Abstract
 Escaping the Black Box, a Flexible Tool for Spatial Management Track: Parks and Natural Reserves Author(s): Austin Streetman , Martha Isbister, Austin Streetman Too often, natural resources field data is collected, only to languish within a black box DBMS application. Many of these black box applications are driven by the details of field observations, not by the objectives of the overall resource management program. This can result in data loss and incomplete analyses that do not meet program needs. This paper discusses an ArcGIS software-based tool that allows users to spatially define and stratify a sampling population and create, define, and manage protocols as they are used in practice. The National Park Service, working with Spatial Dynamics, has developed the Fire Ecology Assessment Tool (FEAT), a DBMS built around the objectives of the fire ecology program. This flexible tool supports data filtering and summary and streamlines export to statistical packages. FEAT can also perform common calculations like cover and basal area. The tool can and has been adapted to several biological monitoring programs. Austin Streetman Spatial Dynamics 910 Main Street, Suite 342 Boise , ID 83702 US Phone: 208.345.6788 E-mail: austin@SpatialDynamics.com Martha Isbister National Park Service National Information Systems Center 417 Ivan Road Friday Harbor , WA 98250 US Phone: 360 472 0892 E-mail: Martha_Isbister@nps.gov Austin Streetman Spatial Dynamics 910 Main Street, Suite 342 Boise , ID 83702 US Phone: 208.345.6788 Fax: 208.345.6766 E-mail: austin@SpatialDynamics.com |
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