Conservation is the key to holding onto one of the most defining features of this planet--wildlife. Plants and animals are crucial for the study of our environment. Plant growth illustrates shifting environmental conditions over time, providing an understanding of the history of an area. Animals move across environments and immediately react to different conditions. By studying both types of reactions, scientists gain valuable data to compare to the human condition.

A GIS aids the study of environmental changes by combining vast amounts of raw spatial data on landforms, climate, vegetation, and other conditions. The advent of telemetry--the use of radios and satellites to monitor animal movement--helps users gather data. Prior to telemetry, researchers followed animals by observation, which limited data gathering. Telemetry, although precise, produces location-specific data that is useless without a powerful spatial processing tool such as a GIS.

For example, animals can be exposed to minute levels of pollutants over a wide area and concentrate them in their bodies. Biologists have methods for identifying and tracking pollutants that would be difficult to trace directly. This complexity makes a GIS essential to understand the causes that lead to toxic exposure.

GIS aids the study of animals as genetic resources. Antibiotics are widely used in domestic livestock to fight disease, but their use provides a breeding ground for antibiotic-resistant diseases that attack humans. Incorporating natural resistance into livestock lessens dependence on antibiotics. Utilizing hardier native breeds can allow more productive uses for open-range areas that might have no other value, such as many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. GIS is an essential tool in these habitat studies to predict where the right conditions exist for a population to survive.

GIS technology enables aspects of wildlife, including their relationship to human health, to influence laws and management of land areas. In many African countries hunting wildlife is a major source of recreation, tourism, and revenue. If managed according to scientific conservation principles and spatial population surveys, hunting can actually benefit wildlife populations, especially where native predators are lacking. In several African countries GIS has been a core tool, combining field game census data with environmental factors to determine the best management and hunting practices for the wildlife population.

GIS technology also contributes to studying animal responses to environmental illness and population decline. The spatial relationship between wildlife population movements and pollutant levels can display a cause and effect pattern.

A brighter future for wildlife is visible as we continue to combine technology with conservation efforts. This section details multiple ways GIS users have used their resources to become part of the tireless movement for preservation. For more information, visit www.conservationgis.org on the Web.