Geospatial analysis of African elephant movement (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis)
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Geography, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Wall, Jacob C
issued: 2015-10-23T01:27:56
issued: 2015
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: African elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) are important species for geospatial study given their ecological role as megaherbivores, their large home ranges which pose challenges for conservation, and the ongoing ivory crisis. Using GPS tracking data, I address five research topics that contribute new information to the geospatial analysis of tracking data, to elephant movement ecology, and conservation : 1. What is an appropriate method to collect, store, disseminate, visualize and analyze elephant tracking data? I present a system (Loxobase) designed to provide an efficient and scientific basis for the treatment of wildlife tracking data. I demonstrate its utility by analyzing tracking datasets collected from 247 elephants (Chapter 2). 2. Can we leverage real-time tracking data for management and conservation? I present a monitoring system that implements continuous analysis of elephant GPS tracking data streams to identify positional and movement-based geospatial alert conditions. Four algorithms identify when wildlife slow or stop moving or cross into or near to spatial objects (Chapter 3). 3. Can we estimate wildlife space-use from tracking data? I develop the Elliptical Time-Density model to estimate an animal's utilization distribution from tracking data where parameters are directly linked to species biology. I demonstrate its performance in relation to other space-use estimators (Chapter 4). 4. What does tracking data tell us about the movement patterns of the Sahelian elephants in Mali? I use GPS tracking to study elephants in the Gourma, Mali to understand this unique and important population. The Gourma elephant's range was found to exceed those reported elsewhere in Africa and movements were correlated with patterns of rainfall and vegetation phenology. I also identified corridors and core areas of conservation priority (Chapter 5). 5. What does tracking data tell us about the factors influencing elephant range size across Africa? I present …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/51929
note: Geospatial analysis ofAfrican elephant movement(Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis)byJacob C WallB.Sc.H, Queen’s University, 2000M.Sc., Queen’s University, 2005A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTHE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYinFaculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies(Geography)THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Vancouver)January 2015© Jacob C Wall 2015AbstractAfrican elephants (Loxodonta africana and L. cyclotis) are important species forgeospatial study given their ecological role as megaherbivores, their large homeranges which pose challenges for conservation, and the ongoing ivory crisis. UsingGPS tracking data, I address five research topics that contribute new informationto the geospatial analysis of tracking data, to elephant movement ecology, andconservation:1. What is an appropriate method to collect, store, disseminate, visualizeand analyze elephant tracking data? I present a system (Loxobase) de-signed to provide an efficient and scientific basis for the treatment of wildlifetracking data. I demonstrate its utility by analyzing tracking datasets col-lected from 247 elephants (Chapter 2).2. Can we leverage real-time tracking data for management and conser-vation? I present a monitoring system that implements continuous analysisof elephant GPS tracking data streams to identify positional and movement-based geospatial alert conditions. Four algorithms identify when wildlifeslow or stop moving or cross into or near to spatial objects (Chapter 3).3. Can we estimate wildlife space-use from tracking data? I develop the El-liptical Time-Density model to estimate an animal’s utilization distributionfrom tracking data where parameters are directly linked to species biology. Idemonstrate its performance in relation to other space-use estimators (Chap-ter 4).4. What does tracking data tell us about the movement patterns of the Sa-helian elephants in Mali? I use GPS tracking to study elephants in theGourma, Mali to understand this u…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2015-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0135672
language: eng
degree discipline: Geography
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/51929