{"product_id":"gis-for-biologists-a-practical-introduction-for-undergraduates-9781909832176","title":"GIS For Biologists: A Practical Introduction For Undergraduates","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book provides a user-friendly and practical introduction for undergraduates  and other novice biological GIS users  to the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in biological research. Unlike most other books about using GIS  this information is specifically presented in a biological context and it is divided into two sections.  The first section provides just enough background information to allow the novice biological GIS user to get started with GIS without getting too bogged down in the theory behind it or making some of the most common mistakes made by beginners. It covers areas such as what GIS is  why GIS is useful in biology  the basics of GIS  common concepts and terms in GIS  how data are contained in a GIS  useful information about what to think about before starting a GIS project and how to break down and translate ecological tasks into the language of GIS. This information is all provided in easy-to-read and non-technical language  with specific reference to its application in biological research.  The second section  which constitutes the main body of the book  consists of six practical exercises accompanied by detailed instruction sets. The first four exercises introduce the novice biological GIS user to basic  but important  GIS skills  such as making a map  creating new feature data layers  creating raster data layers and joining together data from different data layers. The final two consist of case studies of how GIS can be used to answer real biological research questions. Each of these exercises represents a stand-alone GIS lesson which can be completed either on its own or as part of a practical session for an undergraduate class. In addition  each exercise focuses on a different area of biology  such as tropical ornithology  epidemiology  marine biology and rainforest ecology  and on a different part of the world  including the Amazon rainforest  a Scottish field station  Mount Mabu in northern Mozambique  the North Atlantic Ocean and the USA. Instructions for each exercise are provided for both the leading commercial GIS package (ESRIs ArcGIS 10.3 software) and the leading freely available open-source GIS software (QGIS 2.8.3  also known as Quantum GIS)  meaning that this book can be used to learn  or teach  how to use GIS in biological research  regardless of the availability of commercial software licences.  Taken together  the two sections of this book provide the perfect primer to show undergraduates  and other novice GIS users  how useful GIS can be in biological research  why it is rapidly becoming a key skill in many areas of biology  and how start in using it.  The PSLS series of books uses Task-Oriented Learning (TOL) to teach the practical application of research skills to the life sciences. This involves demonstrating how these skills can be used in the specific circumstances in which they are likely to be required  rather than concentrating on teaching theoretical frameworks or on teaching skills in a generic or abstract manner. By seeing how the similar processes are used to achieve a variety of different goals within a specific field  it becomes easier for the reader to identify the general rules behind the practical application of these processes and  therefore  to transfer them to novel situations they may encounter in the future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45648222617653,"sku":"ByrdShop_1909832170","price":33.66,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781909832176.jpg?v=1781713313","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/gis-for-biologists-a-practical-introduction-for-undergraduates-9781909832176","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}