Cal Poly Students Use GIS to Help Map California Bird Habitat

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- A group of Cal Poly students majoring in Natural Resources Management put their knowledge of GIS mapping to work for San Luis Obispo City GIS Supervisor David Yun to help identify key habitat areas for birds throughout California.

Commissioned by the National Audubon Society and BirdLife International, the Important Bird Areas (IBA) program designates locations essential for breeding, wintering, and/or migrating birds.

Through a partnership between Audubon California and California Polytechnic State University, the GIS maps and database supporting the California Important Bird Area project were created by David Yun, GIS supervisor for the City of San Luis Obispo, and a group of students from Cal Poly's Natural Resources Management Department.

Conservationists, bird watchers, farmers, and developers across the state of California can now access bird habitat information from a digital bank of maps and data created with geographic information system (GIS) technology, all on the Audubon California Web site www.ca.audubon.org/iba. The Audubon Web Site's iba section lets users quickly find answers to questions such as, "What is the total acreage of all IBA land?" "Who are the major land owners?" "What percentage of IBA designations are in some form of protection?"

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