Mapping the way to the future: From education to application

Background/Question/Methods

From education to application, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are powerful tools that are important to contemporary natural resource management and restoration. From seasoned natural resource professionals to non-industrial private landowners, the demand for using GIS and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology in field, workplaces, laboratories, and classrooms is constantly growing and is now the norm rather than the exception.  Basic mapping skills to create essential stand level maps utilizing aerial photography, soils, and topographic information should be well used tools in the toolbox.  Going beyond basic map making, GIS can be used to design robust databases at different scales to answer a variety of questions now and into the future by providing key information and for optimized decision making in management.  With the power of databases and the current expanse of remote sensing techniques, more opportunities exist for complex calculations and modeling to explore stand dynamics by adding a spatial context.  To reach a broader audience, online versions of the database can be created for users not familiar GIS software.  Integrating spatially linked photographs, video, and three dimensional simulations can provide the much needed link between education and application.

Results/Conclusions

Examples of how technology can be used in the classroom and applied in the field will be presented using examples from an online tutorial developed to assist private landowners with basic mapping and from GIS databases created for three sites in Alabama, USA, including the Escambia Experimental Forest, Flomaton Natural Area, and properties managed by the Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. The process for creating these databases included compiling and converting records, hand-drawn maps, and photographs that existed only in paper form to spatially linked digital records, in addition to more advanced GPS data collection and GIS database design. The results are structured, robust databases to further assist providing the link between education, research, management, and demonstrations, with a focus on longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.). Stand level mapping, tree densities, gap dynamics, and prescribed burning demonstrations captured in these databases, can be used to create two and three dimensional simulations for users with a variety of interests and objectives. Combining these examples with the basic tutorial for mapping creates a link between education and application that will provide better opportunities to facilitate restoration, conservation, and management now and into the future.