A geographic information systems tool development for geostatistical analysis of endangered endemic vascular plants of Turkey


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2005

Öğrenci: BARBAROS DEMİRCİ

Eş Danışman: NAZİFE BAYKAL, SEVDA ZUHAL AKYÜREK

Özet:

Modern information systems strive to provide effective use of resources. Supplied with analysis tools, geographical information systems (GIS) can serve its stakeholders with minimal requirements. In this study, GIS capabilities were employed for Turkish Flora. Data related with the threatened plants that are indigenous to Turkey were gathered from the relevant literature and reshaped into a dataset in which spatial locations were represented in a geographically referenced format. Afterwards, this output was used to investigate the affects of different factors on the distribution patterns of these plants by means of functions of GIS and multivariate analysis. At last, overlay analysis was employed in order to reveal the congruence between official protection reserves, spatial locations of the plants in danger and areas of importance for other elements of wildlife specifically birds. Outcomes of the study is three-fold. First of all, a simple algorithm was established which can be used in the formation of a unified database of widely distributed floristic data in Turkey. Geographically referenced data and the analysis results produced in the study is another value added for Turkish botanics. From another perspective, effectiveness of GIS in handling different types of non-standard data were scrutinized. Overlay analysis of locations of the plants and the protection reserves constituted the managerial aspect of the study by pointing large gaps in the actual protection coverage and proposing candidate regions for official reserve choices of the future. In essence, GIS was deemed to be an effective tool for parties working on non-standard spatial data.