Scientists develop Species Distribution Grids
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EarthSky spoke with geographic information systems expert Malanding Jaiteh of Columbia University. He’s a participant in the Species Distribution Grids project, which offers online maps showing which species live where, across the globe.
Malanding Jaiteh: One of the major challenges have been, that is for scientists, have been deciding which areas, for example, to conserve.
He said this work is centered on how to prevent deforestation, or even improve forest resources given the rapidly changing global environment. To help that effort, scientists need to know how many species share a particular area. In that way, he said you should then be able prioritize certain areas based on the species richness.
Malanding Jaiteh: Over the years I have noticed that even though there’s a lot of talk about certain things, there’s really not data to make solid decisions.
He said the Species Distribution Grids could help scientists create a global plan for species protection. It provides a database for species whereabouts across the globe. Jaiteh said his work centers on people’s ability to access those large data sets. That baseline data will be useful in the century ahead.
