María del Socorro Doldan

Towards systematic software reuse of GIS: Insights from a case study

With the development and adoption of geographic information systems, there is an increasingly amount of software resources being stored or recorded as products to be reused. At the same time, complexity of geographic services is addressed through standardization, which allows developers reaching higher quality levels. In this paper, we introduce our domain-oriented approach to developing geographic software product lines focusing on the experiences collected from a case study. It was developed in the Marine Ecology Domain (Patagonia, Argentina) and illustrates insights of the process.

Marine ecology service reuse through taxonomy-oriented SPL development

Nowadays, reusing software applications encourages researchers and industrials to collaborate in order to increase software quality and to reduce software development costs. However, effective reuse is not easy and only a limited portion of reusable models actually offers effective evidence regarding their appropriateness, usability and/or effectiveness. Focusing reuse on a particular domain, such as marine ecology, allows us to narrow the scope; and along with a systematic approach such as software product line development, helps us to potentially improving reuse. From our experiences developing a subdomain-oriented software product line (SPL for the marine ecology subdomain), in this paper we describe semantic resources created for assisting this development and thus promoting systematic software reuse. The main contributions of our work are focused on the definition of a standard conceptual model for marine ecology applications together with a set of services and guides which assist the process of product derivation. The services are structured in a service taxonomy (as a specialization of the ISO 19119 std) in which we create a new set of categories and services built over a conceptual model for marine ecology applications. We also define and exemplify a set of guides for composing the services of the taxonomy in order to fulfill different functionalities of particular systems in the subdomain. HighlightsSolutions for software reuse for GIS domains by using standard information.Domain-specific taxonomy for supporting the generation of software artifacts.Guides for using geographic services in order to fulfill different GIS functionalities of systems in the domain.Evaluation of the effectiveness of the taxonomy and guides when building an SPL and two derived products.Improvements on time and costs of new GIS products being developed.

Reusing Geographic E-Services: A Case Study in the Marine Ecological Domain

Software product line engineering aims to reduce development time, effort, cost, and complexity by taking advantage of the commonality within a portfolio of similar products. This may benefit the development of applications in several domains, and particularly in geographic information systems (GIS). Reusing services for GIS challenges developers to produce assets highly adaptable to various service clients and contexts. For that, service variability must carefully be modeled by considering different recommendations such as well-established standards. This paper presents an approach that facilitates variability implementation, management and tracing by integrating product-line and GIS development. Features are separated following standard recommendations and composed on a platform-oriented framework. The presented concepts are illustrated with a case study of a marine ecological system.

Bonamiosis status in natural Ostrea puelchana beds in San Matías Gulf (Patagonia, Argentina), 14 years after an epizootic

Between 1995 and 1996, Bonamia exitiosa caused an epizootic in San Matías Gulf, Argentina, that spread from a commercial culture site of Ostrea puelchana to natural beds located at the northeastern coast of the gulf. A mortality rate of 95% was registered in cultured oysters, and oysters from natural beds were also affected. The aims of this study were to assess the parasite prevalence in oyster beds and the demographic structure 14 yr after the epizootic. Two different oyster beds were studied during 2009 and 2010. Parasite prevalence was studied related to oyster aggregation, density, sex, and oyster size. Prevalence reached 35.3% at Las Grutas and 18.9% at Banco Reparo and was proportionally associated with density. Prevalence was also associated with the type of aggregation in Banco Reparo, where carrier oysters were more infected. Infection was independent of sex category, and infected oysters were larger than the non-infected ones. Oyster density decreased markedly compared to previous studies in both beds and mean sizes were lower, while prevalence doubled. Because of the persistence of the beds in this period, disease seems to control the population structure.

Ostrea puelchana (D'Orbigny 1842): a new host of Tumidotheres maculatus (Say, 1818) in northern Patagonia, Argentina

Tumidotheres maculatus has been reported as a commensal of Mytilus platensis and Atrina seminuda and suggested as a parasite of Aequipecten tehuelchus in San Matias Gulf (SMG). The native flat oyster, Ostrea puelchana, has been studied in SMG for decades, and no crab-oyster association has been reported. In autumn-spring 2009 and 2010, oysters were collected from four banks in SMG, and the occurrence of T. maculatus inside the pallial cavity of O. puelchana was recorded. The prevalence varied between sites, with 0-12.5% at El Sotano, 0-16.7% at Caleta de los Loros, and no crabs found in the samples from Las Grutas and Puerto Lobos. Infected oysters hosted a single crab. Oysters were infested by either one male (47.7%) or one female (15.1%). A positive but low correlation was found for male crab size and oyster size. The presence of these crabs inside the oysters could be due to the overlap of the distribution areas of O. puelchana and other bivalve hosts. Our findings may also be a consequence of local fishing. Commercial extraction of traditional hosts may have caused crabs to look for new hosts.