At one time, tigers lived across the Eurasian continent, from the Caspian Sea to the Russian Far East, south to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, and Bali.Today, though, they live in just 10 nations, occupying a fraction of their former range.Habitat loss remains a constant threat. That’s why conservationists have teamed up with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Google Earth Engine to create a new real-time monitoring system for tiger habitats.Called “TCL 3.0” (standing for “Tiger Conservation Landscapes”), the mapping system provides tiger-range countries with the information they need to identify priority areas, and monitor changes in the habitat and populations, says Eric Sanderson, an ecologist and first author on a study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science in December.This new method of habitat modeling creates a “much more dynamic” map that will provide vital information at the same pace as decisions about conversation are made, says Sanderson, adding that protecting the tiger’s home habitat is a win for the whole ecosystem.“(Tiger landscapes) are also producing clean water and helping sequester carbon,” he says. “They’re supporting many, many other species, not just the ones that tigers eat. In that sense, tigers are a really good harbinger of our relationship to the natural world.”Real-time mappingThis is not the first effort using satellite imagery to map tiger landscapes. The original iteration, called the “tiger conservation unit analysis” was produced in the late 1990s, and the second, TCL 2.0, in 2006.These previous maps were static, but with improvements in technology, conservationists saw a way to make a real-time system.Modern mapping uses geographic information systems, known as GIS. It’s a technology that interprets and visualizes spatial data, such as how landscapes have changed over time, population densities, or the distanc …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnAt one time, tigers lived across the Eurasian continent, from the Caspian Sea to the Russian Far East, south to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, and Bali.Today, though, they live in just 10 nations, occupying a fraction of their former range.Habitat loss remains a constant threat. That’s why conservationists have teamed up with NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and Google Earth Engine to create a new real-time monitoring system for tiger habitats.Called “TCL 3.0” (standing for “Tiger Conservation Landscapes”), the mapping system provides tiger-range countries with the information they need to identify priority areas, and monitor changes in the habitat and populations, says Eric Sanderson, an ecologist and first author on a study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science in December.This new method of habitat modeling creates a “much more dynamic” map that will provide vital information at the same pace as decisions about conversation are made, says Sanderson, adding that protecting the tiger’s home habitat is a win for the whole ecosystem.“(Tiger landscapes) are also producing clean water and helping sequester carbon,” he says. “They’re supporting many, many other species, not just the ones that tigers eat. In that sense, tigers are a really good harbinger of our relationship to the natural world.”Real-time mappingThis is not the first effort using satellite imagery to map tiger landscapes. The original iteration, called the “tiger conservation unit analysis” was produced in the late 1990s, and the second, TCL 2.0, in 2006.These previous maps were static, but with improvements in technology, conservationists saw a way to make a real-time system.Modern mapping uses geographic information systems, known as GIS. It’s a technology that interprets and visualizes spatial data, such as how landscapes have changed over time, population densities, or the distanc …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
