C. Gonzalezrebeles et al., TRANSNATIONAL GAP ANALYSIS OF THE RIO-BRAVO RIO-GRANDE REGION, Photogrammetric engineering and remote sensing, 64(11), 1998, pp. 1115-1118
Cap analysis is a CIS approach to biodiversity currently employed thro
ughout the continental United States to determine how well native biod
iversity is represented in the network of conservation lands. Here, re
describe an effort to apply gap analysis to the Rio Bravo/Lower Rio G
rande region of Mexico and the United States. Implementation of the st
udy was preceded by establishment of an agreement between the Mexican
National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO
) and the U.S. Geological Survey. The study will generate land-cover h
abitat and vertebrate distribution maps for an area that straddles the
Rio Bravo/Lower Rio Grande basin extending from Ciudad Juarez, Chihua
hua/ EI Paso, Texas to the Gulf of Mexico. Vertebrate modeling, based
on habitat associations, will identify habitats potentially important
to vertebrate life cycles and areas of high biodiversity. A map of lan
d management practices relevant to biodiversity conservation will prec
ede a ''gap analysis,'' which will identify potential areas for the re
gion's reserve network. We also describe the project's use of a nor el
software program (Spectrum) to analyze Landsat Thematic Mapper imager
y. Conducting the gap analysis in Mexico and relating it to the gap an
alysis for Texas will reveal how well biodiversity of the Rio Grande B
order region is actually protected by the current reserve network.