Biodiv Sci ›› 2008, Vol. 16 ›› Issue (1): 96-102.  DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1003.2008.07123

• Original article • Previous Articles    

Design and implementation of PSDS system, a software for predicting the potential distribution of species

Hao Deng1,2, Liqiang Ji1,*()   

  1. 1 Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101
    2 Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
  • Received:2007-05-08 Accepted:2007-09-29 Online:2008-01-27 Published:2008-01-27
  • Contact: Liqiang Ji

Abstract:

It is a critical problem in conservation biology to model the geographic distribution of a given species. Potential Species’ Distribution System (PSDS), a new GIS-based system, has been designed and implemented to predict the potential distribution of species by using presence data only. The result, normally overpredicted by traditional Environment Envelope Model, is improved by using hierarchical cluster arithmetic that can reduce the influence caused by outliers. The PSDS system provides functions of data input and output, displaying GIS maps, analyzing the ecological factors of habitat and predicting potential distribution of species, etc. This system is user-friendly and easy to use. As an example, the paper predicts the potential distribution ofSyrmaticus reevesii which is one of the endangered species in china by using presence-only data of four provinces, and gets a good result.

Key words: potential distribution of species, presence data only, hierarchical cluster