Sustainability and Social Justice

Integrating a Raster Geographical Information System with Multi-Objective Land Allocation Optimization for Conservation Reserve Design

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The multi-objective land allocation problem is to optimize the selection of land for different uses based on a set of decision objectives. For most applications, a geographical information system (GIS) is either absent or loosely coupled through file exchange. In this article the evolutionary algorithm (EA), a heuristic solution method for optimization problems, is integrated with a raster GIS to form a spatial decision support system (SDSS) for multi-objective conservation reserve design. The SDSS effectively combines the functions of a GIS for data management, analysis, and visualization, with the optimization capability of the EA; and provides a uniform way to solve conservation reserve design problems with different types of constraints and objectives. The SDSS is demonstrated through application to the creation of conservation reserves in Bolivia to protect 17 endemic mammals.

Publication Title

Transactions in GIS

Publication Date

12-1-2014

Volume

18

Issue

6

First Page

936

Last Page

949

ISSN

1361-1682

DOI

10.1111/tgis.12085

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