Towards studying hybridization of baboon subspecies in the amboseli basin using distributed Gis

Abstract

Many geographic applications have been developed in recent years that offer exciting new possibilities for understanding biological diversity. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) make it possible to build maps of species distribution, to prioritize areas for conservation based on principles such as complementarity, to assess the completeness of existing protected areas networks, and for this particular study, species hybridization. Further more, with the developments in information communication technology, information systems, such as GIS, have now evolved from stand-alone single user systems to distributed systems and service oriented applications. Efforts by groups like the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) have made distributed Geographic Information (GI) services over the internet a reality. In this study, a distributed GIS is presented as a way of studying hybridization in baboon subspecies found in the Amboseli region south of Kenya. The study concludes that, in an environment with good internet connectivity, distributed GIS form a viable solution for the dissemination of information