GIS and multiple-criteria evaluation for the optimisation of tsetse fly eradication programmes |
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Authors: | Elias Symeonakis Tim Robinson Nick Drake |
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Institution: | (1) CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Private Bag 5, Wembley 6913, Western Australia, Australia;(2) FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy;(3) Department of Geography, King‘s College, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS, UK |
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Abstract: | Tsetse flies are the vectors of trypanosomes, the causal agent of trypanosomiasis, a widespread disease of livestock and people
in Africa. Control of tsetse may open vast areas of land to livestock-keeping, with the associated benefits of developing
mixed crop-livestock production systems. However, as well as possible positive impacts there are also risks: bush clearing
would accelerate and cattle numbers would rise, leading to a reduction of vegetation cover, and an increase in runoff and
erosion; there may also be increased pressure on conserved areas and reductions in biodiversity. The objective of this study
is to show how remotely sensed and other environmental data can be combined in a decision support system to help inform tsetse
control programmes in a manner that could be used to limit possible detrimental effects of tsetse control. For Zambia, a methodology
is developed that combines a tree-based decision-support approach with the use of Multiple-Criteria Evaluation (MCE), within
a Geographical Information System (GIS), in order to target areas for tsetse control. The results show clear differentiation
of priority areas under a series of hypothetical scenarios, and some areas (e.g. northwest of Petauke in the Eastern Province
of Zambia) are consistently flagged as high priority for control. It is also demonstrated that priority areas do not comprise
isolated tsetse populations, meaning that disease control using an integrated approach is likely to be more economically viable
than local eradication. |
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Keywords: | Geographical information systems Multiple criteria evaluation Decision support Tsetse Trypanosomiasis Soil erosion Biodiversity Zambia |
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