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Mapping and Spatial Analysis Mapping: Online mapping of species distributions will be possible via the specimen database and the Discover Life website. Distribution maps for publications will be produced using ArcGIS Version 9.0. A point locality database will be created by importing records, for which coordinate data can be obtained, from the specimen database to ArcView and converting to a point coverage or ShapeFile. Vaejovid distributions will be superimposed on polygon coverages of North American political boundaries and topography.
Spatial Analysis: ArcGIS will be used for spatial analysis of vaejovid distributions. ‘Hotspot’ analyses will be conducted to quantify species richness and endemism, at the scale of a quarter-degree square. Overlay analyses will be used to ascertain whether patterns of vaejovid distribution in North America are related to present environmental variables, determine specific ecological correlates of distributional ranges for each species, and calculate statistics that could assist in defining their conservation status. Genetic Algorithm for Rule Set Production (GARP) will be used to model vaejovid distributions and predict where new species might be found. Spatial datasets (coverages) of topography (elevation), geology and soil types, climatic variables (e.g. mean annual precipitation and temperature), vegetation zones and current land uses (including protected areas) will be obtained from existing sources (see below). Spatial joins will be undertaken to assign values from point or polygon coverages to the vaejovid coverage and results analyzed with multivariate statistics. GIS will also be used to identify range-restricted species and gap analysis conducted to assess the extent of protection afforded them, using Gap Analysis Program (GAP). Measures of each species’ distributional range, e.g. the number of quarter-degree squares containing point locality records, the area (km²) of polygons created by joining the outermost point locality records, and the number of records and extent (area) of distribution falling within protected areas, will be calculated to assess conservation status according to IUCN Red List criteria (IUCN 2001). Some links to GIS resources that are being used for this project are as follows:
ESRI Digital Chart of the World [or
mirror site]
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