Paul D. Zwick

Influence of landscape structure on reef fish assemblages

Management of tropical marine environments calls for interdisciplinary studies and innovative methodologies that consider processes occurring over broad spatial scales. We investigated relationships between landscape structure and reef fish assemblage structure in the US Virgin Islands. Measures of landscape structure were transformed into a reduced set of composite indices using principal component analyses (PCA) to synthesize data on the spatial patterning of the landscape structure of the study reefs. However, composite indices (e.g., habitat diversity) were not particularly informative for predicting reef fish assemblage structure. Rather, relationships were interpreted more easily when functional groups of fishes were related to individual habitat features. In particular, multiple reef fish parameters were strongly associated with reef context. Fishes responded to benthic habitat structure at multiple spatial scales, with various groups of fishes each correlated to a unique suite of variables. Accordingly, future experiments should be designed to test functional relationships based on the ecology of the organisms of interest. Our study demonstrates that landscape-scale habitat features influence reef fish communities, illustrating promise in applying a landscape ecology approach to better understand factors that structure coral reef ecosystems. Furthermore, our findings may prove useful in design of spatially-based conservation approaches such as marine protected areas (MPAs), because landscape-scale metrics may serve as proxies for areas with high species diversity and abundance within the coral reef landscape.

Florida's Efficient Transportation Decision-Making Process: Laying the Technology Foundation

In response to “environmental streamlining” legislation passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, Florida has undertaken efforts to implement more efficient transportation planning and environmental review. These efforts have led to the development of the Efficient Transportation Decision-Making Process (ETDM Process), which redefines how Florida will accomplish planning and project development. A rather unique aspect of Florida’s streamlining approach is the integration of information technology as a vital foundation for the process. The development of Florida’s ETDM Process is described and evaluated, focusing on the information technology component. This component was developed as an interactive Internet-accessible geographic information system database. It integrates resource and project data from multiple sources into one standard format, provides quick and standardized analysis of the effects of the proposed projects on the human and natural environment, and supports the effective communication of results among all stakeholders, including the public. The use of technology is expected to reduce the cost of agency participation in the process and produce better, timely transportation decisions that reflect the proper balance among land use, mobility, and environment. Main topics include application design and development methodology, its integration in the ETDM Process, and how it has been received by the user community to date. Its benefits are evaluated, and recommendations for developing integrated technologies in support of streamlining efforts are provided.

Searching for substandard housing in Alachua county: A case study

Abstract Since manual methods for the inventory and identification of substandard housing are expensive and time consuming, the authors have undertaken, in conjunction with the Alachua County Housing Authority, to develop a computer automated methodology for the inventory and identification of the countys substandard housing from county property tax records. While methodologies for identifying substandard housing from property tax data are not new or unique (Koebel, 1986), this paper presents an approach to the process which does not use traditional regression techniques and instead uses a model that selects substandard units based solely upon the query of individual property parcel data, as collected by the countys property tax appraisers. The process identifies housing units as standard, borderline, suspected substandard, or substandard, and maps (among other variables) the number of substandard units, per section of land. An address listing of substandard properties may also be generated for each of the countys 1000 sections of land. Preliminary field testing of 236 housing units resulted in a 97.6% match with only one parcel indicating a mismatch for nonstandard housing, and upon further manual inspection that parcel was determined to be standard, as predicted by the model. As a result of this model, the Alachua County Housing Authority has achieved its goal of identifying the substandard housing within the county, and can now efficiently and effectively begin to deal with annual changes in substandard housing, thereby identifying areas of increasing property structure deterioration.

Quality assurance for a local government geographic information system: A geo-facilities project perspective

Abstract Of all the procedures utilized in the conversion phase of implementing a Geographic Information System (GIS), perhaps the most important are those pertaining to quality assurance. It is especially important that sound quality assurance procedures be established for the conversion of the base data or base layer, as erroneous data may be carried into subsequent databases, thus compounding problems and diminishing the perceived usefulness of the system. This article discusses the quality assurance process and control procedures invoked in the conversion of the property base layer for Alachua County, Florida (GEOMAX project). Since the Alachua County GIS employs a facility management model, specific examples of quality control procedures presented are from that perspective. However, common problems encountered during the conversion process of GIS projects are discussed, along with solutions used to locate and correct those problems within the GEOMAX project.

Influence of Public Conservation Acquisition on Surrounding Residential Property Values in Gainesville, Florida

AbstractThis study uses a hedonic price model to examine the relationship between proximity to newly purchased conservation lands and single-family property values. Specifically, a variant of the h...

INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES OF PROPOSED TRANSPORTATION CORRIDORS

Transportation projects often have delays, unnecessary duplication of efforts, and especially a lack of coordination among the involved agencies, leading to extra costs associated with the environmental review and approval process. The Florida Department of Transportation and University of Florida researchers are exploring several strategies for developing software tools to address such concerns. The goal is to identify major issues of the proposed transportation projects early in the planning phase so appropriate stakeholders can consult and resolve those issues before additional resources are invested in the project. Proposed is a methodological framework and a conceptual system design for building these software tools. The methodology for analyzing the impact is conceptualized as object-oriented, modular, and highly customizable. This approach offers analysis consistency and great flexibility for applications anywhere in the United States, provided that spatial databases are available. The system design strategy proposed for implementing the methodology takes an integrated approach between geographic information systems and relational database management systems. A prototype application developed based on the proposed framework proved effective in confirming the primary impact issues in a road extension pilot study in Florida. The tool quickly analyzed each of the proposed alignments and compared the levels of impact. Future directions will include expanding the focus from impact assessment to decision support with capabilities for selecting optimal road alignments.

The geoplan center

Abstract GEOPLAN, the Geo-facilities Planning and Information Research Center, was established in 1986 and is located in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Floridas College of Architecture. The community concept for interactive land based data sharing developed at GEOPLAN has evolved since 1975 through a series of research projects designed to further the ability of planners to deal with the macro and micro levels of systems facilities management. Efforts by Center researchers have led to the use of computerized land based data sources, primarily property ownership appraisal records, for planning at both the regional and local scale.