Export Conefor Outputs to ArcMap

Tom Dilts
Great Basin Landscape Ecology Lab
University of Nevada Reno
7/2/2014

Introduction

Graph theory is rapidly emerging as a method for characterizing networks of interconnected habitat
patches. The popularity of graph theory has to do with its simplicity. It requires only knowledge of
habitat configuration, quality, and the dispersal distance of the species of interest. Conefor (Conefor
Sensinode prior to version 2.6) (Saura & Torné 2009) is one software that can be used to calculate
metrics derived from graph theory. Visualizing outputs from Conefor in ArcMap involves several steps
that can be tedious, and although ArcGIS extensions for importing GIS data into Conefor exist (Jenness
2011), no tools are available for exporting data to ArcMap. This tool fills that void that by generating
point shapefiles that show the centroids of patches and line shapefiles that show varPC/dPC as well as
the direct probability and maximum product probability of dispersal. From these shapefiles it is possible
to make stick diagrams as an efficient way to display node and link importance.

Parameters

Input Patches – Shapefile showing the spatial footprint of patches used in Conefor

Input Patch ID – Unique ID field (same field as used in Conefor). If you used Jeff Jenness’s Conefor
Inputs tool this would correspond with the field that you picked as – select ID field.

Scratch Work Folder – Specify a folder workspace such as C:\temp

Coordinate System – Coordinate system that will be used for all outputs. It should correspond to the
coordinate system of your patches.

Input Node Importance Textfile – Node importance text file outputted from Conefor.

Node Join Field – The unique ID field in the node importance textfile that corresponds with the patch ID
field.

Output Centroids Shapefile – Name and path of output centroids shapefile.

Output Node Fields – Fields to retain in the output centroids shapefile.

Output Centroids Display Layer – This parameter is necessary because ArcGIS ModelBuilder is not
consistent when adding tool outputs to the ArcMap display. Just type in a name and the resulting output
will have this name in ArcMap’s Table of Contents (panel where the layer names are displayed usually
on the left).
Input Links Textfile – Link importance text file outputted from Conefor.

Input Links Join Field 1 – The unique ID field in the links textfile that corresponds with the starting patch
ID field.

Input Links Join Field 2 – The unique ID field in the links textfile that corresponds with the end patch ID
field.

Output Links Shapefile – Name and path of output links shapefile.

Output Links Field – Field to retain in the output links shapefile that can be used to show link
importance.

Input Direct Probabilities Textfile – Direct probabilities text file outputted from Conefor.

Input DP Join Field 1 – The unique ID field in the direct probabilities textfile that corresponds with the
starting patch ID field.

Input DP Join Field 2 – The unique ID field in the direct probabilities textfile that corresponds with the
starting patch ID field.

Output Direct Probabilities Shapefile – Name and path of output direct probabilities shapefile.

Output DP Field – Field to retain in the output direct probabilities shapefile that can be used to show the
direct probability of connection.

Input Maximum Product Probabilities Textfile – Maximum product probabilities text file outputted from
Conefor.

Input MPP Join Field 1 – The unique ID field in the maximum product probabilities textfile that
corresponds with the starting patch ID field.

Input MPP Join Field 2 – The unique ID field in the maximum product probabilities textfile that
corresponds with the starting patch ID field.

Output Maximum Product Probabilities Shapefile – Name and path of output maximum product
probabilities shapefile.

Output MPP Field – Field to retain in the output maximum product probabilities shapefile that can be
used to show the indirect probability of connection.
Fig. 1: The lengthy dialog box for the Export to Conefor Outputs to ArcMap tool.
Example

Fig. 2: Example habitat patches. 100 meters was chosen as 0.5 probability of dispersal in Conefor.
Fig. 3: Stick diagram with the size of the node representing the probability of connection metric and the
width of the line representing the maximum product probability. Lines are labeled with both the
maximum product probability (larger value) and the direct probability (smaller value). The probability of
dispersal between the two farthest patches, for example, is much greater via the two intermediate
stepping stone patches than directly (0.32 versus 0.21).

Literature Cited

Saura, S. & J. Torné. 2009. Conefor Sensinode 2.2: a software package for quantifying the importance of
habitat patches for landscape connectivity. Environmental Modelling & Software 24: 135-139.

Jenness, J. 2011. Conefor Inputs Tool for ArcGIS 10.x version 1.0.162, Jenness Enterprises. Last accessed
7/2/2014.