Unit 4b. Biodiversity and Protected Areas

Figure 4.b.1

Biodiversity

Objective

In this assignment you will combine your ArcGIS training, analytical skills and a little creativity, to address a global change problem with specific objectives. You will conduct a systematic analysis of the necessary data elements, and present the results in a logical, well-designed and professional report.

Imagine that you are an international environmental consultant for the largest multinational development institution, the World Bank. You have been contracted on an important project because of your sharp analytical skills and experience with geographical information systems (GIS) in analyzing spatial data. You are given an assignment and will use ArcGIS and a global database to produce an accurate and comprehensive report. This report will form the basis of decisions made by an executive council, which is relying on the timely submission of your work. Failure to produce this information punctually will result in your immediate termination as a consultant with the World Bank, ending a very promising career.

Scenario

The World Bank, under pressure from several nations and in response to the outcry of many environmental organizations, is considering proposals for funding the establishment of protected areas (e.g. ecological reserves, national parks, natural heritage regions).

The geographic regions under review for this program are:

• Eastern Africa
• Western Africa
• Central America
• Southern Asia
• Southeastern Asia

You have been asked to select one of these regions and produce a report determining which four countries therein are the best candidates for conservation funds. Funding priority will be assigned to countries with:

1. Low percentage of total land area protected
2. High percent loss of forest habitat
3. High number of total plant species
4. High density of threatened bird and mammal species
5. High percentage of critically threatened biome

In addition, the executive council overseeing this funding allocation would like the countries to be representative of the region as a whole. The recommended countries should therefore be geographically dispersed, rather than clumped together.

Although the five criteria are listed in order of importance, as determined by the executive council, it is your job to develop a systematic method for ranking the countries in order of conservation importance. For example, you must decide if highest priority should be given to countries that possess a combination of the above criteria, or if it is more important to choose the most worthy country with respect to each criterion. You must also decide how to evaluate the importance of each country’s geographic location.

The executive committee has little time to spend reading your report, so it must be concise and organized, yet rich with information and graphically appealing. Use descriptive, properly labeled maps wherever possible to support your conclusions and recommendations. You are also encouraged to supplement your maps with charts that depict the variations among the countries in your region.

For the region of your choice, you must deliver the following products:

1. A cover sheet / title page with a map illustrating the location of the region within the continent, and a listing of the countries under consideration.

2. A written report of 2-4 double-spaced pages (12 point type) stating the four countries that you recommend for funding, as well as a detailed explanation of the methods and ranking system you used to select those countries, a description of each country’s primary attributes, and a conclusion summarizing your findings.

3. At least five maps and/or charts derived from the ArcGIS data set showing, for each criterion, the relative ranking of the recommended countries in relation to other countries in the region. These figures must be referenced in the body of the main report (e.g. “see Figure 1”) and will serve to illustrate your analysis and conclusions. Each figure should be saved in an ArcGIS map layout and must be numbered (e.g. Figure 1). 

All of the above components must be integrated into a professional report. All charts must have titles, appropriate legends, labeled axes and referencing labels (e.g. Figure 1. Map of…). All maps must have titles, appropriate legends, country labels (when appropriate), and referencing labels. All maps and charts should be limited to the region of interest.

Assessment

Your report will be evaluated on your ability to:

• Choose the appropriate datasets (themes) and variables (fields) from the ArcGIS database to make recommendations based on the stated criteria
• Develop and justify a systematic methodology for analyzing the data
• Analyze spatial data using the appropriate ArcGIS features
• Create maps and charts that graphically illustrate your conclusions; and
• Write a clear and concise professional report

Helpful Hints

• There are a number of different themes that you can use to gather information from in the ArcGIS database. Recommended themes to explore include: Biomes, Biodiversity, Forest Ecosystems, Urbanization, and Demographics. In addition, you can use relevant ArcGIS information gathered from appropriate websites such as: www.bushmeat.org/IMAP/mapserver.htm.

• Use attribute tables to your advantage. Right-click on your theme and select open attribute table. Right-click on the field name of interest to sort in ascending or descending order, or to summarize or calculate values for the field. Click on the options button at the bottom of the table to view other options. You can insert tables into layouts or select by attribute to find a particular variable of interest.

• Use the dot legend type and overlays. For the dot legend, choose 1 dot= 1 (threatened species). This means that for every dot that you see on the map it represents one species threatened with extinction. Make sure that your background symbol is transparent. Overlay this dot map on another map of your choosing to create data rich maps.

• Create more than one data frame. This process facilitates examining multiple maps concurrently. Choose Insert and select New Data Frame. Click on the new data frame and rename it. Next, click on the theme of interest in the original data frame and drag it down into the new data frame. Deactivate the original theme. Open the layer properties window of the theme in the new data frame. Next, select View à Layout View. The themes that are active in each data frame should be visible in the middle of the layout page. Next, resize both frames so they are the same size and do not overlap on the page. Use the Zoom tool to enlarge the maps inside the layout frame box. Next, set the map projection of the new frame so that the new frame can have the same projection with the Inquiries In Global Change frame. Right-click on the new data-frame and choose properties from the menu. Select the Coordinate System tab, and in the box showing the coordinate system trees, click the following links to find the coordinates system desired: Predefined > Projected Coordinate System > World > Flat Polar Quartic (world). Click OK. You will get a warning but just click on the Yes button. The new data frame map should change shape to match the Inquiries In Global Change data frame map.

• Make queries and label country names on your map. Open the layer properties and select Definition Query. Use the Query Builder and select a region to explore. Create a query equation for the region you want to examine. For example, to examine Western Africa, your query definition should read: [REGION] = 'Western Africa'. To add country names labels to your map, under the Labels tab, click the check box for Label features in the layer (near the top of the window). Label your field by NAME. This will label all countries on your queried map.

• Insert charts into your layouts. Change your view to the Layout view. Right-click on the theme of your interest and select open attribute table. At the bottom of the attribute table select the options button. Under options, choose create graph and a new graph wizard window should open. Select the chart type that you wish to use, such as a column graph. Select next once you have selected your graph type. Next, the layer should be the theme name of the attribute table you selected to open. In the box, click the check box of the name of the theme that you want to graph. Make sure all other name are unchecked. Click on the next button. Choose an appropriate name for your graph and change the Title. You may also want to include a subtitle. Check the label X Axis with box and select NAME to see the names of each country in your region on the chart. Click the Label Data With Value box, as well as the Show Legend box. Next, click on the Show Graph on Layout box. Click on the Advanced options button to add titles to your horizontal and vertical axes. Click on Finish to return to your layout. In your layout window resize your graph. For an example see Figure 4.b.2.

• Create jpeg pictures. Copy each theme of interest and paste them at the top of the theme column. This way you will still have a copy of the original theme when you create your query maps. Turn off the original themes. For each of the new themes double-click on the theme and open the layer properties. Select the Definition Query tab for each theme and build a query using the Query Builder. By doing this, the map can be limited to the region of interest. Go to View à Layout to see your map. Once you have added a legend, title, etc. to the map, go to File à Export. Under List Files of Type: choose JPEG. Choose a place to save your map and give it an appropriate filename. Once you have saved your map open up the JPEG to check the map.

Figure 4.b.2

Adding charts to layouts

Sources

http://www.hku.hk/ecology/graphix/biodiversity.jpg

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