M. Stoever GIS Final Paper
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A Review of the Use of GIS in the Field of Wildlife Management
Mike Stoever Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Johns Hopkins University 12/05/2016
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ABSTRACT In the field of wildlife management, ecological principles are employed to protect wild
floral and faunal species in ways that are equally beneficial to both the habitats upon which they
rely and the human populations that surround them. In such a spatially focused discipline, GIS is
a vital tool for wildlife managers. It allows them to gain a deeper understanding of what drives
the movements of targeted species, enabling the implementation of more efficient, site- and
species-specific strategies and actions. This paper details the application of GIS technology
across the discipline through a review of the current literature and practical examples from the
field. These examples include how GIS is used to model wildlife corridors; how GIS is being
used to preserve biodiversity and protect endangered species and their habitats; the ways that the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uses GIS; and how GIS is used by the Minnesota Department of
Natural Resources to manage and monitor wildlife. In each example, it was found that GIS
played an essential role in providing a clear understanding of the spatial relationships between
target species and their habitats, informing management plans through overlaying spatial
distributions of target species and the various components (soil type, vegetative type,
precipitation, etc.) of their habitats and protected areas, a technique known as gap analysis.
Additionally, it was shown that the effectiveness of GIS in wildlife management is highly
dependent upon 1) the quality and quantity of the spatial and attribute data comprising the
system and 2) a firm understanding of the information being presented along with an assurance
that it is being displayed at the proper scale. Given confidence in these two dependencies, GIS is
an indispensable tool in the field of wildlife management.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….. 4 1 Background Information on Wildlife Management………………………………………………. 5 Discussion of How GIS is Used in Wildlife Management………………………………………...7 Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………..17 References…………………………………………………………………………………………22
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INTRODUCTION
Like its sibling discipline conservation biology, the field of wildlife management blends
both pure ecology and more practical, spatially focused components of species and habitat
conservation (Goodfellow, 2014). As such, the use of geographic information systems (GIS) is
integral to the field through the myriad geospatial data and related analysis tools that they
provide. Goodfellow (2014) perhaps put it best when he stated that “the distribution of plant and
animal species across the globe recognizes no national or political boundaries, so the need for
detailed mapping and analysis of geographic features, species distribution and natural resources
was a primary need of this new discipline from its inception.” This is especially true today, as
floral and faunal species across the globe are facing extensive habitat and biodiversity losses in
the face of such threats as global climate change and increased urbanization of previously
undeveloped lands.
GIS technology provides an essential tool for addressing the complexities inherent in
natural and social systems, where uncertainty can often reign supreme (Artelle et al., 2013). The
technology can play a vital role in addressing one of the most common challenges in wildlife
management: answering the questions of when, where, and why species move (Artelle et al.,
2013). By incorporating species movements into a GIS, wildlife managers can gain a deeper
understanding of what drives the movements of targeted species, enabling them to implement
more efficient, site- and species-specific strategies and actions.
The use of GIS also assists wildlife managers in another basic, yet vital, way. Prior to
1950, all maps detailing the distribution of vegetation were drawn by hand (O’Neil et al., 2016).
These maps were then used to delineate habitat ranges for wildlife. The advent of aerial
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photography and satellite technology in the 1970s and the widespread adoption of personal
computers in the 1980s led to a revolution in mapping and habitat analysis, enabling wildlife
managers to more accurately analyze habitat across larger spatial extents (O’Neil et al., 2016).
Vegetation maps were then converted to digital files and habitat analyses became highly
automated, and the analytical tools and processes afforded by GIS quickly became heavily relied
upon (O’Neil et al., 2016). Today, as O’Neil et al. (2016) note, “GIS is an indispensable tool for
analyzing historical, current, and potential future habitat conditions for wildlife and for assessing
the spatial relationships among landscape features”.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
While there are seemingly limitless definitions one can use to describe wildlife
management, three common ideas are found in nearly every one. These are: 1) efforts that are
directed toward wild animal populations; 2) the relationship of those wild animal populations
and their terrestrial and aquatic habitats; and 3) anthropogenic manipulations or alterations of
those habitats or populations in order to accomplish a specified human goal (Yarrow, 2009).
Initially viewed as a way to ensure adequate fish and game supply for recreational uses, the field
of wildlife management has shifted over time to focus on applied ecology that is mutually
beneficial to both habitat and human and wildlife populations (Yarrow, 2009). While
governmental or academic institutions are the primary employers of practitioners in the field, any
individual who is actively working to alter the habitats of resident animal populations to achieve
a multispecies benefit can be considered a wildlife manager.
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Wildlife management strategies can either be passive (e.g., minimizing external
influences and letting natural processes take place) or active (e.g., controlled game hunts aimed
at decreasing predator populations of a specific prey species). The specific approach chosen
depends upon the desired outcome and the wildlife species in question. As the variety of wildlife
species includes game and nongame species, threatened and endangered species, and nuisance or
non-native invasive species, these approaches can be myriad. This results in a delicate balance,
as a successful wildlife management plan must abide by the following six rules as outlined by
MT FWS (2016):
• all management plans be based on solid, accurate information;
• the management of humans and their impacts on wildlife habitat be included in the
plan;
• plans must provide a multi-species benefit, including to both flora and fauna;
• wildlife numbers be kept at a level high enough to ensure that the carrying capacity
can continue to be met, yet low enough to avoid nuisance or negative impacts to other
species, including humans;
• habitat needs for wildlife species and humans be balanced; and
• conservation of resources must be balanced with preservation of resources.
The importance of the field of wildlife management goes beyond the protection of
wildlife species and their associated habitats. Most wildlife species, through their sensitivity to
changes in their surroundings, act as ecological indicators for human populations (MT FWP,
2016). Essentially, if animals are found to be disappearing due to pollution, drought, or another
environmental factor, it is likely that if left unchecked that environmental factor will also lead to
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negative impacts to nearby human settlements. Thus, the ability to accurately map a species’
habitat needs and movements is of paramount importance to the field.
DISCUSSION OF HOW GIS IS USED IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
As noted previously, GIS is used extensively in the field of wildlife management. It
provides a solution to one of the most common challenges in species conservation and
management: how to record data on species movements and translate that information into
concrete management objectives (Allen and Singh, 2016). A greater understanding of movement
ecology, such as that which GIS provides, can provide the basis for more spatially and
temporally flexible management strategies whose efficacy is improved (Allen and Singh, 2016).
Further, GIS allows wildlife managers easy access to a wide variety of habitat related factors,
such as soil type, vegetation, and water availability, all of which assist in the modeling of
wildlife species movements and needs. The following examples and case studies highlight the
variety of ways that GIS is used in the field, including the methods used; the stated purposes and
objectives for each application; and whether or not the desired outcomes were achieved.
How GIS is Being Used to Model Wildlife Corridors
As Goodfellow (2014) noted, “wildlife does not recognize the boundaries created by
human activity”. Thus, the creation of one such boundary, highways, has led to increased habitat
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fragmentation of many wildlife species. These highways are responsible for a significant number
of deaths of large, roaming animals (such as black bears) that must traverse these obstacles in
order pass through the extent of their ranges (Goodfellow, 2014). In an attempt to provide safe
passage to affected species, wildlife managers design and install wildlife corridors (often in the
form of highway overpasses or underpasses) that are either continuous or provide stepping-
stones from one patch of habitat to another. The design of these corridors is intended to keep
migratory species and human populations from coming into (often negative) contact with one
another, reducing both mortality of wildlife and human species and construction costs associated
with highway design projects.
In order to locate the best possible position for a wildlife corridor, wildlife managers
often utilize GIS when researching the ranging and migration patterns of focal species before
suggesting any placements (see Figure 1). An example of one such study comes courtesy of
Clevenger et al. (2002) who worked to find the best placement for black bear wildlife corridors
in the areas of Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, where the Trans-Canada Highway passes
through. Suitability maps detailing which areas were preferred by black bears for habitat were
developed using GIS software, and several sources of data on bear movements were compiled
and used to create and compare predictive models (Goodfellow, 2014). These models were then
used to predict the most likely linkage points to be used by bears, minimizing both construction
costs and black bear mortality resulting from traffic collisions (Goodfellow, 2014).
ESRI (2010) provides another example of how GIS can be used to design wildlife
corridors. The CorridorDesigner suite of tools, designed for ArcGIS by Professors Paul Beier
and Dan Majka at Northern Arizona University, provide wildlife managers “a user-friendly,
three-step process that applies least cost modeling for multiple focal species” (ESRI, 2010). The
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Figure 1: Maps detailing the calculated cost-distance habitat linkages for black bear (a), bobcat (b), and fisher (c) in the eastern Adirondacks. These maps were then merged to create the functional habitat linkage (d). Source: Graves and Wang, 2012.
core input of CorridorDesigner is habitat suitability modeling, which relate suitability to raster-
based layers such as land use/cover, elevation, topography, and human disturbance (ESRI, 2010).
This data is combined with a habitat suitability threshold to model a single species corridor, a
process easily replicated for any additional species under consideration (ESRI, 2010). These
single species models can then be joined to show a preliminary linkage design to use as a “best
choice” baseline for the wildlife corridor. Another set of tools within the suite can then be used
to evaluate all of the modeled corridors and compare them to more realistic alternatives, using
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such calculations as patch-to-patch distances and bottleneck analysis (ESRI, 2010). Ultimately,
CorridorDesigner provides data that can be used by wildlife managers and urban planners to
make educated decisions about the placement of wildlife corridors within the restrictions placed
upon them by the real world.
A final example of the use of GIS in creating wildlife corridors comes from Walker and
Craighead (2001), who analyzed the movement patterns of three of the umbrella species in the
Northern Rockies—grizzly bear, elk, and cougar—among the three large core protected areas
found within. Using GIS, habitat suitability models for each of the species were created which
were then combined with road density information to create regional (kilometer) scale cost
surfaces of species movement (Walker and Craighead, 2001). These models included the
following assumptions: that good corridors are comprised primarily of preferred habitat types;
that humans pose problems for successful transit; that current human developments are
permanent; and the least-cost path provided the greatest probability of survival for an animal
when traversing the entire distance of its range (Walker and Craighead, 2001). The model also
included three GIS inputs essential to determining the best potential corridor routes: 1) habitat
quality; 2) length of forest and shrub/grassland interface; and 3) road density (Walker and
Craighead, 2001). The initial approximations of the models allowed the researchers to identify
probable movement routes for each of the three species, as well as critical barriers, bottlenecks,
and filters where projected corridor routes intersected with high risk habitat (Walker and
Craighead, 2001). These results were then shared with local land management agencies so that
the results could be incorporated into current and future planning activities in the region.
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How GIS is Being Used to Preserve Biodiversity and
Protect Endangered Species and their Habitats
Referred to as “the application of choice” by wildlife managers focused on conservation
biology, GIS plays a pivotal role in measuring and monitoring biodiversity; analyzing the spatial
distribution of threatened and endangered species; and identifying and monitoring patterns and
priorities to be incorporated into management plans (Krigas et al., 2012; Goodfellow, 2012). Any
assessment of biodiversity must necessarily include a wide variety of spatial and attribute data,
something GIS technology excels at accommodating high volumes of (Salem, 2003). In a GIS,
these data can be united as geodatabases comprised of multiple polygon and raster layers
depicting the attributes of various collection sites for target species. Such attributes include
“precipitation, land cover, terrain, topography, soil typography, temperature, and climate”
(Goodfellow, 2014). After analysis, the GIS can then be used to produce summarized fact sheets
reflecting the ecological preferences of a target species such as the one depicted in Figure 2
(Goodfellow, 2014).
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Figure 2: Example of a target species fact sheet prepared with the use of GIS. Source: Krigas et al., 2014.
Wildlife managers focused on biodiversity often employ a technique pioneered by the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) known as gap analysis, which focuses on the conservation status
of common floral and faunal species. Gap analyses are not only an important tool for wildlife
managers and conservation biologists but are also used by decision makers, planners, private
interests, and others to assess biodiversity and habitat loss; monitor the affects of climate change;
inform the siting of renewable energy projects; and assist in the management of protected areas
(USGS, 2012). The genesis for this analytic approach came from a desire to visually analyze the
interconnectedness of three spatial components—land cover, predicted distributions of vertebrate
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species, and the location and conservation status of predicted areas (USGS, 2015). Each of these
three components are entered into a GIS as individual data layers (see Figure 3) which are then
analyzed to “determine how much of a vertebrate species’ or a land cover’s distribution occurs in
areas managed for the long-term maintenance of biodiversity” (USGS, 2015). The determination
is made through the overlaying of the maps depicting the location of plant and animal habitats
with the additional maps showing where the protected areas are; if predicted floral and faunal
species are found to not be in the same location as a protected area, then they are considered not
to be protected (USGS, 2015). Armed with this information, wildlife managers can then advocate
for protections on behalf of such species and their habitats. As USGS (2015) note, products from
a typical gap analysis include “digital land cover maps; digital animal distribution maps; digital
protected areas maps; identifications of ‘conservation gaps’; identifications of species-rich areas;
downloadable datasets in multiple formats; and assessments of the conservation status of
vertebrate species in the United States”.
Figure 3: The steps involved in a typical gap analysis. Source: USGS, 2015.
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USGS manages a repository for gap analysis datasets that is available to the general
public under the National Gap Analysis Program (GAP). When developing GAP, USGS had the
realization that many protected areas (such as National Parks and National Wilderness Areas)
often get set aside without a detailed understanding of their value to floral and faunal species
conservation (USGS, 2012). This results in a misallocation of protection, as “many protected
areas have little significance in terms of biodiversity, while many biodiversity-rich areas lack
protection” (USGS, 2012). By using GAP, wildlife managers can better match their biodiversity
goals to land protection programs and activities, resulting in the highest rate of biodiversity
preservation achievable (USGS, 2012; Goodfellow, 2014). GAP has been used by the states of
Nevada and Wyoming in developing their revised State Wildlife Action Plans; to model the
distribution of endangered arboreal species in Egypt; in ex situ conservation strategies aimed at
halting biodiversity loss of plant species; and by The Nature Conservancy to develop specific
biodiversity preservation and conservation plans across the globe (Salem, 2003; Krigas et al.,
2012; USGS, 2012).
A Review of how GIS in Used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Charged with creating and implementing wildlife management plans and policies across
the country, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) relies heavily upon GIS. USFWS
views the geospatial data and services provided by technologies such as GIS as being critical
elements of their work, playing a vital role in all of their long-term plans (USFWS, 2014). The
technology is especially prevalent in four of their core program areas: Endangered Species and
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Fisheries and Habitat Conservation; Migratory Bird Conservation; the National Wildlife Refuge
System; and the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Along with global positioning systems
(GPS) and remote sensing, GIS is primarily used by USFWS in these program areas to visualize,
monitor, and research wildlife habitat and migration patterns. Managers and policymakers then
used this information to make such detailed decisions as whether or not species are to be listed
under the Endangered Species Act and how floral and faunal communities are responding to
toxic spills. The technology is also especially useful in supporting the diverse operational
activities of the National Wildlife Refuge System. These include asset management, law
enforcement, water resources, and fire management, along with uses in analyzing opportunities
for strategic land acquisition and realty transactions (USFWS, 2011).
USFWS also houses and supports many GIS applications whose data are made available
to the general public. These applications include the National Wetland Inventory, which details
the extent and status of the nation’s wetlands; the National Wild Fish Health Survey Database;
the Critical Habitat Portal, which provides the public detailed information on Threatened and
Endangered Species and their designated Critical Habitats across the country; and the Waterfowl
Production Area, a useful tool for Midwestern hunters that details areas of waterfowl production
in the region (USFWS, 2012). These applications assist USFWS in reaching the widest possible
audience for their georeferenced data (USFWS, 2012).
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How GIS is Used in Managing and Monitoring Wildlife in Minnesota
Similar to USFWS, the many state resource management agencies located across the
nation also rely heavily upon GIS. For example, the state of Minnesota and their Department of
Natural Resources (MN DNR) have an array of projects utilizing GIS technology in order to
effectively monitor and manage wildlife within the state. These include habitat assessment and
management; population surveys and monitoring; and facilities management (MN DNR, 2006).
The state is also home to 1,380 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) that cover 1.2
million acres. Begun in 1951, the goal of the WMAs has been to acquire, develop, and maintain
land that can support the multipurpose uses of wildlife habitat, public hunting, and wildlife
observation (MN DNR, 2006). A GIS was created to assist in managing this extensive system.
Boundaries were first delineated according to various descriptive information and management
goals, then entered into the system and created as a polygonal layer in the GIS. Vegetation
through the WMAs was then mapped in a manner consistent with the National Vegetation
Classification System; that is, a five level hierarchy was used that allowed for flexible specificity
amongst vegetative types (MN DNR, 2006). Finally, management and user data were entered
into the GIS representing gates, water control and nesting structures, camping areas, and roads
and trails (MN DNR, 2006). Upon completion, the WMAGIS Application was made available to
the general public. This application allows users to search for and view each of the individual
WMAs and plan trips according to their intended recreational goals (such as finding a handicap
accessible WMA where one can view deer, pheasants, and waterfowl, for example).
Additionally, it allows researchers the ability to view and monitor the variety of vegetation found
in each WMA.
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GIS is also used by MN DNR to monitor the encroachment of urbanized and agricultural
areas on the WMAs and to conduct aerial surveys. The approach of the former incorporates
census data into the above system where urban and agricultural density analyses are completed.
Regarding the aerial surveys, MN DNR captures real-time GPS waypoints and tracks directly
into a GIS, a marked improvement upon their previous technique of using a compass and paper
maps (MN DNR, 2006). MN DNR has also used GIS (specifically ArcGIS) to create a wildlife
habitat relationship model that can predict habitat distribution and land cover within a specified
range extent (MN DNR, 2006).
SUMMARY
As a technology that excels at accommodating large amounts and varieties of spatial and
attribute data, GIS is an essential tool for any wildlife management practitioner. Wildlife
managers are by their very profession focused on analyzing the current and predicted spatial
distribution of target species and the spatial relationships between those species and the
landscape features of their habitats. Information embedded in a GIS such as soil type, vegetative
cover, precipitation amounts, and temperature provide managers the ability to easily identify
gaps in spatial coverage between target species (whose distribution and habitat needs are also
included in the GIS) and proposed protection or land use plans. The most effective data for this
purpose cover large temporal extents that allow for monitoring of the exact location and extent of
change within an ecological system (Salem, 2003). As such, a GIS can be used to model
wildlife-habitat relationships and populations of target species; to conserve wildlife
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communities; and to assess risks facing target species from current and projected land use change
and anthropogenic encroachment (O’Neil et al., 2012). For further reading on how GIS is used in
each of these examples the reader is referred to the work of O’Neil et al. (2012).
This paper provided a review of how GIS is used in the field of wildlife management
through an examination of four specific approaches. First, it was discussed how wildlife
managers use GIS in the design and installation of wildlife corridors. These wildlife corridors
(which often take the form of highway overpasses or underpasses) are either continuous or
provide stepping-stones from one patch of habitat to another. They are aimed at keeping
migratory and roaming species and human populations from coming into contact with one
another, reducing wildlife mortality and highway construction costs. Examples were given of
GIS being used to optimize placement of wildlife corridors for black bears in Banff National
Park in Alberta, Canada, and for three of the umbrella species in the Northern Rockies—grizzly
bear, elk, and cougar. In each instance, habitat suitability models for the individual species were
compiled detailing species movements along with habitat needs and preferences. These models
then incorporated road density information to predict the most likely used habitat linkage points
and where potential “hotspots” existed. Further, Walker and Craighead (2001) created kilometer
scale cost surfaces of species movement that were then shared with local land management
agencies for implementation in their current and future planning activities in the region. The
CorridorDesigner suite of tools designed by Beier and Majka for ArcGIS was also discussed; this
suite of tools provides a user-friendly, three-step process similar to the ones just described. Using
the software, easily replicated single species corridors to be used as baselines are modeled. These
are then compared with more realistic alternatives that take into account all of the restrictions
placed upon managers and planners in the real world.
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Next, the concept of using GIS to preserve biodiversity and protect endangered species
and their habitats was discussed. The primary application of GIS in these studies was in the form
of gap analysis, an overlaying technique pioneered by the USGS. These analyses focus on the
conservation status of common floral and faunal species by visualizing the interconnectedness of
three spatial components—land cover, predicted distributions of vertebrate species, and the
location and conservation status of predicted areas (USGS, 2015). Each of these three
components are entered into a GIS as individual data layers which are then overlaid on top of
one another. This approach yields a view of which plant and animal habitats are located in which
protected areas and more importantly, which ones are not. Armed with this information, wildlife
managers can tailor their plans accordingly and advocate on behalf of such species and their
habitats. GAP, the National Gap Analysis Program managed by the USGS, was also discussed.
GAP is a repository for gap analysis datasets that is available to the general public. During its
development, USGS realized that many areas were being given protection without regard for
their level of biodiversity, resulting in a misallocation of protection. By using GAP, wildlife
managers can better match their biodiversity goals to land protection programs and activities,
resulting in the highest rate of biodiversity preservation achievable (USGS, 2012; Goodfellow,
2014).
A review of the use of GIS by USFWS followed. USFWS relies heavily upon the
geospatial data and services provided by technologies such as GIS and views them as critical
elements of their work (USFWS, 2014). The use of GIS is especially prevalent in four of their
core program areas: Endangered Species and Fisheries and Habitat Conservation; Migratory Bird
Conservation; the National Wildlife Refuge System; and the Landscape Conservation
Cooperatives. It is primarily used in these program areas to visualize, monitor, and research
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wildlife habitat and migration patterns, and has been used to make such detailed decisions as
whether or not species are to be listed under the Endangered Species Act and how floral and
faunal communities are responding to toxic spills. Further, USFWS houses and supports many
GIS applications whose data are made available to the general public. These applications, such as
the National Wetlands Inventory, provide the public with detailed information that can be used
for research or recreational purposes and assist USFWS in reaching the widest possible audience
for their georeferenced data (USFWS, 2012).
Finally, it was discussed how GIS is used in managing and monitoring wildlife in
Minnesota. MN DNR employs a variety of GIS applications including habitat assessment and
management; population surveys and monitoring; and facilities management (MN DNR, 2006).
A GIS was also created to manage the state’s 1,380 Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs), which
are used to support the multipurpose uses of wildlife habitat, public hunting, and wildlife
observation (MN DNR, 2006). WMA boundaries were delineated and input into the GIS as a
polygonal layer with WMA vegetation then added as a five level hierarchy allowing for flexible
specificity amongst vegetative types (MN DNR, 2006). After adding management and user data
such as water control structures and camping areas, the WMAGIS application was made
available to general public for use in researching academic or recreational goals. Encroachment
of urbanized and agricultural areas on the WMAs is also tracked using GIS by incorporating
census data into WMAGIS. Additionally, the state uses GIS to conduct aerial surveys, capturing
real-time GPS waypoints and tracking them directly into a GIS.
While this paper has found GIS to be an essential component of any wildlife management
plan, it must be noted that the efficacy of a GIS is highly dependent upon the quantity and
quality of its data. Kirgas et al. (2012) found that lack of data is the most commonly encountered
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obstacle to the use of GIS in conservation planning. Thus, it is imperative that any GIS user in
the field of wildlife management be confident that their dataset is of sufficient size and detail.
Additionally, O’Neil et al. (2012) cautioned GIS users to be sure that they understand the
information being presented. That is, when depicting information about a target species, the scale
or level of information needed to study the problem of interest must be fully understood and
taken into account (O’Neil et al., 2012). Displaying the right question at the wrong scale (such as
displaying habitat suitability, which requires fine scale information, at a coarse scale) misleads
map viewers and presents potential false-positive outcomes. Provided that there is confidence in
the amount and accuracy of data and how it is being displayed, GIS is an indispensable tool in
the field of wildlife management.
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REFERENCES Allen, A. M. and N. J. Singh. 2016. Linking Movement Ecology with Wildlife Management and
Conservation. Available online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fevo.2015.00155/full. Accessed November 29, 2016.
Artelle K. A., S. C. Anderson, A. B. Cooper, P. C. Paquet, J. D. Reynolds, and C. T. Darimont. 2013. Confronting Uncertainty in Wildlife Management: Performance of Grizzly Bear Management. Available online at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0078041. Accessed November 24, 2016.
Clevenger, A. P., J. Wierszchowski, B. Chruszcz, and K. Gunson. 2002. GIS Generated, Expert-based Models for Identifying Wildlife Habitat Linkages and Planning Mitigation Passages. Conservation Biology 16(2):503-514.
ESRI. 2010. Designing Wildlife Corridors Helps Species Survive. Available online at: http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall10articles/designing-wildlife.html. Accessed November 30, 2016.
Graves, R. A. and D. Wang. 2012. Wildlife Habitat Linkages in the Eastern Adirondacks: Applying Functional Connectivity Modeling to Conservation Planning for Three Focal Species. Available online at http://www.ajes.org/v18/wildlife-habitat-linkages-in-the-eastern-adirondacks-applying-functional-connectivity-modeling-to-conservation-planning-for-three-focal-species.php. Accessed November 30, 2016.
Goodfellow, D. 2014. How GIS is Being Used in Conservation Biology. Available online at: https://www.gislounge.com/gis-used-conservation-biology/. Accessed November 24, 2016.
Krigas, N., K. Papadimitriou, and A. D. Mazaris. 2012. GIS and ex situ Plant Conservation. Available online at: http://www.intechopen.com/books/application-of-geographic-information-systems/gis-and-ex-situ-plant-conservation. Accessed December 1, 2016.
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MT FWP (Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks). 2016. Principles of Wildlife Management in Montana. Available online at: http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/managementPrinciples.html. Accessed November 29, 2016.
O’Neil, T. A., P. Bettinger, B. G. Marcot, W. B. Cohen, O. Taft, R. Ash, H. Bruner, C. Langoff, J. A. Carlino, V. Hutchison, R. E. Kennedy, Z. Yang. 2012. Application of Spatial Technologies in Wildlife Biology. Pages 429-461 in N. J. Silvy, editor. The Wildlife Techniques Manual. Volume 1. Seventh Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Salem, B. B. 2003. Application of GIS to biodiversity monitoring. Available online at: https://www.cbd.int/doc/articles/2003/A-00152.pdf. Accessed December 1, 2016.
USFWS (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 2011. USFWS Geospatial Services: Supporting the Mission. Available online at: https://www.fws.gov/gis/images/GISinFWS.pdf. Accessed November 30, 2016.
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USFWS. 2012. USFWS Geospatial Applications: Supporting the Mission. Available online at: https://www.fws.gov/gis/images/AppsinFWS.pdf. Accessed November 30, 2016.
USFWS. 2014. USFWS Geospatial Services. Available online at: https://www.fws.gov/gis/. Accessed November 30, 2016.
USGS (U.S. Geological Survey). 2012. National Gap Analysis Program (GAP) -- Core Science Analytics and Synthesis: Gap Analysis Importance. Available online at: https://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/gap-analysis/importance/. Accessed December 1, 2016.
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