Geob 479: Assignment 1

Assignment 1: Landscape ecology and GIS

For your first assignment I would like you to review a recent paper that involves landscape ecology, GIS and spatial analysis. It might be easier to find a paper in the journal Landscape Ecology. Papers (PDF) are available through the UBC Library's Electronic Journal Collection (Landscape Ecology). You can use SpringerLink's Search tool to select articles that use GIS or Fragstats in their analyses. You can use a search engine such as Google Scholar and those keywords to find relevant papers in other journals, or a resource such as the 'Web of Science', 'Geobase' or Georef'--all available through the UBC library (e-resources / indexes and databases). You will have to be on campus or use a Proxy Server (have you library card handy) in order to access the online journal articles. In order to ensure that everyone reviews a different paper, use the Geob 479 email listserve to email to everyone the title of the paper you have selected for your review, and check this page before you make a final decision in order to ensure that the paper hasn't already been selected.

In your two page (double-spaced) typed review you should briefly indicate the general topic of the paper and, in particular, describe how GIS / spatial analysis was used by the author(s). In class you will present your reviews so that we can obtain an overview of the utility of GIS / spatial analysis in landscape ecology, and of the types of analyses performed using GIS. You must email to me a copy of your review paper before your presentation. I will then place it on the web so that everyone in the class will be able to read your review. You should also 'grade' the paper you are reviewing--on a scale of 1 to 10--on how well do you think the authors did their analyses.

This form might help you in your review of the paper. I have prepared a page on preparing an effective presentation that you should review before making your presentation. This form will be used to assess your presentation. You must follow these citation guidelines when citing your paper, using the APA citation style presented here (see also here).

The reviews should be emailed to me (as an attachment -- do not ZIP the file) by Friday, February 1st. You will be presenting them Monday, February 4^th. Note that you should have your presentation well prepared, since we have limited time for each presentation. New this year: each of you will be asked to peer review every presentation and submit your reviews at the end of the class.

Student	Paper being reviewed
Amritpal Brar	Peter B. Coppolillo. The Landscape Ecology of Pastoral Herding: Spatial Analysis of Land Use and Livestock Production in East Africa.
Stephanie Dick	Reding, D. M., Cushman, S. A., Gosselink, T. E., & Clark, W. R. (2013). Linking movement behavior and fine-scale genetic structure to model landscape connectivity for bobcats (Lynx rufus). Landscape Ecology. doi:10.1007/s10980-012-9844-y
Joshua Edward	Taylor, J. R., & Lovell, S. T. (2012). Mapping public and private spaces of urban agriculture in Chicago through the analysis of high-resolution aerial images in Google Earth. Landscape and Urban Planning.
Nathan Hsu	Connors, J., Galletti, C., & Chow, W. L. (2012). Landscape configuration and urban heat island effects: Assessing the relationship between landscape characteristics and land surface temperature in Phoenix, Arizona. Landscape Ecology, , 1-13. doi: 10.1007/s10980-012-9833-1
Martin Kozinsky	Li, T., Shilling, F., Thorne, J., Li, F., Schott, H., Boynton, R., and Berry A. M. 2010. Fragmentation of China’s Landscape by Roads and Urban Areas. Landscape Ecology, 25 (6): 839–853.
Jesse Mason	Mckeown, C., A. Adelaja, and B, Calnin, 2011: On developing a prospecting tool for wind industry and policy decision support. Energy Policy, 39, 905: 915.
Conor McLellan	Plieninger, T. (2006). Habitat loss, fragmentation, and alteration – Quantifying the impact of land-use changes on a Spanish dehesa landscape by use of aerial photography and GIS. Landscape Ecology, 21(1), 91-105. doi: 10.1007/s10980-005-8294-1
Thomas Meisner	J. Linke, S.Franklin, F. Huettmann, G. Stenhous (2005). Seismic cutlines, changing landscape metrics and grizzly bear landscape use in Alberta. Landscape Ecology. Nov 2005, Volume 20, Issue 7, p. 811-826
Mike Miller	Verburg, P., Koomen, E. Hilferink, M., Perez-Soba, M., Lesschen, J.P. 2012. "An assessment of the impact of climate adaptation measures to reduce flood risk on ecosystem services." Landscape Ecology 27.4: 473-486.
Jill Miners	Tu, Jun. “Spatially Varying Relationships Between Land Use and Water Quality Across an Urbanization Gradient Explored by Geographically Weighted Regression.” Applied Geography 31.1 (2011): 376–392.
Michael Wat	John T. Lee, Mark J. Elton, Stewart Thompson, The role of GIS in landscape assessment: using land-use-based criteria for an area of the Chiltern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Land Use Policy, Volume 16, Issue 1, January 1999, page 23-32, ISSN 0264-8377, 10.1016/S0264-8377(98)00033-7.
Elvia Willyono	Ruiz, J., & Domon, G. Analysis of landscape pattern change trajectories within areas of intensive agricultural use: case study in a watershed of southern Quebec, Canada. Landscape Ecology, 24.3: 419-432.
Vanessa Zhang	Xin Li, Ling Lu, Guodong Cheng, Honglang Xiao, Quantifying landscape structure of the Heihe River Basin, north-west China using FRAGSTATS, Journal of Arid Environments, Volume 48, Issue 4, August 2001, Pages 521-535

I will use the following conventional marking notations when marking your written submission.

Everyone should email me--using GEOB479 Listerve as the Subject of their email--so that I can setup the GEOB470 listserve.