Clark Labs, a member of the ESRI Business Partner Program, is developing its Land Change Modeler for Ecological Sustainability as a new software extension for ArcGIS. The Land Change Modeler offers an extensive suite of tools to assess and predict land cover change and determine the implications of change for ecological sustainability.
“Users will be able to easily perform a variety of change analyses with two land cover maps of different dates. For instance, the user would specify the files and immediately see area gains and losses by land cover category and net change, along with specific category transitions and exchanges in both map and graphical form” explained James Toledano, Executive Director of Clark Labs.
Tools specifically tailored for habitat and biodiversity issues include:
- species-specific habitat assessment to develop maps of primary and secondary habitats
-potential corridors and unsuitable areas
-biodiversity assessment,
-species distribution modeling
-range polygon refinement
-and biological corridor development
-planning tools allow the user to specify infrastructural or other modifications that would impact the change to be modeled
“These features make the Land Change Modeler unique,” said Toledano. “There are many tools on the market for change analysis and prediction, but no software has integrated them in one application. Users who are trying to understand land change and secure biodiversity will obtain great value from the Land Change Modeler. All of the analytical tools are organized into an accessible environment.”
Clark Labs has been working with the Andes Center for Biodiversity Conservation of Conservation International for several years to develop tools for analyzing and projecting land cover change and its effect on habitat and biodiversity. The scope of the project was subsequently broadened to develop a modeling environment (LCM) that could be used for a variety of land change scenarios and contexts. Further integration with the ArcGIS software extends the availability and accessibility of such important tools for users focused on land change, conservation and biodiversity.
“We at ESRI have great respect for Clark Labs and Clark University and their contributions to the advancement of GIS technology. We are excited to support their efforts in creating the Land Change Modeler extension for ArcGIS,” stated Kevin Johnston, Product Engineer at ESRI Inc. “We feel this extension will meet the needs of a variety of ESRI users especially those involved in conservation and land change.”
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