Final Project

Introduction Puerto Rico has seen significant changes in flora species in its 40 million years of evolutionary history. In its original state, Puerto Rico had nearly 100 percent forest cover with 547 native species. However, as with many other regions, European discovery of the island lead invasive species and land use practices to decrease forests so that 6 percent of Puerto Rican forest cover remained and 1 percent was original, unmodified forest. With species introduction, a total of 750 species can now be found on the island. Chemical activity and geographic overlays play a major role in the introduction of invasive species in Puerto Rico. With increased global warming, the chemical make-up of Earth’s surface is undergoing a major change. Increased levels of nitrogen and carbon can now be found in soils, plant matter, and in the air humans and plants take in. This all has an effect on the introduction of invasive species. Furthermore, geographic entities such as the building of homes, roads, and water structures further help the growth of invasive species. Many native species cannot tolerate the stress of urban life, while invasive species seem to thrive in areas cultivated by humans. Methods With the help of a professor at UCLA and a former employee of hers, I obtained the GIS data needed for this project. I received a land cover layer, soil type layer, and a layer containing the points of the research. I also received a Microsoft Excel sheet containing all the chemistry data connected to coordinate points needed to analyze the chemical effects pollution has on invasive species. Along with more data, I was only given ammonium and nitrate by themselves, so I needed to calculate the ratio of ammonium to nitrate in excel. The only information I needed to download was major roads in the United States of America, which I obtained from the UCLA Mapshare website. My first step was to create a map of the study site to give viewers an idea of where the study site was. Therefore I had to create a data frame that contained the points of the research and the cover type map provided to me. However, when I went to insert the legend, it contained about 100 different cover types. Therefore, I had to add a new value to the attribute table of the areas that were necessary for the study. I then created the legend from this new data frame. My next step was to interpolate the chemical data given to me to see the effects of nitrogen and nitrogen fixers in the forest area. I added two more data frames and the added XY Data to the maps, which provided the maps with the points connected with the chemical data. I then interpolated both nitrogen and the ratio, given to me in the excel sheet, using the IDW technique. These provided me with regions most affected by the chemical changes due to pollution. I then needed to evaluate the geographic influences, so I created a new data frame which contained the major roads of Puerto Rico. In order for the buffer not to take a long time, I selected attributes by location and selected the roads only located in Puerto Rico. I then proceeded to use the Buffer Wizard to create four 1 km buffers around the roads to indicate which areas where affected most by human influence. Lastly to see these results put together, I used the raster calculator to calculate both roads and nitrogen as well as the ratio and the effect of roads. I then put the last touches on the maps, making them all align, adding a north arrow and scale bar, and making the maps look visually appealing. Results The interactions between invasive species and soil chemistry are a two-way interaction. Invasive legume trees often fix nitrogen in areas where there was originally native forest cover filled with native non-nitrogen fixers. Nitrogen fixers are able to fix nitrogen from out of the air and soil, while native non-nitrogen fixers are left at a major disadvantage because they are unable to perform these activities. Nitrogen fixers therefore have a competitive advantage in areas where there are low nitrogen levels because native species will be unable to get enough nitrogen in order to survive, since nitrogen is one of the most common limiting factors for tree growth. Based on the nitrogen level map, the areas in green should be the areas with the most invasive species and the white areas with the most native. The map illustrates that areas around the outskirts of the study site should have the most invasive species while the farther in one goes, the less invasive species should be seen. The green to yellow areas indicate what areas are most suitable for the growth of invasive species. The second soil chemistry and invasive species interaction is the relationship between ammonium and nitrate. At the same time that invasive species are fixing nitrogen, they are increasing soil nitrogen overtime and actively bringing in nitrogen from the atmosphere. This can be changing and increasing mineral nitrogen pools. I calculated a ratio of ammonium over nitrate to indicate the introduction of where invasive species may be changing mineral nitrogen in Puerto Rican forests. The area most altered by the ammonium/nitrate ratio is shown in white on the Ratio: Ammonium/Nitrate map. This indicates an area where invasive species are altering the chemical make-up of the soil. Due to this finding, invasive species should also be found in the area surrounding the white spot. This point is also located on the outskirts of the study area, which coincides with the data presented in the nitrogen level map. Invasive species should most likely be found on the outer regions of the study area. Changes in geography of the region also play a major role in predicting where the introduction of invasive species can be found in Puerto Rican forests. Invasive species can more easily flourish in regions closer to roadsides, while native species suffer. Native species prefer secluded regions that are least affected by human impact. The Road Buffer map shows that the points located in the center of the study area are those that are farthest away from the major roads. Therefore, once again the areas located in the center of the study area, should be the ones that see the least amount of invasive species coming into their region. They are protected by the distance from the road side to their own location. Finally, the calculation maps once more prove that areas located in the center of the study site should be the ones least affected by invasive species. When adding together the effects of nitrogen and the effects of the roads, the Nitrogen+Roads map shows that the outskirted regions are the low regions, which for nitrogen are the ones most likely to aid the growth of invasive species. The Ratio+Roads maps also reflects the same relationship of decentralized locations having higher values, which for this ratio reflects more evidence of the introduction of invasive species because they are fixing nitrogen into the soil. Conclusion Because the study regions are located in areas surrounded by urban life, geographic changes such as roads and global warming harshly affect the introduction of invasive tree growth in forests. Based on the evidence from the maps, invasive species should be found most often in the areas more closely connected to the runoff of pollution and acitivty from the urban center. Therefore, the regions that will remain most preserved should be the regions located in the center of the study area away from the effects of pollution and the wear and tear of daily urban life, such as the building of roads and homes. Saving these center locations, and continuing to keep these areas largely untouched, will help to preserve the beauty and originality of Puerto Rican forests.

Lab Week 5

Due to current changes in the atmosphere because of global warming, cities have seen increased rainfall and more intense rainfall. Seen on the maps above, the season total of rainfall is greater than the season normal. Earth's increased atmosphere and surface temperatures produce an accelerated recycling of water between land, sea and air. I think, based on the maps shown, that IDW shows a bigger difference and more variability that the excel sheet provides. IDW was able to more accurately show differences between the rainfall is all three maps.

Quiz #2

Part I [62 points]

1. Rank order the ten most populous countries of the world. [6 points]
1. China
2. India
3. United States
4. Indonesia
5. Russia
6. Brazil
7. Pakistan
8. Japan
9. Bangladesh
10. Nigeria
I added the countries layer and then looked at the attribute table. Here it listed the population of the countries under POP_CNTRY. Then I clicked on the column and selected sort descending so the highest values came first.

2. How many rivers does the Amazon river system consist of? [6 points]

I first clicked on Select by Attributes, clicked river as the layer, made the query system = amazon, which selected all rivers in the amazon system. Then I went to the attribute and the selected attributes were highlighted. There were 15 total. These lakes were the Amazon, Guapore, Japura, Madeira, Madre de Dios, Purus, Putamayo, Rio Branco, Rio Juruena, Rio Maranon, Rio Negro, Rio Teles Pires, Tapajos, Ucayali, Xingu

3. How many cities are within 500km of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers? Attach a screen shot of a table for these cities. [8 points]

There are 61 cities within 500km of the Amu Dayra and Syr Darya. First I selected attributes and selected the Amu Dayra and Syr Dayra rivers. I then created a layer from these selected features. I then created a 500km buffer around these selected features. Then I counted how many cities were located in this buffer.

4. To the nearest 100,000 what is the total population of countries within 300 kilometers of Iran (not including Iran)? [8 points]

The countries within 300 kilometers of Iran are Iraq-20941720, Saudi Arabia- 18099990, Qatar- 478000, united Arab Emirates- 2061800, Oman- 2090308, Turkey- 61300930, Kuwait-1639000, Syria- 14054470, Georgia-5595552, Armenia- 3377228, Russia- 151827600, Azerbaijan- 5487866, Kazakhstan- 17117910, Turkmenistan- 3714642, Afghanistan- 17250390, Pakistan- 12669300
The total population is 337,700,000.
I first selected Iran in the attribute table, then I created a buffer around 300 km buffer around it. Then I identified the countries within this area, which also provided me with their populations. Then I went into excel and added these populations. Then I rounded to the nearest 100,000

5. Identify the most and least populous countries of the landlocked countries of the world. [6 points]

The least populous landlocked country is Vatican City with a total population of 860. The most populous landlocked country is Ethiopia with a total population of 53142970. I open the attribute table of the countries layer. Then I ascended the POP_CNTRY and looked for the first country that was landlocked which was Vatican City. Then I descended the POP_CNTRY and looked for the first country that was landlocked which was Ethiopia.

6. Identify all countries within 300 kilometers of Veszprem, Hungary (not including Hungary). [10 points]

The countries within a 300km buffer of Veszprem are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. First I went into the cities attribute layer and selected Veszprem. Then I created a layer from this selection. Then I created a 300km buffer around the city. Then I identified every country within this buffer.

7. What countries border Chad? [8 points]

The countries that border Chad are Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Sudan. I first went to the countries attribute table and selected Chad. I then created a layer from this country and zoomed to this layer. I then identified the countries that bordered Chad.

8. Rank order of the five countries that have the most cities based upon the data. And what is the city number for each? [10 points]

1. Russia
2. China
3. India
4. Unites States
5. Cote d’Ivory
I looked at the attribute table and viewed which countries had the most cities.

Part II [38 points + 5 bonus points]

9. Approximate the total length (km) of all river portions /segments flowing in the country of Sudan? [8 points]

The rivers that flow through Sudan are the Blue Nile, Nile, and White Nile. Their total length in the country of Sudan is 3634 kilometers. I first selected Sudan from the attribute list of countries. I then created a layer from this selected. Then I selected by locations and selected rivers that intersect Sudan. Then I created a layer from this selected. I furthermore selected the measuring tool and then measured the length of the rivers within Sudan.

10. Rank order of the five countries that have the most lakes in terms of number. And what is the lake number for each of the five countries? [10 points]

1.Canada
2. Finland
3. Sweden
4. Norway
5. Chile
I looked in the attribute table to estimate which countries had the most lakes.

11. Rank order of the five countries that have the most lakes in terms of area. And what is the total lake area (square km) for each of the five countries? [10 points]

1. Canada
2. Egypt
3. Netherlands
4. Russia
5. Moldova
I looked at the attribute table to see which countries had the most lakes in terms of area.

12. Produce the following map: a world country map of lake area per capita (area of lake surface per person). [15 points]

Lab Week 4

To create the Fire Hazard Map, I first accessed the DEM and fire station boundaries from the D drive. I then got the vegetation data from the FRAP website, which had fire data for Los Angeles County. I then proceeded to project the DEM raster to the 1983 UTM 11N projection so that the coordinate systems were the same. I furthermore created a slope of the DEM, and reclassified this to match the values given on the tutorial. I also reclassified the data given by the FRAP website for vegetation cover. I reclassified these values based on how much I thought the vegetation cover would burn. Here are the values I gave to each vegetation cover:
Agriculture 2
Herbaceous 6
Desert 4
Barren 3
Hardwood 8
Conifer 9
Shrub 7
Wetland 5
Water 0
Urban 1
I provided the two reclassified map below the final map to illustrate what values I obtained.
Lastly, to get the final map, I used the raster calculator to add the reclassified slope map and the reclassified vegetation cover. I did this to demonstrate why the area of the station fire burned so readily. If you view the map, you can see that the area on the fire map where the station fire was is red. This is because there was a combination of a high slope and a heavily flammable vegetation type. The Station Fire burned and spread so readily because of these combined efforts.
One problem I encountered with this lab was a difficulty is trying to build my slope. First, I forgot to project the DEM raster. Then, once I did this, I was unable to create the slope. The reason for this was because the data was unable to be found by the computer. I had to start over and make sure the computer knew where my data was coming from.

Lab Week 3

Final Project

My project topic is analyzing invasive species in urban watersheds of Puerto Rican rainforests. I would like to map which sites are highly suitable for invasive species to overtake native species in these rainforests. This summer, I went to Puerto Rico and collected data on 9 sites throughout the rainforest. Based on GIS data given to me on soil type, geological formations, and land cover type, I plan to analyze which parts of the rainforest will be most likely to harvest invasive species. My methods will be to create buffers on high pollution areas and see how these correlate with my sites and what data I collected there. I will furthermore create a map simply showing which sites, in my data had the most invasive species. Finally, I will create a map showing which areas, based on this previous research, in the rainforest will foster invasive species growth.

quiz 1

Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles do not need to be at least 1,000 feet from places where children congregate because this buffer would interfere with medical marijuana availability and business. If a person is in need of medical marijuana in the city of Los Angeles, they should be able to have access to this marijuana without having to drive all the way across Los Angeles to do so. As shown in the map of Los Angeles County, places where children congregate are located on everywhere throughout the city. This limits the places where medical marijuana stores are able to place their locations severely. If people who need medical marijuana have to drive all the way across town to receive this marijuana, this will further congest the city and increase traffic in a place where it takes an hour to go 5 miles. Furthermore, it will add to our constantly growing problem of global warming and especially smog in the city of Los Angeles to have more drivers on the road.
In general, medical marijuana stores are not over-sized or flashy. Therefore, whether there is a 1000 foot barrier or a 1 mile barrier, children will likely not notice. Furthermore, children will go where they want, even outside of this 1000 foot barrier of where they were originally dropped off. So constructing a 1000 foot unnecessary boundary will have no affect because if children wanted to find these places they could google them and simply walk to these places. With technology so advanced today, if children want to find a medical marijuana store, a 1000 foot barrier will not stop them.
Moving medical marijuana stores will be costly and result in increases road and construction traffic throughout the city. As shown in the Los Angeles City map, there are only around 3 locations out of 22 that would not need to be moved away from where they currently are. This increased traffic in the city will benefit nobody. Since the city of Los Angeles is littered with schools, libraries, recreational areas, and parks, the move would furthermore be extremely far and cause multiple trips for a business. Business sales would most likely drop in addition because as shown in the map, there are very view locations throughout the city where children do not exist. Since buyers will be located extremely far away from their stores, they will not be less likely to travel a farther distance for their marijuana and therefore the medical marijuana industry will see a decrease in sales.
The benefit of not constricting the boundary would be that consumer and producers would be more readily be joined for business, traffic would be far less, and consumers would have easy access to their product of desire. People who are commuting can easily grab their product on their way home from work. Increasing traffic with farther driving distances will also be increasing the risk for children who are playing in these designated playing areas. Traffic incidents are very common in the driving world of Los Angeles and children are more at risk from increased driving than from increased medical marijuana dispensaries.
Overall, I think it would not be beneficial for cost or businesses to enforce the 1000 foot barrier. It would also increase the risk of children with more driving and for their future in the sense of increased global warming changes. Businesses would suffer with increased commutes and having to be in a remote location. I believe it would not stop children from interacting with these stores if the children are that interested they will be able to find these locations with the availability of technology.

References:
UCLA Mapshare www.gis.ats.ucla.edu
TIGER www.census.gov
www.fentonnelson.com