Pisces Conservation - Software in action

Pisces Conservation: Software in action

What our users said...

"Can I just take the opportunity to compliment you on the two packages ECOM and CAP. They are both incredibly user-friendly and the outputs from both of them look very professional. I have actually enjoyed using them on my data which is an interesting experience for me. They are simply good quality products".

"I had a chance to play with the species diversity model yesterday... it's quite a package!! I can see many applications for my field ecology course".

" ... very well done for the service you are providing for naturalists and the quality of your products".

"... Thank you for your fast response to my order and particularly for a superb suite of stats programmes at a sensible price!"

"The presentation of the outputs from CAP IV and related software purchased from you guys, was given high praise by the international examiners of my thesis. It was quite encouraging to know that the examiners (both leaders in biomonitoring) were impressed with the analytical approach, choice of procedure and outputs generated for the thesis. I do believe that I was fortunate to get hold of your software which was understandable, appropriate to my needs and clearly demonstrated the biological story."

"I am already totally happy that I finally found a way to produce those ordination plots. I was really afraid of the multivariate statistics and I definitely wouldn't have had a chance without your workbook and your programs".

"I have found CAP very useful in analysis of botanical quadrat data for NVC survey. English Nature are planning to publish the results of a survey we undertook of Langley Wood National Nature Reserve in which we analysed the data using CAP".

"I would like to thank you for your excellent multivariate software you have made. I have had a lot of joy using them as they are so user-friendly in all ways".

"... one of the most user-friendly and well-documented and supported sets of packages for ecological multivariate data analysis."

"I was delighted with the electronic-based British Tortricoid Moths you sent me. I would now like you to send me an e-copy of 'British Pyralid and Plume Moths' by Bryan P Beirne."

"I think your software is amazing - I have SDR4, Simply Tagging, Intro to Multivariate Stats, QED, and a number of ebooks. Your statistical software supported me through my PhD and continues to do so in my current work".

"The PCA improvement in CAP is fantastic. I didn't realize how much time I was spending flipping back and forth between programs to put a name to the species number. Any thoughts on including the automated routine for nMDS solution selection after excluding outliers? Or an automated centroid calculation for clusters that could be defined by the user. Maybe followed by some significance test for distance between different cluster centroids or individual samples and cluster centroids. This would take the tool beyond visualization to testing, and do it in a way that is user friendly which, in my opinion, is the strength of your program over PCOrd and Canoco".

Ocydromus schmidti, image © Azorean Biodiversity Portal 2008

In the Azores, a collaboration of research groups has been mapping the entire Azorean flora and fauna

For the first time it is possible to have access to the detailed distribution of all the Azorean terrestrial flora and fauna mapped in a 500 x 500 m grid based on literature records. For some species some images are also provided. For threatened species only presence/absence in the islands is available.

The major groups studied have been:

Moreletina obruta, image © Azorean Biodiversity Portal 2008

In their analysis of the huge amount of data collected, the groups have been using CAP, Ecom and Species Diversity & Richness.

Pisces are very pleased to have been able to contribute, in a small way, to their research.

Frangula azorica, image © Azorean Biodiversity Portal 2008

As a result of the project, the Azorean Biodiversity Portal is now available.

This portal was developed under the INTERREG III B Projects "Atlântico" (2003-2005) and "BIONATURA" (2007-2008), in which the partners in the Azores were respectively Direcção Regional do Ambiente e do Mar and Agência Regional da Energia e Ambiente - ARENA. The principal coordinator of the projecto was the Consejeria de Medio Ambiente y Ordenacion Territorial of the Canary Islands.

In the Appalachian mountains of the USA, Jason Riddle and Jason Bulluck are studying neotropical migratory birds.

"The southern Appalachians are one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. In particular, we have been blessed with large numbers of neotropical migratory birds (mainly warblers and vireos). Unfortunately, many of these birds may be declining in our area. As a result, a couple of us are studying several aspects of their breeding biology. Specifically, we're studying the effects of fire and the importance of old-growth / presettlement forests on neotropical migrants.

The Linville Gorge Wilderness is located along the eastern edge of the southern Appalachian mountain chain. It is one of the last large (10,975 acre) tracts of pristine forest in the eastern United States. The extreme topography and lack of anthropogenic disturbance in this rugged landscape has resulted in a spectacular floral diversity. Until recently, however, no one had investigated the fauna of the Linville Gorge Wilderness. Our project is designed to address several avian-habitat relationships within this wilderness with an emphasis on breeding neotropical migrants and fire ecology".

"We are conducting microhabitat vegetation surveys and avian censusing in wetlands throughout the southern Appalachians. Also, on a broader scale, we are incorporating Geographical Information Systems to analyze the land cover and land use of the areas that surround these small wetland habitats.

With these analyses, we will be able to determine the habitat characteristics that these species prefer. This knowledge will enable land managers to better preserve the few wetlands that remain in the southern Appalachians. Also, due to the fact that this research is the first to address this specific topic, the results will certainly provide new, invaluable information for use in the field of avian ecology".

"Wetlands are one of the most endangered habitats in North America, harboring many threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Wetlands are even rarer in the Appalachians, primarily due to the fact that they are Pleistocene glacial relicts.

Unfortunately, they also owe their scarcity to human impact. Because wetlands are always found in areas of no relief, they are also among the first areas to be developed, or grazed with livestock in the mountains. It is simply easier to drain and fill in a wetland than it is to move mountains.

We are using Species Diversity and Richness to determine adequate sample sizes as well as appropriate diversity indices. Once we are finished collecting data, we will use the Community Analysis Package to examine avian community structure within the Linville Gorge Wilderness".