Doctoral Thesis Mader, Felix: Spatial, GIS-aided analysis of line transect surveys

Abstract (ENG)

An approach to include spatially referenced information which is stored
within a geographical information system (GIS) into the analysis of
conventional line transect surveys is presented. Therefor the transects
are divided into discrete segments which are then set in spatial
relation to the available geographical information. Using log-linear
models, the number of objects of interest observed in a certain segment
can be modeled depending on the (spatial) covariates present at that
segment. Also, models for the spatial prediction of object counts are
described. Subsequently, the potential spatial autocorrelation between
the segments is included into parameterization and prediction.
Furthermore a macro and script library is presented which can be used to
apply these methods using standard software (Distance, SAS, ArcGIS). The
methods and software tools are applied to a comprehensive collection of
geographical and game count data of five Namibian game species.