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Core Pygmy Hippo Population  Densities in Tai National Park

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Core Pygmy Hippo Population  Densities in Tai National Park

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Image Source: Bogui, (2016) under creative common licence.

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Image Credit: Tracy Aviary Conservation Science, under creative common licence, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a3f20d4bf11808a0aefbdd/t/56b0e77f40261d778a937d37/1454519879791/birds.jpg

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Image Scource: The Nature Conservancy, under creative common licence, http://maps.tnc.org/images/home_map_viewer.jpg

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GIS can apply to many species in many habitats. Conservation initiatives can be started thanks to research studies that use GIS maps that show valuable information about how an animal uses a geographic area and how a population is distributed.  As hippos are my personal favorite animals, these following conservation initiatives are extremely interesting to me.

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Image Credit: California Department of Fish and Wildlife, under creative common licence, https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/portals/0/Images/Game/WildPig/wild-pig.jpg

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Image Credit: Whale and Dolphin Conservation, under creative common licence, http://au.whales.org/sites/default/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/species/orcaella_heinsohni-guido_j._parra_0.jpg?itok=AMDaRMw3

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Image Credit: Whale and Dolphin Conservation, under creative common licence, http://us.whales.org/sites/default/files/styles/flexslider_full/public/species/sousa_chinensis-hong_kong_dolphinwatch_ken_fung_4.jpg?itok=1I0Ju7o8

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GIS has allowed researchers to map spatial distributions of snubfin and indo-pacific humpbacked dolphins due to environmental factors such as water depth and distance to land (Parra et al., 2006).

Researchers used data from hunter kills of wild pigs (Sus scrofa) introduced to California to find where the majority of wild pigs could be found in the state (Waithman et al., 1999). GIS maps can help form strategies to control an invasive species more efficiently by showing where control strategies should be located.

Researchers from Texas State University used GIS programs and land composition data to better understand bird breeding routs in North America on a large scale to help better monitor bird species for conservation purposes (Small et al., 2012)

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Core Pygmy Hippo Population  Densities in Tai National Park

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Core Pygmy Hippo Population  Densities in Tai National Park

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Image Source: Bogui, (2016) under creative common licence.

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Another Example: Pygmy Hippo Distribution Mapping for Conservation

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Another Example: Pygmy Hippo Distribution Mapping for Conservation

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While the common hippos are well recognized by the scientific community and the public, the more endangered pygmy hippo (Choeropsis liberiensis) needs more attention and research to help their populations.

Researchers looked for signs of pygmy hippo presence  in Tai National Park in Ivory Coast in order to establish where pygmy hippos were found in the park and the reasons that may be influencing their distribution (Bogui et al., 2016).   GIS mapping, as seen in the image to the right, allowed the researchers to easily display where the greatest concentration of pygmy hippo sightings in Tai National Park, including indirect sightings, were found.

The geographic distribution of pygmy hippos showed that human activities, such as mining and agriculture, were influencing the distribution of pygmy hippos along with natural factors (Bogui et al., 2016). GIS programs can provide a visual means of showing where a species is located and why they are found in a particular location.  This can help with the planning of conservation efforts for species like pygmy hippos and their habitats.

Photo Credit: Wikiwand, under creative common licence, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Pygmy_hippopotamus_pair.jpg

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Overall Habitat Suitability for Common Hippos in Lake Tana

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Overall Habitat Suitability for Common Hippos in Lake Tana

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Image Source: Buruso (2017) under creative common licence.

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Bogui, E. B., Koffi, A. D., Koné, I., Ouattara, K., & Yao, C.  (2016). Distribution of Pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) in Taï National Park, Ivory Coast: Influences of natural and anthropogenic factors.   International Journal of Research in Biosciences, 5(4), 27-35.

Buruso, F. H. (2017). Habitat suitability analysis for hippopotamus (H. amphibious) using GIS and remote sensing in Lake Tana and its environs, Ethiopia. Environmental Systems Research, 6(1), 6.

J Parra, G., Schick, R., & J Corkeron, P. (2006). Spatial distribution and environmental correlates of Australian snubfin and Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphins. Ecography, 29(3), 396-406.

Small, M. F., Veech, J. A., & Jensen, J. L. (2012). Local landscape composition and configuration around North American Breeding Bird Survey routes. Ecology, 93(10), 2298-2298.

Waithman, J. D., Sweitzer, R. A., Van Vuren, D., Drew, J. D., Brinkhaus, A. J., Gardner, I. A., & Boyce, W. M. (1999). Range expansion, population sizes, and management of wild pigs in California. The Journal of wildlife management, 298-308.

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GIS programs can be complicated and may require special training.

Many websites offer training in basic GIS, but using more advance GIS analysis techniques may require experience. Many GIS programs can vary in complexity and may work better with certain kinds of data, restricting the ways in which conservation research can be conducted.

GIS only works with geographic data.

Since GIS stands for "Geographic Information Systems", it makes sense that geographic information is required for GIS to work. The data must apply to programs that can analyze and display geographic information.

Collecting data to use in GIS programs can be time consuming.

It can take months or years for enough data to be collected for a GIS map to show an adequate picture of a specie's distribution, geological elevation, or resource proximity (Bogui et al., 2016; Buruso, 2017).

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Geographic data can be easily displayed and analyzed.

Maps of entire study areas, like national parks, can be displayed with multiple kinds of data to provide a clear picture of where conservation efforts should be located. This can be especially useful if few or no previous studies exist from an area or for an endangered species (Bogui et al., 2016).

Multiple GIS programs provide options that can fit your research needs.

Programs like ArcGIS, uDig, PostGIS, and many more programs can allow someone to use data to make maps in almost any way that can help make data analysis easy and intuitive.  This can apply to almost any conservation project.

Large amounts of data can be stored and shared.

Multiple maps can be created by GIS programs and house data that has been collected over the course of years of study (Buruso, 2017).

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GIS Conservation Example: Hippo Habitat Suitability Assessment.

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GIS Conservation Example: Hippo Habitat Suitability Assessment.

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Researchers used GIS and remote sensing to asses the habitat suitability of Lake Tana in Ethiopia for common hippos (Hippopotamus amphibious).  GIS allowed researchers to map multiple habitat requirements and survival threats for hippos in an area affected by humans. Before this study, no studies on hippo habitat needs had been conducted in Ethiopia (Buruso, 2017).

Researchers used GIS Software, including ARC GIS10.2 and ERDAS IMAGINE2010, were used to build maps that helped asses suitability models by estimating habitat criteria as a numerical weight (Buruso, 2017).  Criteria included water depth, elevation, land use/cover, and shore slope suitability. Grazing ground and nearby settlement proximity to hippos was also assessed.

GIS allowed researchers to not only asses the suitability for hippos in a country with no previous studies done, but the GIS used also showed how GIS can layer habitat data and visualize information with incredible detail.

Photo Credit: BBC Nature, under creative common licence, http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/naturelibrary/images/ic/credit/640x395/h/hi/hippopotamus/hippopotamus_1.jpg

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Most of us have likely encountered or used a map before.  Maps can tell us where we are, what we could find, and where we want to go.  But with modern technology, maps can show us more about our world and change how we display and analyze data.  Today, this can be accomplished through the use of geographic information systems, or GIS.

GIS uses mapping and data analysis software to create visual representations of geographic data that can be used for almost any application that can benefit from a map. Conservation, science, business, humanitarian projects and more are all fair game for GIS.

GIS programs and software gives researchers tools to more efficiently analyze and understand data by using a map.  Geographic information can be easily applied to population studies, habitat suitability, migration tracking, and more!

If your data can be shown on a map, then GIS can help you discover and share almost anything.  Conservation efforts often depend on an understanding of where a species or ecosystem needs help and what factors can be targeted for improving habitat and population health

Video Credit: Dominique Mvunabandi, https://youtu.be/-stemSvCWPA.

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Remote Sensing and GIS for Chimpanzee habitat suitability modelling  and Conservation

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Habitat fragmentation, arising from anthropogenic activities, is one of the main threat to biological diversity and primates in particular. However, primate species differ from each other in responding to fragmentation vulnerability. The chimpanzees considered as endangered and rare species, with low fecundity have been identified to be much more affected by fragmentation and habitat degradation.