[CLASSROOM NOTE: Time 30 seconds; click count 6. The spatial query in this exercise can be performed in 30 seconds with 6 mouse-clicks using TerraViva! Global Data Analyst.]

The Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar, unique in its biodiversity, is waging a battle to protect its forests and wildlife. More than 90 percent of the mammals that inhabit Madagascar are found nowhere else in the world, and all but one of its 217 species of amphibians are endemic.

IMAGE 1. We'll use the Human Footprint v2 (HF) map and the spatial query tool in TerraViva! Global Data Analyst to learn more about human impact on Madagascar. The image at the right shows the HF map of Madagascar overlaid with provincial boundaries. The HF map depicts a measure of human influence on the earth’s land surface in terms of a Human Influence Index normalized by biome and realm. Values on the HF map range from 1 to 100. A value of zero indicates the least influenced part of the biome and a value of 100 indicates the most influenced part. Biomes are large, regional ecosystem types. The Human Influence Index is created from data layers covering human population pressure, human land use and infrastructure, and human access.

IMAGE 2. The second image is zoomed-in to the provinces of Toamasina and Antananarivo using the 30 arc second map layer in TerraViva! Global Data Analyst. The map coloration clearly shows a pattern of human influence: settlements, land transportation routes, and ports. As you move your cursor around on the map a text box displays the HF value assigned to the pixel at the cursor point. The arrow points to a pixel in the province of Antananarivo that scored 93 on the HF scale, indicating that the area is highly influenced by human endeavors. Madagascar's capital and largest city, also called Antananarivo, is located in this pixel.

According to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, a small lake near the capital plays an extremely important role in providing refuge to waterbirds amid the urban environment (Ramsar site number 1464). The lake is key to the survival of 14 threatened waterbird species and subspecies endemic to Madagascar and is the only known site on the Malagasy highlands to host the endangered Madagascar pond heron (Ardeola idae).

IMAGE 3. Now we'll create a spatial query that will tell us more specific information about the HF scores in each of Madagascar's six provinces. For this exercise we'll build a spatial query using 2 maps - HF and Sub-National Political Boundaries - and we'll limit the query to Madagascar. The spatial query tool quickly provides us with a data table that displays the total area (km2) per province for each of eight HF intensity bins. (Results for only four provinces are visible.) The table shows that Antananarivo has the greatest area with the highest HR score. We can sort the table by columns or rows to facilitate analysis, and can export to perform further manipulations in a spreadsheet application. With TerraViva! Global Data Analyst spatial queries can be performed using any data-driven map. The query can be global or limited to a selected point, line, or polygon using a drawing tool.

As Madagascar begins the process of selling more than nine million tons of carbon offsets to fund rainforest conservation, the Human Footprint v2 map and its companions - Last of the Wild: Biomes and Last of the Wild Ecoregions - may provide valuable insight for policy-makers.