GIS and Associated Database for the Italian Stranding Network. A cooperative Project Based on GIS Technologies

摘要

The 'Centro Studi Cetacei' (CSC) is a research group established in 1985 at the Natural History Museum of Milan as part of the Italian Society for Natural Sciences. One of the most important projects of CSC was to create a national network (Italian Stranding Network) to collect data about stranded Cetaceans along the Italian coasts, or entangled in fishing nets, or found dead in open waters. The Centro Studi Cetacei is recognized by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forest Resources, by the C.I.T.E.S. Office and by the Ministry of Environment (Nature Conservation Service). Since 1986 the Italian Stranding Network has been collecting data on more than 2600 strandings (>2700 animals), concerning 12 cetacean species, and has published regular annual reports. The dataset also includes 164 events recorded in the former project 'Progetto Cetacei' as well as historical data found on literature and newspapers. As it represents one the most comprehensive dataset available for the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian Stranding Network archive has been chosen as a case study of a Cetacean GIS application.