Over time, Canadian GIS technology used by Parks Canada became a necessary tool for ecosystem management. Geometric data - points, lines and polygons, express location or shape of entities. Descriptive data, on the other hand, relate to geometric entities. Layers A GIS has the capability to manage many layers of data for the same points in space in order to perform analyses. Layers represent different sets of geographic information.
Layers can provide information on geologys, soil, land use, species distribution, vegetation, etc.
GIS flexibility allows rapid prodution of maps which exactly meet the needs of the user. These applications include the analysis of spatial reference data, queries on point or polygons, data classification, map production, area calculations, the creation of buffer, elevation models, etc. This is not an exhaustive list. GIS in the future Geographic Information Systems will be, in the future, an essential tool kit for processing large amounts of ecosystem monitoring data with varying temporal and geographic scales. The systems will have a key role in evaluation and prediction of short and long term environmental change.