Determining the Suitability of Functional Landscapes and Wildlife Corridors Utilizing Conservation GIS Methods in Denton County, Texas. Page: 40
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CHAPTER IV
METHODOLOGY
A primary analytical tool of this paper is GIS due to its appeal to multiple
applications and ability to improve decision-making processes, in this case for devising
conservation strategies at the ecoregion level. GIS enables mapping the spatial extent of
habitat destruction, conversion and other invasive anthropogenic forms of change
(Pereira et al., 2004; Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2003; Allen and Hoekstra,
1992). The theoretical basis for this study was built upon international conservation
values, environmental planning, and conservation biology principles in the search for
ideal habitat from a geographical and philosophical perspective. In particular,
conservation themes promoted by the Convention on Biological Diversity and
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, such as the ecosystem approach, are a major thrust
for the topic of environmental protection and ecological sustainability (MEA, 2003; Allen
and Hoekstra, 1992; Naess, 1998). Also relevant to this study are the philosophical
underpinnings of environmental planning and protection, which led to the origination of
this paper: recognizing the intrinsic value of ecosystems as motivation for protection
advocated by biocentric and ecocentric approaches (Naess, 1998; Holmes, 1998; Gunter
& Oelschlaeger, 1997; MEA, 2003). A major intellectual and methodological thrust
underpinning this model was inspired by a prominent conservation biologist, Reed Noss,
behind the wilderness reserve design networks in the Pacific Northwest, Florida, and
around the country. Noss identified the primacy of identifying threat indicators to
ecosystem integrity, habitat connectivity, special biological and ecological elements, and40
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Sales, Joshua. Determining the Suitability of Functional Landscapes and Wildlife Corridors Utilizing Conservation GIS Methods in Denton County, Texas., thesis, August 2007; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3920/m1/47/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .