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INTEGRATING ECOLOGICAL TOOLS WITH GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 
SYSTEMS (GIS) 
G. H. Chekuimo 
TRAFCAM, Yaounde, Cameroon - azpa01@yahoo.com 
Commission VI, WG VI/4 
KEY WORDS: Biodiversity, Natural Resources, Geographic Information System (GIS) 
ABSTRACT: 
The world faces a wide variety of complex environmental threats: the loss of biodiversity; the depletion of the ozone layer; global 
climate change; the degradation of soil and water resources essential for food production; and the accumulation of widespread, 
health-threatening pollution. These problems are even further exacerbated by the basic trend in world population, which has doubled 
since 1950 and is expected to double again by the middle of the next century. The foremost global issue facing mankind is how to 
satisfy the ever-growing need for natural resources to meet food and living standard demands while minimizing impacts upon an 
environment which already shows signs of serious levels of biodegradation. Most sustainable development decisions are inherently 
multidisciplinary or cross-sectoral, because they require trade-offs between conflicting goals of different sectors. However, most 
natural resource development agencies are single-sector oriented. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology can help 
establish cross-sectoral communication - by providing not only very powerful tools for storage and analysis of multisectoral spatial 
and statistical data, but also by integrating databases of different sectors in the same format, structure and map projection in the GIS 
system. However, main constraints and problems drive with the current use of GIS in the Environmental Industry. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
The world faces a wide variety of complex environmental 
threats: the loss of biodiversity; the depletion of the ozone layer; 
global climate change; the degradation of soil and water 
resources essential for food production; and the accumulation of 
widespread, health-threatening pollution. These problems are 
even further exacerbated by the basic trend in world population, 
which has doubled since 1950 and is expected to double again 
by the middle of the next century. The foremost global issue 
facing mankind is how to satisfy the ever-growing need for 
natural resources to meet food and living standard demands 
while minimizing impacts upon an environment which already 
shows signs of serious levels of biodegradation. 
Most sustainable development decisions are inherently 
multidisciplinary or cross-sectoral, because they require trade 
offs between conflicting goals of different sectors. However, 
most natural resource development agencies are single-sector 
oriented. Geographic Information System (GIS) technology can 
help establish cross-sectoral communication - by providing not 
only very powerful tools for storage and analysis of 
multisectoral spatial and statistical data, but also by integrating 
databases of different sectors in the same format, structure and 
map projection in the GIS system (SDRN, 1999). 
One of the most exciting and rapidly growing technologies for 
the 1990s is that of Geographic Information Systems 1 (GIS). 
The computerized retrieval, manipulation, analysis, and display 
of geographic information allow experts in a variety of different 
disciplines to improve their effectiveness and efficiency when 
addressing location-related problems and issues. (Huxhold, 
1994). 
1.1 Overview 
1 Appendix 1 
Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to explore the 
spatial relationships of animal populations is a relatively new 
field for ecologists (Johnson, 1990, Scott et al., 1993) and one 
untouched by population geneticists. GIS, as an environmental 
modelling tool, evolved from simple beginnings as a mapping 
program to a modelling and analysis engine for a variety of 
different disciplines (Goodchild, 1993). GIS is well-established 
in habitat-based studies of animal populations to analyze 
remotely-sensed databases (Johnson and Naiman, 1990) and as 
a predictive tool for animal or plant species distributions (Scott 
et al., 1993, Jensen et al., 1992). In addition, GIS is now used to 
create databases, manipulate spatially-explicit surfaces to 
represent specific parameters, and to displace spatial 
relationships through simulation modelling, hydrologic 
constructs, and species relationships (Keller, 1990; Aspinall and 
Veitch, 1993). One application still unexplored with GIS, 
despite the importance of spatial heterogeneity, is the animal 
population dynamics as expressed by genetic parameters. 
1.2 What is GIS? 
A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer-based 
tool for mapping and analyzing things that exist and events that 
happen on the earth. GIS integrates common database 
operations, such as query and statistical analysis, with the 
unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits offered by 
maps (http://www.hgac.cog.tx.us/geography/cep/whatis.html). 
It consist of a powerful set of automated tools for collecting, 
retrieving, analyzing and communicating spatial data. Such 
systems involve not only the automated handling of map data 
and imagery, but also the automated handling of records and 
attributes of anything that can be tied to a geographical location 
on earth. The technology is applicable to remarkably diverse 
applications ranging from resource management to emergency 
response and disaster recovery, from political districting to 
forestry and marine studies, from mass marketing to urban 
infrastructure management, and from local studies through 
regional analysis to global change research (Raymond,