Habitat Suitability Modelling (for Bats)

This evening I attended a CIEEM regional event run in association with the University of Leeds.  Entitled "Habitat Suitability Modelling for bats – a tool for local and landscape scale EcIA and conservation management", I wasn't 100% sure what to expect, but as it was organised by renowned bat expert John Altringham I thought it would be worth the while.

In fact it was a really useful and thought provoking evening, and touched on many of the concepts I have started to come across through my studies and volunteering with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.  Briefly, the concept is that GIS mapping is used to layer environmental and habitat variables, such as vegetation, altitude, water bodies, etc.  This is then overlain with known or collected species presence and absence data.  The modelling tool then makes the link between the species that are found and their preferred habitats. This can be extrapolated to show where other individuals may be occurring, and used for a variety of purposes. The range of applications is vast, and it is a powerful tool that could help protection key areas that are ideal habitats for protected species, for example.

I believe there are going to be some more evening lectures in this series, so I will try to attend those too as I am sure they will be equally fascinating.