ESRI Conservation Program Resources:

Habitats, Wildlife & Species Management

(ECP and CTSP members, sites of interest for mapping/GIS, scholarly papers and ESRI Conference Proceedings, and sites with public conservation and GIS data for downloading) (Under Construction)

(Legend: CTSP sites are coded "c" plus the year of the grant, (cs=software, cm=mac), ECP grantees are coded "e". Many groups, especially newer grantees, do not yet have their own sites and are colored green. Other new groups may be described or supported by other sites)

The Dolphin Project Ga, e96 . (Post Office Box 10323 Savannah, Georgia 31412 info@thedolphinproject.org) "a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization engaged in conducting a long-term, scientific study of Tursiops truncatus primarily along the coast of Georgia." GIS PLAN: "development of a GIS system to study seasonal and long-term trends in the distribution and abundance of the Atlantic bottlenose dolphin population in the barrier island regions of southern South Carolina and Georgia. "

The Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange, Va . (Department of Fisheries & Wildlife Sciences Virginia Tech 203 W. Roanoke St. Blacksburg, VA 24061, Jeff Waldon, Project Leader, email: fwiexchg@vt.edu, tel: (540) 231-7348 voice (540) 231-7019 fax)"The FWIE is a technical assistance center and information clearinghouse for fish, wildlife, and land management agencies and organizations. The FWIE also assists with the planning, development, implementation, and maintenance of information management and delivery systems. We maintain and distribute information and offer training in computer applications, database management, and use.". Master Species File: "At present, the Colorado Division of Wildlife lists species account data for 800 vertebrates. Other agencies presenting data include The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, reporting 1,271 species accounts. And in Virignia, The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries maintains species accounts on 1,400 vertebrate and selected invertebrate animals species. Look for data on these other states soon!!!" . Endangered Species Information System (ESIS): "contains species accounts on 436 threatened and endangered plants and animals (through 1987) from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Endangered Species." . Marine and Coastal Species Information System (MACSIS): "also holds species accounts on 450 vertebrates and invertebrates. These have been prepared for the Corps of Engineers by the Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange." . GIS Development . "The Fish and Wildlife Information Exchange also develops geographic information systems for agencies and organizations." They have an impressive list of GIS programs: GIS, Remote Sensing, and Telemetry Working Group of The Wildlife Society, Virginia Gap Analysis Project, Aerial Videography Project, GIS Demonstration--A Virtual Slideshow, COVERAGE: The Newsletter of the Virginia Gap Analysis Project .

Institute for Fisheries Resources, Ca c99 . (Building 991 (Coast Guard Bldg.) PO Box 29196 San Francisco CA 94129-0196 tel:(415)561-3474 fax:(415)561-5464 email:fish1ifr@aol.com GIS Contact: Dr. Jan Derksen, 77 Avenue of the Giants, Phillipsville, CA 95559 tel:(707) 923-2707 email:derksen@asis.com ) "The Instititue for Fisheries Resources is a not for profit organization dedicated to the study, protection and enhancement of both marine and anadromous biological resources on the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada....Watershed protection groups must have access to the best scientific information available in order to meaningfully participate in resource management decisions or to hold regulatory agencies and private companies accountable for the protection of public trust resources. Over the next year, the Institute for Fisheries Resources (IFR) will assist watershed groups from the Gualala River to north of Humboldt Bay to greatly improve their access to information on regional fisheries, water quality and watershed conditions, including the use of GIS, and will help provide that data in an easily usable and transportable format....The Institute recently completed the KRIS Coho pilot project demonstrating the application of the KRIS technology to coastal California. We collected and provided comprehensive fisheries and water quality information regarding Pacific Lumber Company (PALCO) holdings and surrounding watersheds as part of the public comment and analysis of PALCO's recently submitted Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). More information on this project can be accessed at the IFR KRIS Coho web site: . One thousand (1000) database CDS were printed and delivered to agency personnel, watershed groups and other interested parties through a number of local grass roots organizations. Over 500 people attended training and orientation sessions for KRIS Coho in locations from Arcata to San Francisco." Don't Miss: Modeling Shallow Landslides: The KRIS Coho slope processes model: "KRIS Coho slope modeling approach will also soon be adopted by CDF and CDMG for determining the risk of debris slides. Vegetation type maps were used extensively as pictures within KRIS Coho database relating watershed conditions to sediment levels downstream....KRIS Coho uses models developed by Montgomery and Dietrich (1994), Shaw (1996) and Pack and Tarboton (1998) to show areas of high risk for shallow landslides and debris sliding. The SINMAP package, freely available from the internet, is the best starting place for users who are new to landslide modeling issues and want to learn more. The models run in the program ArcView with Spatial Analyst. They take into account the concentration of water as it flows downhill and the steepness of the slope. The model, which predicts the locations with the highest risk of slope failures, was applied to the Stafford area as a test. A U.S. Geologic Survey 1:24,000 scale contour map was transformed by the LandInfo corporation into a 10 meter DEM, a file with elevation data at 10 meter intervals for the analysis area (ordinary DEMs available from the USGS have 30 meter intervals and are too coarse). " Their other online maps and analyses include: Vegetation Types Modeling, Roads and Erosion, Cumulative Watershed Effects, The Palco HCP, Stream Temperature, Sediment in Streams, Riparian Conditions, Watershed Conditions, Flow and Climate Data, Fish Populations, Fish Habitat Data, Sensitive Amphibians, Aquatic Insects .

International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (IAFWA), Dc . (444 N. Capitol St., N.W., Suite 544, Washington, D.C. 20001 U.S.A Phone: (202) 624-7890; Fax: (202) 624-7891 Email: iafwa@sso.org )." The International Association was founded in 1902 and is a quasi-governmental organization of public agencies charged with the protection and management of North America's fish and wildlife resources. The Association's governmental members include the fish and wildlife agencies of the states, provinces, and federal governments of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Programs: Teaming With Wildlife, Partners In Flight." . IAFWA Teaming With Wildlife Program . As a cooperative effort between state fish and wildlife agencies, state parks and the customers and businesses of the outdoors, Teaming With Wildlife will provide much needed funding for every state to implement important conservation strategies and to provide greater recreational and educational opportunities for millions of Americans. Automated WildlifeData Systems . Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation .

IAFWA Partners In Flight Program . (Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, USGS BRD) Partners in Flight - Compañeros en Vuelo was launched in 1990 in response to growing concerns about declines in the populations of many bird species, and in order to emphasize the conservation of birds not covered by existing conservation initiatives. The initial focus was on species that breed in the Nearctic (North America) and winter in the Neotropics (Central and South America), but the focus has spread to include most landbirds.

Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Information Systems, Ky e97 (#1 Game Farm Road, Frankfort, KY 40601 tel:502-564-4406 fax:502-564-6508 mailto://kwethington@mail.state.ky.us) ."We are stewards of Kentucky's fish and wildlife resources and their habitats. We manage for the perpetuation of these resources and their use by present and future generations. " . Kentucky Species Information : Databases and distribution maps of Kentucky wildlife species . KFWIS Species Database: County and USGS Quadrangle Distribution Lists: "This link has been added to provide county and 1:24,000 Quadrangle scale distribution datasets. These datasets were originally populated in the late 1980's through early 1990's...This query is built run-time and accesses our SQL database. " . Live GIS Mapping of Reintroduction of Elk in Kentucky : "Kentucky has been void of elk since the 1800's. This restoration project , funded in large part by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation will span 3-4 years. Up to 1200 elk will be released into the Appalachia ecosystem (and tracked live via an Esri IMS website.)...The application can be broken down into three phases: Phase one is the mapping of the capture site and the movement of the animals to Eastern Kentucky. Phase two will be the mapping of the elk in Kentucky for the first three to four weeks (dependant on life of the collar batteries). Phase three will be the long-term mapping of the elk with update intervals every two-four weeks. Kentucky GAP website & Maps. "At this site we offer an educational resource for those wishing to keep up-to-date with the status of Gap Analysis in Kentucky as well as providing a method for serious communication with our many collaborators and other GAP professionals. Our intention is to provide an interesting site not only for those with a casual interest in biodiversity planning or Gap Analysis, but also for those with professional or scientific interest in the direction and progress of our project. " . Kentucky Breeding Bird Atlas Database . Includes both single species online maps, and statewide analyses .

Newton County Wildlife Association, Ar c98 . (POB 189, Jasper, AR 72641-0189 tel:870 861 5600 email:ncwa@yournet.com GIS Contact: Simon Overbey ) "The Newton County Wildlife Association (NCWA) is a grassroots environmental organization (part of the Heartwood association) established in 1975 to stop the United States Forest Service (USFS) native hardwood-to-non-native-pine forest conversion program and eliminate the aerial spraying of the Ozark National Forest (ONF) hardwood forests with the herbicides 2,4D and 2,4,5T. Using on-the-ground research, public outreach, and the federal court system, the USFS aerial spraying campaign was dropped in the ONF, setting a precedent for other successful legal challenges to USFS aerial herbicide spraying programs throughout the country....The NCWA continuously monitors, responds to crises, and engages the USFS about ONF management issues. The NCWA is in the process of preparing a Citizen's Management Alternative (CMA) to the USFS new 10 year LRMP. The CMA is an ecological and environmental approach to forest management for the Ozark National Forest and focuses primarily on watershed management, habitat protection, and recreation....Our field research will be used to develop area maps depicting actual forest conditions including, general forest types and stand conditions, distribution of threatened, endangered, and sensitive species, general landscape features, special plant or plant communities, forest roads and road conditions, forest trails and conditions, and watershed features. These maps will be used to illustrate the quality of the forest in these headwaters, to develop management plans which respect our natural resources, and to help educate the public about our resources and about alternatives to standard USFS forest management. In developing the CMA, we have been collecting data in the field as well as from the USFS, and entering the information into a very basic GIS." . Newletters .

Predator Conservation Alliance, Mt. . (P.O. Box 6733 Bozeman, Montana 59771 Telephone (406) 587-3389 | Fax (406) 587-3178 | E-mail mailto:pca@predatorconservation.org ) "Predator Conservation Alliance works to conserve and restore ecosystem integrity by protecting predators and their habitats" Don't miss their GIS work with the Ecology Center on the Roads Scholar Project, "Since its inception in the fall of 1993, the Roads Scholar Project has focused on roads and their impacts. "Roads Scholars" conduct field-based inventories of wildlife habitat areas and watersheds in the Northern Rockies. We share our results from our work with federal and state agencies, interested citizens and organizations across the region. " also see . Forest Predator Protection, Reforming the Federal "Wildlife Services" Program, Prairie Dog/Grassland Conservation .

Tom´s Wildlife Telemetry Clearinghouse, Universitaet des Saarlandes, Germany . Thomas Weiss e-mail: thwes@stud.uni-sb.de Lindenring 159 su16pmtw@rz.uni-sb.de D-82024 Taufkirchen tom.weiss@rz.uni-sb.de tel: +49-89-614 40 634 GERMANY fax: +49-89-614 40 636

Biotelemetry Resource Links, Wy . (Jack Goldstein jgoldste@wyoming.com )"This server is provided as a service to researchers using biotelemetry as a means for collecting data to further their research."

Umpqua Fishermen's Association, Or e97 .. (Umpqua Fishermen's Association P.O. Box 2083, Roseburg OR 97470 tel:(541) 459-9343 fax:(541) 459-5227 email:JLGreen@rosenet.net ) "We are a fish conservation organization which has worked on salmon stream rehabilitation and fish rearing for 16 years with our state fish folks. Now the watchword is habitat restoration, and the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are telling us what they are going to do, etc. They have this huge data base and mapping project, and all these watershed assessments, very detailed about roads and shallow soils and condition of the trees. But they aren't interested in where the fish are spawning NOW. We want to be able to show this information, so that we know what to protect first to save what fish we do have. But to do so, we have to dig it out of steam surveys past and present, interview fish surveyors (some of them our own volunteers), and get it into map form. So we want to be able to display current and "immediate past" fisheries information in GIS form. "

Wildlife at California National Parks . Wildlife at California National Parks. These listings come from the National Park Service's NPFauna Database. Search the lists (WAIS-indexed searching).

Wildlife Ecology Software Server, Il . (Robert Diehl and Ronald Larkin Illinois Natural History Survey 607 East Peabody Drive Champaign, Illinois 61820 USA Telephone: (217) 244-0371 Fax: (217) 333-6294) "This site continues to develop as a clearinghouse for wildlife ecology related software."

(Legend: ESRI User Conference Papers list the title, then in parentheses "paper" or "abstract" plus the year. Other web-located papers list title, author if known, and excerpt.)

A 12-STEP PROGRAM FOR CREATING A MONITORING PROGRAM, by Sam Droege, U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, 11410 American Holly Drive, Laurel, MD 20708-4015

Analyzing Wildlife Movement Corridors in Montana Using GIS (1997 ESRI paper: Richard Walker, American Wildlands, 40 East Main Street, Suite 2, Bozeman, MT 59715, Telephone: 406-586-8175 Fax: 406-586-8242 E-mail: amwild@mcn.net, Lance Craighead ) . "We analyzed probable movement routes for wildlife between the three large core reserves in the Northern Rockies using an ArcInfo and GRID-based GIS. Our approach was multitiered and consisted of habitat suitability models combined with movement simulation models. The first approximation used simple vegetation cover categories and a road density layer to describe suitable habitat for three "umbrella" species: grizzly bear, elk, and mountain lion. A least-cost-path analysis located broad potential corridor routes. A second approximation used more precise vegetation cover categories derived from Montana Gap Analysis data, topographical layers, and the actual road location to define suitable habitat for these three species. A more sophisticated individual animal movement simulation model was developed to locate routes within the resultant grid. These techniques identified probable movement routes and pinpointed critical barriers, bottlenecks, and filters where corridor routes intersected with high-risk habitat. This analysis is being used to identify priority areas for wildlife management to improve the connectivity between the core reserves. "

CALIFORNIA SALMONID HABITAT INVENTORY: A DYNAMIC SEGMENTATION APPLICATION (1995 ESRI Conf Paper, Michael Byrne) Over the past few decades native California salmonid populations and habitat rapidly declined. In order to help restore the fishery, the California Department of Fish and Game established standard protocols for assessing fish populations and habitat. The ArcInfo Dynamic Segmentation process associates fish habitat data with existing stream data. Arc Macro Language scripts were developed to correct stream data and create route topology. Using ArcView software, remote field personnel can perform spatial analysis with the habitat data. From Oregon to Sonoma County, 290 salmonid spawning streams (766 miles of stream) have been surveyed and georeferenced using this protocol. Spatial habitat data in the hands of regional biologists improves the salmonid habitat restoration site evaluation and/or selection process.

Delineation of Canyons for Mexican Spotted Owl Habitat (1995 ESRI Conf. Abstract, Maggie Morris, Kevin Johnston, and Kate Grandison)...Inventories have located the owls almost exclusively in steep- walled canyons that fall within an identified range of elevation, canyon width, and canyon depth. The GRID module of ArcInfo was used to delineate canyons and record width and depth through these canyons in order to provide researchers with the capability of interactively displaying areas within specified ranges and performing further statistical analysis.

The Development and Verification of a Habitat Map Using ArcInfo . (1997 ESRI paper: Karen Joy Dorweiler Bureau of Land Management Box 2000 N. Palm Springs, CA 92256 Telephone: 619-251-4822 Fax: 619-251-4899 E-mail: kjay@mci2000.com) . This project was undertaken on behalf of the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert Coordinated Management Plan for the United States Bureau of Land Management. The study area is comprised of 5.2 million acres in southeast California. The habitat map was developed using ARCGRID. The intention was to produce a map that reflected not only plant communities, but also habitat useful to wildlife. Data from California GAP Analysis, satellite imagery, and GPS collection were combined to create the final grid. The resulting grid identified 11 communities. To assess the accuracy of the grid, random points were selected in each community. Factors considered in point selection were the size of the area, relative importance/rarity of the community, and quality of the input data. These points were then plotted on the overlay maps for use in field verification. This paper will outline techniques for combining data in ARCGRID, selection of random points in ArcInfo, and the verification of data. A summary of communities and sample sizes will be included. The paper will also discuss the preliminary results of the field surveys.

Evaluating Bobcat Viability in the Santa Monica Mountains, California (1995 ESRI Conf. Abstract, Denise Kamradt) ...We combined existing research on bobcat habitat requirements with geographic land use data to identify potential bobcat habitat. A field-based track survey, focused on habitat adjacent to rural and suburban development, was undertaken in an attempt to detect actual presence of bobcats within the modeled habitat. Relatively remote "core" areas were sampled as controls. Subsequently, we employed the GRID module of ArcInfo to assess current configuration of bobcat habitat, including patch connectivity, patch size and habitat protection status.

Forest Elephant Distributions in Relation to the Distance from Roads in Gabon (1995 ESRI Conf. Abstract, Karen Beardsley, Richard Barnes)...Using ArcInfo geographic information system, buffer zones were generated around the road network of Gabon and the equations derived from field sampling were used to estimate the dung density in each buffer zone. The forest elephant population was estimated to be 74,842 with asymmetric conference limits from 50,371 to 108,823.

GIS Modelling for Owl Habitat Prediction in Forests (1996 ESRI Conf. Abstract, Harsh Verma)..The State Forests of New South Wales is entrusted with the responsibility of managing, caring and sustaining the forests of New South Wales state in Australia....Owl habitat prediction in forests is one such application of GIS modelling. ArcInfo, in particular GRID is used for analysing various topographic, climatic and vegetation type layers for generating data for statistical package. The results were analysed and maps produced for showing the potential owl habitat within the forests.

Habitat Modeling of Key Species with GIS for a Holistic Regional Planning Approach . (1997 ESRI paper: Thomas Blaschke Salzburg University, Salzburg, 5020 AUSTRIA Telephone: 43662 80445232 Fax: 436628044525 E-mail: thomas.blaschke@sbg.ac.at ) . The alluvial floodplain of the river Salzach (Austria, Germany) provides a spatially complex habitat for a variety of species of specific interest. In order to create fine-scale digital biodiversity maps, attributes that were mapped included vegetation community type and structure (canopy size class), land use, and soil. The area will become a Natura 2000 area, which is a protection category under the umbrella of the European Union. The databases will be used for a number of natural resource and land management planning applications. The usefulness and limitations of these data for evaluating the effect of riparian forest fragmentation are illustrated through the viability of various amphibian species, functioning as management indicator species. Habitat suitability models were developed and evaluated for their ability to capture known spawning sites in the remaining riparian forests. The resulting habitat-quality maps will be used as input for a spatially explicit simulation model of indicator species population dynamics, which includes demographic parameters. The analytical, modeling and predictive potentials can supplement traditional descriptive conservation inventories.

The Malaysian Elephant Satellite Tracking Project (Principal Investigators: Dr. Michael Stuewe (nzpem001@sivm.si.edu) Dr. Chris Wemmer (nzpem002@sivm.si.edu) Conservation & Research Center, Smithsonian Institution, Front Royal, VA 22630, USA Tel: +1-540-635-6500 Fax: +1-540-635-6551 , Principal Investigator: Mohd. Burhannudin Nor (kp@jphltn.sains.my) Dept. Wildlife and National Parks Jalan Cheras, Km 10 50664 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +60-3-905-2872 Fax: +60-3-905-2873 ) "One of the Malaysian Wildlife Department's (DWNP) tasks is to help landowners reduce crop damage caused by wildlife. Elephants can cause great damage to plantations. To reduce that damage, DWNP has developed an elephant trans-location program...The main goal of this project is to evaluate the success of the elephant trans-location program. "

Using Address Matching to Derive In-Stream Fish Habitat Unit Locations (1995 ESRI Conf. Abstract, Michael F. Martischang, Steven A. Carlson) ...Watercourse and fish habitat unit address data structures and calculation procedures were developed for Grouse Creek (northern California) so address matching (geocoding) functions of a vector geographic information system (GIS--pcArcInfo) could be used to derive locations of main- and side-channel fish habitat features from previously collected habitat data sets.

Using a GIS in Habitat Conservation Planning (1996 ESRI Conf. Paper, Jeff Campbell, Jim Schriever)...This paper discusses the use of GIS in developing habitat conservation plans. These large scale planning efforts required extensive amounts of data including a variety of GIS data layers....In addition to integrating existing proprietary data, digital data from public or other sources was used to create the extensive coverages necessary for watershed and/or conservation planning efforts. Finally, Landsat TM image data can be used to generate current vegetation conditions that are consistent across ownerships and assist in change detection analysis for monitoring....The resulting database and analysis results were utilized as an aid to resource managers in making more informed decisions with regards to a wide array of land planning issues.

Using GIS to Resolve Human-Elephant Conflict in Kenya . (1997 ESRI paper: John Waithaka Kenya Wildlife Service PO Box 40421 Nairobi, KENYA Telephone: 254-2-506169 Fax: 254-2-505866 E-mail: kenyawildlif@mail.att.net, Lucy Chege ) . Conflict between people and elephants in Kenya exists in most of the elephant range, particularly where cropland borders forested national parks. This conflict manifests itself in a number of ways. Direct costs to humans include crop depredation and injury and killing of humans and livestock. Material losses cause unbearable financial suffering. In high-conflict areas, farmers have abandoned good cropland because of the sheer futility of trying to raise a crop to maturity in the presence of elephants. As a result, farmers have to rely on relief food. Many people have been trampled by elephants on their way home from social gatherings and some schools start late and end early to reduce chances of children being attacked by elephants. Data available from Kenya Wildlife Service shows that elephants kill more people per year than all the other wildlife species put together. Their huge size, tremendous strength, intelligence, great feeding capacity, and loss of fear of people are a hindrance while undertaking control measures. The intervention management for conflict mitigation includes shooting problem elephants, enlisting community support through formation of community wildlife associations in areas outside parks, development of social and income generating projects, establishing community wildlife sanctuaries, education programs, establishing corridors to other dispersal areas creating psychological and physical barriers, relocations, and monitoring elephant movement and distribution patterns, among others. Elephants also have a very strong impact on biodiversity in Kenya which has far reaching consequences both on ecosystem functions and dynamics and on landuse and other sectors of the economy. Many elephants in Kenya are confined in relatively small areas after losing their capacity to migrate due to the blockage of their migratory routes or fragmentation of their habitats. Elephants in these areas occur in very high densities and have converted forests into grasslands. Considerable biodiversity has been lost in this way and increasingly more is at great risk. Some of the highly impacted areas harbor nearly all of 265 species endemic to Kenya and are the most important water catchment areas for the republic. Various studies show a very close link between species extinction and high elephant densities. The only possible solutions to this problem are either to increase space for elephants or reduce their densities through some form of management. We will use GIS to map out elephant numbers and their distribution, establish the interaction of elephants with people and with the environment, identify and quantify various forms of conflict, and then assess the effectiveness of different intervention methods used thus far to address these conflicts. Our goal is to design criteria for measuring the success and effectiveness of the various intervention methods and develop a model that can be used to make efficient management decisions in the various game parks and reserves in Kenya. A specific game park with a good historical database has been selected for the pilot project.

Using GIS to Establish Large Mammal Densities, Biomass, and Distribution Patterns in the Amboseli Ecosystem and Their Relationship with Rainfall and Other Water Resources . (1997 ESRI paper: David Western Kenya Wildlife Service PO Box 40241 Nairobi, KENYA, Telephone: 254-2-501763 Fax: 254-2-505866 E-mail: KENYAWILDLIF@mail.att.net , Lucy Chege ) . Amboseli refers to a Pleistocene lake basin lying on the foot of Kilimanjaro along the Kenya-Tanzania border. The Amboseli ecosystem covering nearly 3,000 km is in a semi-arid savannah environment in which water availability is highly seasonal, receiving the short rains in November and December and long rains from March to May. This has an important bearing on the structure and efficiency of large mammal communities. Wildlife in this area has been largely unaffected by human pressures and thus provides an opportunity to examine and explain natural seasonal cycles in movement, habitat selectivity, and herd dynamics. Data collected from 1975 to present shows that large mammals in this area exhibit seasonal movements by dispersing in the wet season and concentrating in the Amboseli basin during the dry season. This can be related to the seasonality of rainfall and water availability. These movement patterns largely occur with the water dependent species but do not prevail in the water independent species. There are three widely recognized categories of large mammal communities based on the patterns of seasonal movements and these are 1) migratory, 2) dispersal (wet season dispersal/dry season concentration), and 3) resident. We will use these broad categories with reference to individual species where necessary. It is also important to note that this area is largely populated by traditional subsistence pastoralists who keep large livestock herds. The pastoral Maasai of Amboseli subsist almost entirely (until recently) on the products of their domestic stock, mainly cattle with some sheep, goats, and donkeys. Their nomadic movement is governed largely by efforts to expose their stock to the best available pastures but they are severely constrained by the limited distribution of water in the dry season. The Maasai locate their settlements at an average of about 8 km from water. Cattle are taken to water on alternate days. This undoubtedly provides more competition to the wildlife for the limited water sources. The area receives less than 350 mm annually and the vegetation is typically acacia and commiphora scattered woodland and bushland. Permanent water is restricted to the vicinity of the dried out Pleistocene lake bed of the Amboseli basin but elsewhere water is absent in the dry season except for a number of boreholes that have provided an important source to livestock, the supplies of which are not usually available to wildlife. This seasonal movement of wildlife provides challenges for its conservation as wildlife areas become economically more valuable and additional livestock production threatens to sever the seasonal migrations. Thus, our aim is to use GIS to understand these seasonal movements in relation to rainfall and other water resources, map out the dispersal area, and identify the habitat selectivity patterns and the dynamics of these migrating herds and their interaction as they disperse with the pastoralist communities who own land and keep livestock in the dispersal paths. Management implications and recommendations will be discussed. Historical data is available on large mammal and livestock densities and the location of the Maasai settlements for the last twenty years.

Using GPS and GIS To Manage Critical Habitat of the Sonoran Desert Tortoise at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument . (1997 ESRI paper: Nancy Favour National Park Service Rural Route 1 Box 100 Ajo, AZ 85321, Telephone: 520-387-7661 Fax: 520-387-7661 E-mail: nancy_favour@acmail.itd.nps.gov , Thomas Potter, Betsy Wirt ) . GIS specialists at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument have used general habitat characteristics of the Sonoran desert tortoise to develop a GIS model of potential tortoise habitat within the monument. Working with inventory and monitoring field data, the potential habitat model can be refined. ArcView applications based on the data can give resources managers access to information that will help protect tortoise habitat. Methodology: To build a model of potential tortoise habitat, slope, elevation, vegetation, and land form information were combined. To refine this model, field biologists conducting inventory and monitoring of the Sonoran desert tortoise in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were equipped with Trimble Geoexplorer GPS units to collect relatively accurate locations for field observations. Once the field data was transferred to an ArcInfo format, the data was available for model improvement, query, analysis, map production, archiving, and duplication. Software: Trimble's Pfinder was used to process all GPS data. Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet was used to merge field attributes with GPS data. ArcInfo and ArcView were used to produce a habitat model, conduct analysis, and produce maps.

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All text by the respective organizations/authors, January 2, 1997

Web layout & design: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. January 2, 1996