Biomapper

Using Ecological Niche Factor Analysis, Biomapper can build habitat suitability models for any animal or plant.

Description

Biomapper is a kit of GIS and statistical tools designed to build habitat suitability models and maps for any kind of animal or plant. It is centred on the Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) that allows computation of habitat suitability models without the need of absence data.

Habitat Suitability map of Capra ibex in Switzerland1

 More precisely, it can deal with the following tasks:

• Preparing the ecogeographical maps in order to use them as input for the ENFA (e.g. computing frequency of occurrence map, standardisation, masking, etc.)
• Exploring and comparing them by means of descriptive statistics (distribution analysis, etc.)
• Computing the Ecological Niche Factor Analysis and exploring its output.
• Computing a Habitat Suitability map
• Evaluating it

Biomapper is designed to be autonomous but as it uses the same file format as the GIS software IDRISI, they can transparently work in conjunction.

Biomapper was designed with huge files in mind. It was actually tested with up to 30 maps of 32 Mb each.2

Function

• Analysis tools
  • Complex
• Visualisation tools
  • Maps

Why use this tool?

• To be able to visually represent habitat suitability

 Who will use this tool?

• Data users
  • Expert

 How will the tool be used?

• Requires Windows
• Desktop application
• Field data or database data first needs to be converted to IDRISI-formatted maps
• The habitat suitability maps are validated using independent data
• User input is required

 Where in the data chain could this tool be used?

• User’s machine

 When could this tool be used?

• As a post process, after data is with the user

Availability

• Biomapper: http://www2.unil.ch/biomapper/
• Download: http://www2.unil.ch/biomapper/products.html
• Manual: http://www2.unil.ch/biomapper/Biomapper3-Manual.pdf
• Version 3.2.2  October 2006
• Licence issues, intellectual property
• Cost: Biomapper is postcard-ware. You can test it freely and, should you find it useful and make use of it for your research, then send a postcard to its author at the following address:

                   Dr. Alexandre HIRZEL

                  Department of Ecology and Evolution

                  University of Lausanne

                  CH-1015 LAUSANNE

                  SWITZERLAND

• Announcement and discussion lists: http://www2.unil.ch/biomapper/products.html
• Restrictions: For Scientific purposes only

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