PARENT SESSION
Wednesday, August 9, 8:00-11:30 am
Symposium 11 - From upstart to icon: Geographic Information Systems in plant population ecology: historical perspective and innovative approaches in presentation, analysis, and dissemination of data
Cotton Row, Mezzanine Level, Cook Convention Center
Organized by: SA Scobell (summer_scobell@hotmail.com) and CA Johnston
Scientists from diverse fields of ecology discuss innovative uses of Geographic Information Systems for plant population biology from the population to the regional scale with special attention given to the most effective means of using GIS to communicate important ecological information to the public.
Practical remote sensing and modeling methods for conservation biologists.
Horning, Ned*,1, Wilson, Dawn1, 1 American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
ABSTRACT- Use of geospatial tools such as remote sensing and species distribution modeling are becoming requirements for many areas of conservation biology including plant population ecology. The American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) has developed a suite of online resources and workshops to encourage the use of remote sensing and species distribution modeling among conservation biologists and environmental managers. These resources include a website (http://geospatial.amnh.org/) dedicated to providing practical information for anyone interested in using these resources. The site currently provides lessons, links to valuable data and software resources, as well as interactive tools that present/illustrate important topics in remote sensing and species distribution modeling, and more topics are being developed. In addition to the website, the CBC's Remote Sensing/GIS Lab conducts hands-on training workshops at the Southwestern Research Station (SWRS) located in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeastern Arizona. Five life-zones can be found on the slopes of the Chiricahua Mountains making the SWRS an ideal location for training courses related to the ecological sciences. In addition to providing these training and outreach resources the CBC also promotes the use of and participation in developing open source geospatial software. This presentation will introduce the CBC remote sensing web site, as well as opportunities available at the SWRS, and will provide an overview of open source software including information about the recently formed Open Source Geospatial Foundation.
Key words: Internet, open source, remote sensing