Suitable Bear Habitat
Goal:
The goal for this
particular lab assignment was to familiarize oneself with various geoprocessing
tools for vector analysis in ArcGIS. The tools were used to identify habitat
for bears in a study area of Marquette County, Michigan that fulfill a certain
set of criteria.
Background:
In this simulation, I was
tasked by the Department of Natural Resources to find suitable areas for black
bears to live. I was given a set of data with bear population, land cover
types, and a host of other information. The purpose of this simulation was to
apply teachings from the classroom to a real-world scenario. Tools such as
buffers, spatial joins, and intersects would be used to determine where bears
would most likely thrive in central Marquette County.
Methods:
Multiple tools had to be
used to complete the eight objectives. The bear locations provided by the DNR
had to be exported into ArcMap and given a coordinate system that was
compatible with the rest of the data.
The main skills acquired
in this lab were gained from operating multiple tools for vector analysis. A
spatial join was used to match bear locations with the type of land cover the
animal resided in; this operation created a new feature layer which allowed additional
analysis to be ran. To discover which type of land cover was most utilized by
bears, the new feature layer was summarized to identify the top three habitats.
By using a spatial query,
I was able to see that streams were an important part to bear habitat. A 500
meter buffer was placed around the stream. This new buffer was then combined to
the new bear habitat layer using the intersect tool. A dissolve tool was ran to
remove lines within the individual polygon to clean up the image. This new
feature layer presented all suitable bear habitat.
To find proper DNR
management areas that fit within the study area, a clip tool was run. This tool
removed the management zones that fell outside the study area. These zones’
internal boundaries were then removed using another dissolve tool. Another
intersect tool was used between the new DNR zones and the suitable bear habitat
layer to show only DNR zones in ideal bear habitat.
Since the DNR only wanted
zones that were far away from urban areas to prevent human-bear conflict, a
buffer tool was required. Selecting “Urban Areas” within the land cover feature
class allowed me to create a new layer that only contained these urban areas. A
five mile buffer was placed around the areas with a presence.
This new buffer was then
used in conjunction with the DNR areas in suitable bear habitat to create a
layer which showed rural DNR management zones perfect for black bears. An erase
tool was used between the two to create the final product.
The entire process was
mapped out using a data flow model that I created in Adobe Illustrator. The model
shows which tools and outputs were used so a user experienced with GIS could
complete the same process I just completed.
The following image displays the data flow model used to determine suitable bear habitat. Tools are depicted in red. Inputs and outputs are displayed in blue. The final feature layer is colored yellow.
Another skill learned
from this lab was the ability to code in Python. This allows a user to perform
tools straight from a command window rather than going through a tool’s
interface. Python possesses a strict syntax so statements had to be wrote out perfectly
for the code to work effectively.
This image shows what coding in Python looks like in command window. A buffer, intersect, and erase tool are being performed.
Results:
Once the final set of analysis was completed, a map of
suitable bear habitat was created. Although there was an ample amount of suitable
bear habitat present, the majority of it was not on land that the DNR had designated
as management areas. To add to the list of restrictions, the DNR needed management
areas to be at least five miles away from urban areas. Most of these areas were
in the southern portion of the study area. As a result, the entire middle swath
of the study area running east to west held most of the suitable management
areas. A particularly desirable rural DNR management zone is situated in the
northeast corner of the study area.
This map is the final product from Lab 3 after all analysis and tools had been completed.
Sources:
State of Michigan. (2015).
Open GIS Data [Database]. Retrieved from http://gis.michigan.opendata.arcgis.com/
Michigan Center for
Geographic Information. (1992). Michigan
1992 NLCD Shapefile by County [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/nlcd/metadata/nlcdshp.html
Michigan Department of
Natural Resources. (2001). wildlife_mgmt_units
[Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/spatialdatalibrary/metadata/wildlife_mgmt_units.htm
Center for Shared
Solutions and Technology Partnerships. (2014). Michigan Geographic Framework: Marquette County [Data file].
Retrieved from http://www.mcgi.state.mi.us/mgdl/framework/metadata/Marquette.html
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