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SES500:
LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY AND GIS
UNIT
OVERVIEW
The
approach taken by this unit of integrating landscape ecology with
GIS conveys the idea of looking at whole landscapes and
taking a holistic approach to environmental management.
This sort of approach is important if environmental management
is to be successful in the future.
A
prerequisite for successful environmental management is for
managers to think spatially about the landscape and how features
are related to one another in space and time. The
spatial arrangement of landscape features and the interactions
that take place between physical, biological and human
processes operating in the landscape, influence ecosystem
processes and therefore the presence and abundance of species
and habitats. Since different landscape processes
operate at different spatial scales, it is also important
to use appropriate scales of analysis when investigating different
processes in the landscape.
Landscape
ecology as a discipline integrates physical, biological
and anthropogenic aspects of the environment and considers
the interdependence of these factors and how they determine
the appearance and functionality of the landscape today. GIS
and remote sensing technologies allow environmental managers to
integrate the conceptual approach put forward by landscape
ecology into spatially and temporally explicit landscape
models at a range of different scales to assist management.
Environmental
Applications of GIS: Landscape ecology and GIS (SES500) forms
part of the Masters
course in Tropical Environmental Management (MTEM) that is
offered at the Northern Territory University in Darwin,
Australia.
This
unit is offered out of the Remote
Sensing and GIS program at NTU. The unit can also
be used in the Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate in GIS.
This
unit is available in flexible delivery mode and is available to
distant learning students. For the online unit outline
go to http://learnline.ntu.edu.au/mtem/ses500
UNIT
PURPOSE
The
purpose of this unit is to not only provide students with an understanding
of basic GIS and RS concepts and functionality but, also
to give them a conceptual background in landscape ecology
which will make them more aware of the importance of such
technology as GIS and RS in helping to solve environmental
problems in the tropical north of Australia. The
aim of this unit is to make GIS more accessible, understandable
and relevant to environmental scientists.
The
unit provides details of the steps involved in setting up
a GIS that would be appropriate for environmental
management and investigates some of the managerial and design
issues that are important in any GIS application.
By using a case study approach and providing students with
an insight into some of the applications of GIS in the landscapes
found in the north of Australia and world-wide, it is
hoped to make potential environmental managers aware
of what has been done before with GIS technology, in terms of
addressing environmental problems, and how much more can
be done using this technology, so that they can make full
use of it in the future.
OBJECTIVES
Successful
completion of this unit should enable students to:
- define the
basic concepts associated with landscape ecology, GIS and
remote sensing (RS);
- analyse 2
important landscape types used in agricultural production
in Australia to determine the characteristics of landscape
ecology. This will enable the student to identify and describe
basic landscape features, to have a demonstrated understanding
of pattern formation and the inter-relationships that take
place between landscape features, to formulate why pattern
is important in landscape studies, and also to synthesize
why it is important to take a holistic approach to environmental
management;
- discuss the
importance of spatial and temporal scale in landscape and
environmental studies;
- appraise the
main data sources available for use in a GIS and to critically
assess the problems associated with data uncertainty, data
management and the importance of meta data;
- have a demonstrated
awareness of the basic GIS functionality and capabilities
of GIS;
- be able to
assess some of the uses of GIS and RS for environmental applications;
- be able to
design, set up and manage a GIS for a particular environmental
application;
If
you require further information on the unit please contact Dr
Diane Pearson (lecturer for this unit), Dr
Penny Wurm (MTEM course co-ordinator) or the Interactive Learning
Unit at NTU.
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