simplified and the information could be distributed easily.

Aschehoug, Maren. Using GIS to Map Wilderness Areas in the Barents Region. Dissertation submitted as part of the degree of MSc. In environmental management, University of Stirling, Department of Environmental Science. September 2000.

The study implemented two data sets and then using GIS compared them with each other. In doing this it gave the opportunity to see changes and growths in the area over time as one set was from the 1980s and the other from 2000. The comparisons showed that the wilderness areas had decreased over the time span. In using GIS in the Barents Region quantity and location of species can be determined, but the status of the environmental needs cannot be concluded.

http://water.geog.buffalo.edu/mackay/pubs/pdf/dsm_tgis.pdf

This study used GIS software to simulate natural occurrences of plant and water relations. The main focus was on trees and their canopy transpiration. Using many data sets that were derived from numerical sets to aerial optics; the information was inputted and then analyzed using the GIS system. In analyzing several different trees they found the highest variability to be in Aspen trees.

http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/15/5/757

The research was done by spatial analysis of female mating patterns. They used microsatellite paternity analysis and then inputted it into GIS to give nest and territory locations. The study found that mid-ranking males tended to copulate with several females as low-ranking males only would with one. The territory size was disproportionate to the population size, the higher the population the smaller the individual territories. The females would copulate with several males, most were low to mid ranking males, but made nests next to high ranking males territories to ensure copulation with them. The investigations showed that there was a mixed mating strategy in black-capped chickadees.

http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/~broitman/PUBS/broitman_kinlan06.pdf

From California to parts of Mexico the kelp canopies were analyzed for the corresponding dominance of certain marine species. Spatial analysis was used in the process of arranging parameters and areas of study. The research was to determine ecological, evolutionary, and dispersal connections to the environmental factors of the areas. It then is implemented in the management strategies of the area.

http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/publications/watershed/rmrs_2001_lucec002.pdf

The affects of road use were correlated to the erosion of forests and the consequences it has on long-term and short-term ecology. It focuses on the forest basins and what soil changes occur over time of road use and the recovery once roads are closed. The sediment erosion can affect not only the trees, but also the aquatic life in the basins. The data was collected in a manner that would make it accessible for the use in analyzing several other aspects of the environment such as local soils and climates.

Useful GIS & Mapping Links

-USGS National Mapping Information http://mapping.usgs.gov/

-USGS Geographic Data Download http://edc2.usgs.gov/geodata/index.php

-ESRI (the makers of ArcGIS) http://www.esri.com/

-Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov/sdts/

-National Center for Geographic Information & Analysis http://www.ncgia.ucsb.edu/

-Global Explorer http://www.globexplorer.com/

-GIS Data Depot http://data.geocomm.com/

-Willamette Valley GIS Users Group http://www.orurisa.org/wgisug/

This annotated bibliography was created by Julia Varoujean during Spring 2007. It was designed to fulfill the individual project requirement for GEO 565 at Oregon State University, taught by Dr. Dawn Wright.