The computer-aided systems, which are usually referred to as geomatics in North America and to some extent geoinformatics in Europe and Asia, represent an important technological advance with widespread applicability to conservation biogeography as well as to the environmental and spatial aspects of economics, anthropology, sociology, human geography, psychology and political science. Geomatics, an extremely broad field or combination of fields, includes remote sensing, geographic information science or geographical information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), geodesy and cartography and mapping. Because conservation biogeography is a relatively new discipline or sub-discipline, applications are developing to some of the supporting disciplines such as anthropology or human geography, and the conservation context may be recognized or inferred. This chapter examines the current state of geomatics in conservation biogeography. The methodology consists of examining the research results in the social sciences, conservation biology and biogeography and selecting those applications and results that can be assigned to the field of conservation biogeography. Due to the multidisciplinary background of conservation biogeography, biogeography and conservation science, a certain degree of subjectivity may arise, particularly due to increasing social science involvement directly caused by increasing human interference with the environment, with increasingly complex environmental outcomes from this involvement. Current evidence suggests that geomatics-based systems enable more reliable and precise calculations for environmental research with more applicable results. Geomatics-based techniques easily measure land cover changes that can impact conservation and biogeography. However, more problematic may be the predictive modeling of human activities in the context of human decision-making and the measurement of the socioeconomic, political, cultural and even psychological impacts of biogeographical changes. Further difficulties arise when measuring questions that concern applied disciplines such as nature conservation, cultural and urban studies. Assessing these complications can contribute to the application of geomatic methods to conservation biogeography.

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Geomatics Applications to Conservation and Social Developments

  • Michael O’Neal Campbell

摘要

The computer-aided systems, which are usually referred to as geomatics in North America and to some extent geoinformatics in Europe and Asia, represent an important technological advance with widespread applicability to conservation biogeography as well as to the environmental and spatial aspects of economics, anthropology, sociology, human geography, psychology and political science. Geomatics, an extremely broad field or combination of fields, includes remote sensing, geographic information science or geographical information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), geodesy and cartography and mapping. Because conservation biogeography is a relatively new discipline or sub-discipline, applications are developing to some of the supporting disciplines such as anthropology or human geography, and the conservation context may be recognized or inferred. This chapter examines the current state of geomatics in conservation biogeography. The methodology consists of examining the research results in the social sciences, conservation biology and biogeography and selecting those applications and results that can be assigned to the field of conservation biogeography. Due to the multidisciplinary background of conservation biogeography, biogeography and conservation science, a certain degree of subjectivity may arise, particularly due to increasing social science involvement directly caused by increasing human interference with the environment, with increasingly complex environmental outcomes from this involvement. Current evidence suggests that geomatics-based systems enable more reliable and precise calculations for environmental research with more applicable results. Geomatics-based techniques easily measure land cover changes that can impact conservation and biogeography. However, more problematic may be the predictive modeling of human activities in the context of human decision-making and the measurement of the socioeconomic, political, cultural and even psychological impacts of biogeographical changes. Further difficulties arise when measuring questions that concern applied disciplines such as nature conservation, cultural and urban studies. Assessing these complications can contribute to the application of geomatic methods to conservation biogeography.