2004 UC Proceedings Abstract
 GIS System for Preventing Ballast Water-Borne Species Introduction Track: Ocean, Coastal, and Marine Resources Author(s): SAMUEL AMOAKO-ATTA, David Hicks Ballast water discharges are now known to be the single largest source of introduction of invasive marine species into new environments. Currently, no single comprehensive monitoring program provides the data necessary to produce an integrated assessment of the potential for ballast-water mediated species introductions into specific ports and/or coastal regions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is presented as a platform for integrating, processing and analyzing the various datasets involved in ballast water management. The result is a single comprehensive platform that links relevant trade, climatological, water quality and biological datasets to produce an integrated assessment tool for port-specific management of invasive species. SAMUEL AMOAKO-ATTA Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi COMPUTER SCIENCE 5022 LETHABY DR. CORPUS CHRISTI , TX 78413 US Phone: 361-993-7464 E-mail: samyte@yahoo.com David Hicks The University of Texas at Brownsville Department of Biological Sciences 80 Fort Brown Brownsville , TX 78520 US Phone: +1 956-554-5055 Fax: 1+956-554-504 E-mail: dhicks@utb.edu |
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