Biodiversity refers
to the range of variations among a set of entities and it is commonly use to
describe variety and variability of living organisms in terms of genetic
diversity (heritable variations within populations), species diversity (species
richness in a habitat) and ecological diversity (biophysical
diversity).
At the global
level, the biodiversity scenario is very grim; numerous important plant and
animal species are on the verge of extinction, others are threatened or
vulnerable. The accelerated rate of extinction of species has prompted a call to
the scientific community to make comprehensive assessment of the status, causes
and trends of biodiversity and recommend conservation strategies for proper
monitoring and management of forests and grassland, along with their inventory
at national and global level. Such kind of activity requires tremendous amount
of information- here comes the role of Geographic Information System (GIS).
The objective of
this article is; first, to notify the GIS community of the exigency of need of
their skill in addressing the problem of loss of biodiversity, and second, to
stimulate discussion on the potential use of GIS for manipulating and analyzing
the data required for management of biological diversity. Nevertheless,
application of GIS vis-a-vis collection of data, a process needs to be defined.
In this discussion, we present our understanding for the development of a
comprehensive Biodiversity Knowledge and Information System (BKIS), relevant to
the sustainable preservation of biological diversity of grassland and forest
ecosystems.
|
Information scale, area extent (Km2) and suggested map scale |
Taxon distribution |
Habitat factors |
Cultural factors |
Biogeographic
104 - 106
1: 2,500,00-
1: 10,000,000
|
Species rannge
(historicalmodern)
|
Climate type
Physiography
Vegetation formation
Soil type
|
Dominant land use
Administratitive boundaries
|
Regional
102-104
1:100,000-1:250,000
|
Species andsubspecies range
Population (rare,
endangered,
indicator spp.)
|
Climate provinces
Land form
Vegetation series
Surface geology
Soil order
Community interactions
|
Land use
Farm lands
Land capability
Natural resources
Transportation
Land ownership
Air/water quality
Nature reserve
|
Local
10-2-102
1:10,000 - 1:100,000
|
Narrowly endemic spp.
Population occur-rences
|
Microclimate
Topography
Vegetation associations
Surface geology
Soil types
Hydrography
Community interaction
|
Land use
Zoning
Roads
Air/water quality
|
Table: 1 Taxonomic,
Ecological and Cultural Variables required for
assessment of biodiversity and corresponding
information scale