Tracking animal migration patterns is crucial for achieving harmony between wildlife and expanding human development. Researchers, urban planners, and conservationists are increasingly relying on comprehensive migration data to inform their decisions and guide sustainable development projects. To facilitate this, Gil Bohrer, a professor at Ohio State University, has developed the Environmental-Data Automated Track Annotation and the recent ECODATA-Animate tool. Launched in collaboration with the NASA Ecological Forecasting Program, ECODATA-Animate enables researchers to create animations of animal movements overlaid on geographic maps, enhancing understanding of wildlife behavior and habitat requirements.
The Yellowstone to Yukon wildlife corridor, one of the largest in the world, serves as a focal point for these efforts. It encompasses diverse ecosystems across multiple US states and Canadian territories, supporting various species such as grizzly bears and wolves. Room to Roam: Yellowstone to Yukon Wildlife Movements, the initiative spearheaded by Bohrer, aims to establish a comprehensive archive of animal migration data. By utilizing ECODATA-Animate, researchers and wildlife managers can better visualize animal behavior, improving communication with stakeholders and ultimately influencing conservation strategies. The tool's open-source nature encourages global collaboration and data sharing, further advancing wildlife research and management.
