Evaluation and cartography of the faunistic potentialities of a territory: the example of the territory of Gap and its avifauna

Abstract

Within the framework for the environmental charter and the revision of its Local Town Planning (PLU), the city of Gap wishes to consolidate its environmental policy. It needs decision-making and management tools allowing a better integration of ecological and landscape data in its territorial actions. Thus, the city of Gap will equip all technical and engineering units with a Geographical Information System (GIS). The city of Gap request was a methodological and technical exploration of the possibilities offered by the GIS in the ecological and landscape management. This program of operational research is integrated in a logic of sustainable development. This research contributes a methodological and technical share with the implementation of an environmental policy for a reasoned development of the Gap territory. It is defined as an innovating experimental step, complementary to the current policies of the city of Gap. This article is restricted at the biodiversity part of the total research. It explains the development of an evaluation and of faunistic cartography of the potentialities of a landscape method. The example used is Gap's avifauna.