BIO-GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM - A
MODERN NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TOOL

The Bio-Geographical Information System (BGIS) is a computer based system for the capture, storage, retrieval, analysis, and display of spatially referenced data on bio-resources and their environment. CESS has developed the BGIS using MapInfo Professional Geographic Information System (GIS) and Oracle Relational Data Base Management System (RDBMS). It employs a spatial database approach, in which different thematic maps of the study area are organized as digital layers using GIS and linked with the bio-resources database containing the correct nomenclature, detailed description, population status, habitat etc. Here, information echnology coupled with sustainable development paradigm is employed for suggesting conservation and management of precious biological resources.

A BGIS has been developed for Kollam and Pathanamthitta districts and adjacent Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) of Idukki district in Kerala, covering an area of about 5800 sq km. Since there is close relationship between landform and other geo-factors, landform is taken as the basic mapping unit. Main geo-environmental parameters used for this work are altitude, drainage, river basin boundaries, geology, soil type, soil texture, soil moisture, land use/land cover, vegetation, rainfall, temperature, humidity etc. Current land use/land cover, vegetation index, and relative soil moisture maps were derived from the IRS 1C/1D, LISS III digital data using Digital Image Processing techniques and incorporated into the GIS for analysis. Road and railwaynetwork, district, taluk, block, panchayat, forest circle, forest division and forest range boundaries are also shown along with the spatial distribution of flora and fauna. Fig. 1 shows a simplified block diagram of the BGIS implemented on a Windows NT workstation.Output is in the form of derivative maps and tables based on GIS analysis.User-friendly interface and query-based information retrieval are the other features of the BGIS (Fig.2). It is possible to retrieve species-specific and site-specific information using the BGIS. It caters to the needs of a wide cross section of researchers, administrators and planners.

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