Gis-analysis for the purposes of the ecological framework formation and expansion of the network of protected natural areas (on the example of stavropol territory)

Abstract

The article discusses the issues of designing the ecological framework of the region with the help of geoinformation technologies. The research area is the Stavropol Territory, which has a developed network of specially protected areas, at the same time acting as a link between the protected areas of the North Caucasus and the steppe protected areas of the Caspian lowland. Quantum GIS was used as software in the work. The basis of the methodology was the geoinformation analysis of natural and anthropogenic factors. The design of the ecological framework is based on the method of automated spatial data processing. The initial data in the work were vector spatial data characterizing natural conditions and anthropogenic development. The analysis used the method of hexagonal operators (cells), the minimum territorial unit is a cell with a side of 5 km. The author Developed an algorithm for processing vector data based on the division of vector objects by geometric features. To group heterogeneous vector data, the method of assigning point values was used. Point values were assigned using the Jenkens classification algorithm, and an attribute data processing algorithm based on the “case” operator was used to automate the assignment of point values. The core of the method was the formula reflecting the diversity of natural and anthropogenic factors in the study area. On the basis of vector spatial data, an integral assessment of the territory was obtained, on the basis of which the elements of the ecological framework of the Stavropol territory were distinguished. On the basis of the designed ecological framework, promising areas for new protected areas were allocated. The paper proposes 9 natural-territorial complexes for promising protected areas. In identifying new protected areas, the author was guided by the principles of representativeness of the network and landscape approach, which is why promising protected areas were laid in the provinces of steppe and semi-desert landscapes, in which there is a shortage today