MPG RANCH

MPG Ranch is a 9,500-acre ranch in the Bitterroot Valley dedicated to the ecological, biological, and environmental study and education. They hired GCS to create a method of collecting field data, uploading it to ArcGIS, and running analysis and reports on the database.

Problem:
The Ranch spends hundreds of thousands of dollars on landscape restoration efforts, planting, seeding, building earth banks and ensuring drainage, putting up fences to keep grazing wildlife out, and other efforts that revitalize a habitat. Researchers wanted to find out whether their efforts were having a positive impact on wildlife and analyze what treatments worked best.

Solution:
After considering options like Trimble GPS devices with ArcPad, the team decided on an iPad solution.

Combining high resolution aerial imagery of the ranch (at a 6-inch ground scale), sensitive GPS on the iPad, on-demand sync with an ArcGIS geodatabase, and touchscreen controls, GCS created a system for wildlife observation collection and analysis that streamlined the process for biologists.

Collected data was funneled directly into ArcGIS for analysis.

Combining high resolution aerial imagery of the ranch (at a 6-inch ground scale), sensitive GPS on the iPad, on-demand sync with an ArcGIS geodatabase, and touchscreen controls, GCS created a system for wildlife observation collection and analysis that streamlined the process for biologists.

Conservation GIS Species map using Esri ArcGIS iOS API.

MPG Ranch’s researchers specialize in restoration and ecology. GCS built a GIS conservation bird surveying mobile app for MPG.

Vegetation Survey GIS mobile collector using Esri ArcGIS mobile iOS SDK.

Bird data mobile GIS collector using Esri ArcGIS iOS mobile API.

The iPad app and Desktop analysis tools have been used for multiple projects on the ranch. Researchers have concluded one study on songbird populations during fall migration, in areas called “shrubby draws,” linear areas that follow a gully and include small amounts of cover surrounded by grasslands. Researchers record an “observation session” on the iPad app, which shows an exact GPS position over high-res imagery. This helps them determine observational distance and didn’t require them to descend into a gully to make an observation, which might destroy habitat and disturb wildlife. Each bird sighting recorded information on bird species, location, and vegetation use. Sessions could be recorded when disconnected and uploaded when finished (and back to wi-fi coverage) with a “Sync” button, which also downloads updates from other researchers.

They tracked patterns in bird occurrence, abundance, and diversity through both time and space. Because the data are geo-referenced, they could examine bird use of specific areas and small-scale features. These observations will help guide additional restoration projects in the draws and provide a quantitative means of evaluating the effectiveness of restoration treatments.