A GIS Suitability Analysis of Wolf Habitat in Maine

The range of the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus), once covering most of North America, has been drastically reduced by an estimated 95% due to habitat loss and extermination by humans. The wolf was extirpated from Maine in the 1800’s. Wolf reintroductions have been suggested for Maine, but there is some debate about how much land is suitable for wolves. I developed a wolf habitat suitability analysis using ArcGIS and data from the Maine Office of GIS and the United States National Atlas. The model incorporates land cover, presence of major roads and railways, conservation land, industrial, non-industrial, and public woodlot ownership, distance from major points of population, deer population, and slope. The model results show areas of high and low wolf suitability in Maine. The model suggests that the best potential habitat for wolves in Maine is situated in the northwest of the state. Possible future reintroductions or natural colonization from other areas would have the highest likelihood of survival in these areas.

Habitat Suitability Analysis of the Critically Endangered Florida Panther

The purpose of this study was to conduct a habitat suitability analysis of the critically endangered Florida panther (Felis concolor coryi) in Florida. We gathered land cover, population and road data from the Florida Geographic Data Library and performed map algebra using ESRI’s ArcGIS to compile a suitable habitat map. We found that there is 20381.7 km² of highly suitable habitat and 557124.4 km² of less desirable but usable habitat for the Florida panther. The highest concentration of highly suitable habitat is in Big Cypress National Park, with smaller patches in Tates Hell State Forest and along the southeast portion of the Panhandle. Due to extensive fragmentation, however, and without establishment of habitat linkages to the existing southern population, there is little chance of survival of additional panther populations in much of northern Florida.

A Preliminary Habitat Suitability Analysis for the Restoration of South China Tigers in the Hupingshan Reserve, China

The South China tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis, once roamed the greater part of southern China. However, expanding human populations and other anthropogenic effects have resulted in the extinction of the wild population. The Chinese government has expressed interest in a reintroduction program for this species of tigers. Recent studies suggest that the Hupingshan preserve is potentially a good candidate for a tiger reintroduction program. Hupingshan is located on the border of the Hunan and Hubei provinces in Southern China. This study was a preliminary habitat suitability analysis, for the restoration of South China tigers in the Hupingshan reserve, China. ArcGIS 9.0 was used to develop a model that combined roads, railroads, slope, land cover, park classification, and population density. The tiger habitat suitability analysis was performed by weighting and combining the various layers. Preliminary results suggest that the Hupingshan reserve is suitable habitat for the reintroduction of South China tigers.

HABITAT SUITABILITY ANALYSIS OF THE CRITICALLY ENDANGERED FLORIDA PANTHER

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A PRELIMINARY HABITAT SUITABILITY ANALYSIS FOR THE RESTORATION OF SOUTH CHINA TIGERS IN THE HUPINGSHAN RESERVE, CHINA

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WIND POWER SUITABILITY ANALYSIS FOR THE GULF OF MAINE

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A GIS SUITABILITY ANALYSIS OF WOLF HABITAT IN MAINE

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Wind Power Suitability Analysis for the Gulf of Maine

This map shows one option for a viable energy source that is clean, free and endless: wind power. This map shows that the coast of Maine has the potential space and wind speed to be a location for wind farms. Four NOAA buoys placed in different locations along the Maine coast are the source of the wind speed data for this project. The average wind speed of every ten minutes of every day for the year 2004 were averaged so that each buoy was represented by one number of wind speed measured in meters/ second. The values in between these four buoys were estimated, or interpolated, using ArcGIS. Other factors that I took into consideration during this lab were distance from airports (no wind farm can be with in a three mile radius of an airport ) and distance from counties (no one wants an offshore wind farm that obstructs their view). I calculated the most appropriate locations for a wind farm in ArcGIS, by adding these three layers. The final output shows an area along Mt. Desert to be the most appropriate for development.

Stranger in a Strange Land: The struggle for cultural and personal identity in Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World

In order to explicate Murakami's version of the official culture, I have analyzed the novel with the works of several different theorists. Primarily, I drew my own understanding of the official culture from Raymond Williams's examination of culture in Marxism and Literature. His terminology became helpful in writing about the operation of the System and the Town, though it did not define that operation precisely. Williams's work also introduced me to the theory behind the official culture's manipulation and exclusion of historical aspects in order to create their "official" version of history, from which the official culture draws its identity. For further analysis of the treatment of history, I turned to Friedrich Nietzsche's On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life. Though it examines the official culture's manipulation of history in a much more in-depth manner, it seems to have influenced Murakami's treatment of individual memories and cultural histories. For instance, the herd ofunicoms in the End of the World resembles Nietzsche's description of the ''unhistorical herd," or has the potential to resemble it. With these theories I was able to access the mechanisms of cultural control that Murakami depicts in the form of the System and the Town, and from there I was able to develop a model for how the narrator struggles to subvert that control. Both sides of that struggle are depicted and re-imagined many times throughout Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

A Visibility Analysis of the Cape Wind Project

Cape Wind has proposed a wind farm of 130 turbines on Horseshoe Shoal in the center of Nantucket Sound. A prominent concern about the project is the impact the visibility of the turbines will have on the region's tourism industry and property values. It is feared that their presence will diminish the value of the pristine coastline that has attracted vacationers to Cape Cod for generations. In this project, we assess the extent to which Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket will be visually affected by the wind farm. It was completed using a Viewshed Analysis in the GIS program, ArcMap, from the surface, mean, and maximum height of the towers. These Viewsheds were combined to give a comprehensive perspective of which areas are able to see the highest percent of the wind farm. Finally, a weighted land use value was applied to the Viewshed to account for the impact of land use on the ability to see the project. The objective of this analysis is to provide a visual representation of how great an influence the wind farm will in fact have on Cape Cod.

Prioritizing Land Purchases for the Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance

The Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance is an organization that is dedicated to preserving land and water quality in the Belgrade Lakes region in Maine. The BRCA holds land in such towns as Belgrade, Mount Vernon, New Sharon, Vienna, Rome, Smithfield, and Oakland. The BRCA is looking to expand its acreage in and around these areas to better accommodate the public and to promote the ongoing effort to conserve land as part of the Kennebec Highlands Project. The BRCA is currently considering parcels of 50+ acres in New Sharon, Rome, Belgrade, and Mount Vernon. In order to identify possible suitable parcels, we completed a GIS analysis and produced these layered maps, which highlight areas of land that we think might be desirable to the BRCA. Our analysis encompasses human access, wildlife access, and the locations and sizes of parcels.

Viewshed Analysis of the Lands of Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance

The Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance (BRCA) has acquired a great deal of land in the Belgrade Lakes region of Maine and is currently in negotiations on many pieces of land throughout the area. Data available online from the Maine Office of GIS, and data from the BRCA were used to carry out this analysis. One area of interest is Mount Phillip, the summit of which the BRCA recently acquired. There is a good view to the south of the mountain, but the potential view to the east and north is in question. This study analyzed the view from the top of the mountain, focusing on two landmarks: Mosher Hill to the east, and North Pond to the north. The analysis shows that both Mosher Hill and North Pond can be seen well from Mount Phillip. These results could help the BRCA both by adding weight to their negotiations to protect Mosher Hill, as well as influencing their decision whether or not to thin part of the forest on Mount Phillip to open up the view of North Pond that is currently blocked.

Estimated Number and Location of Future Moose-Vehicle Collisions (MVC) in Maine

Moose (Alces alces) are a keystone herbivore in Maine. Because of the large number of rural roads in Maine, there is a high rate of moose-vehicle collisions (MVCs), which is increasing. On-road encounters with animals resulted in 231 fatalities in the United States in 1999. Because of the fatality of MVCs, it is important to know where they are most likely to occur. I used GIS analysis to estimate where future MVCs would occur, factoring in the variables of land cover suitability for moose, distance from water bodies, locations of past MVCs, and speed limits on the roads. I ran four different analyses, each one weighting the variables equally. I also ran a regression to determine if increasing road speed was associated with the increase in the number of MVCs per length of road. There was not a strong positive relationship between the number of MVCs per length of road and the speed limit, but it was interesting to note that there were more MVCs per length of road on 35mph and 40mph roads than on 45, 50, 55 or 65mph roads. Future research on MVCs would benefit from the inclusion of include moose population density and road traffic data.

Analysis of Future Construction Possibilities on the Colby College Campus

With the recent construction of Colby Green and the current plans for the construction of several new buildings, the total area for future development on campus has declined. The goal of this study was to illustrate existing campus development and to determine where future growth could occur. GIS was used to in determining the different soil systems on campus, the current use of the land, and the boundaries of the Colby property. The project shows what potential obstacles the college will have in attempting to expand the campus and proposes where the best options are for construction are.