Geostatic Information System in Relation to Insects
- 1. Geographic Information Systems in Relation to Insects
- 2. What is GIS? 2 A GIS is a set of computer programs that collect, store, retrieve, transform, display and analyse spatial data
- 3. How it Works? Georeferenced data, such as insect densities, crop type, or soils, can be incorporated in a GIS to produce map layers or "coverages". A map layer, generally composed of only one type of data, is thus considered to have a "theme“. This broad definition includes a range of software functionality: at one end are mapping, image processing, digitizing, and computer aided design (CAD) software, which are designed for specific tasks such as the input, manipulation or display of spatially referenced data. 3
- 4. 4 How It is helpful to Entomologists? The advent of GIS has allowed entomologists to compile and manipulate spatially referenced data. In studying the patch dynamics of host and herbivore or predicting regional hazard. GIS has been used in applied insect ecology for characterization of habitat susceptibility to outbreaks and compilation of census data.
- 5. 5 Role of GIS in Applied Insect Ecology Probably the major use of GIS technology in applied insect ecology has been for relating insect outbreaks to biological and physiographic features of the landscape. For example, A scientist named Shepherd digitized historical maps of defoliation caused by the Douglas-fir tussock moth in British Columbia from 1924-86, and overlaid these images to obtain a map of defoliation frequency. This outbreak frequency map was then overlaid with forest type and bio geoclimatic maps to determine how forest type and climate were related to outbreak frequency. In a similar study, Johnson used a GIS to examine the relationship between historical grasshopper outbreaks and soil characteristics and between weather and survey counts
- 6. 6 GIS Applied to Pest Control Programmes Release of huge quantities of sterilized males, and their subsequent capture in monitoring traps, must be displayed in a way that correctly portrays their role in the project. High rates of capture of sterile males indicate a successful release; low or zero captures mean that the region was missed.
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- 9. Remote Sensing 9 Remote sensing (RS) refers to the process of collecting details about the earth from a distant vantage point. GIS and RS techniques have developed in parallel over the past few decades.
- 10. 10 For example Bryceson used Landsat multispectral data to identify areas in New South Wales, Australia, which were likely to have egg beds of the Australian plague locust. Through the use of a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and maximum-likelihood classification. Bryceson was able to predict the location of nymphal bands from changes in NDVI that resulted from rains during March (nymphal bands tend to be associated with "green" areas that result from rain). Similar "greenness mapping" studies have been conducted in Africa for grasshoppers and locusts.
- 11. 11 References Andrew M. Liebhold USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, 180 Canfield St., Morgantown, West Virginia 26505. Richard E. Rossi NASA Ames Research Center, Mail Stop 242-4, Moffet Field, California 94035 William P. Kemp USDA Agricultural Research Service, Rangeland Insect Laboratory, Bozeman, Montana 59717 Shortened title: GIS & Geostatistics Send proofs to: Dr. Andrew Liebhold, USDA Forest Service, 180 Canfield St., Morgantown, WV 26505 (telephone: 304-285- 1609)
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