Spatial optimization of wildlife habitat

A decision support system was developed for the design of optimal distributions of cover types that provide prescribed levels of wildlife habitat. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the cost of modifying existing cover types. The system was implemented on a UNIX workstation and includes a graphical user interface utilizing X Windows and Motif. Linked to the system is a geographic information system (GIS) that supplies a non-linear mathematical programming model with spatial data and stores the optimization output for further processing and display.