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Data Series 631

Dose-Response Calculator for ArcGIS

By Steven E. Hanser1, Cameron L. Aldridge2, Matthias Leu3, and Scott E. Nielsen4

1U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Boise, Idaho.
2NREL, Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, in cooperation with U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado.
3Department of Biology, The College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
4Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Description and Use of Dose-Response Calculator

The Dose-Response Calculator for ArcGIS is a tool that extends the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS 10 Desktop application to aid with the visualization of relationships between two raster GIS datasets. A dose-response curve is a line graph commonly used in medical research to examine the effects of different dosage rates of a drug or chemical (for example, carcinogen) on an outcome of interest (for example, cell mutations) (Russell and others, 1982). Dose-response curves have recently been used in ecological studies to examine the influence of an explanatory dose variable (for example, percentage of habitat cover, distance to disturbance) on a predicted response (for example, survival, probability of occurrence, abundance) (Aldridge and others, 2008). These dose curves have been created by calculating the predicted response value from a statistical model at different levels of the explanatory dose variable while holding values of other explanatory variables constant. Curves (plots) developed using the Dose-Response Calculator overcome the need to hold variables constant by using values extracted from the predicted response surface of a spatially explicit statistical model fit in a GIS, which include the variation of all explanatory variables, to visualize the univariate response to the dose variable. Application of the Dose-Response Calculator can be extended beyond the assessment of statistical model predictions and may be used to visualize the relationship between any two raster GIS datasets (see example in tool instructions). This tool generates tabular data for use in further exploration of dose-response relationships and a graph of the dose-response curve.

References Cited

Aldridge, C.L., Nielsen, S.E., Beyer, H.L., Boyce, M.S., Connelly, J.W., Knick, S.T., and Schroeder, M.A., 2008, Range-wide patterns of greater sage-grouse persistence: Diversity and Distributions, v. 14, p. 983-994.

Russell, W.L., Hunsicker, P.R., Raymer, G.D., Steele, M.H., Stelzner, K.F., and Thompson, H.M., 1982, Dose-Response Curve for Ethylnitrosourea-Induced Specific-Locus Mutations in Mouse Spermatogonia: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, v. 79, p. 3589-3591.

First posted September 13, 2011

  • Dose-Response Calculator Tool ZIP (800 KB)
    This zip file contains an ArcGIS "Toolbox" file ("Dose Response Calculator.tbx"), the associated python script for running the Dose Response Calculator, and a graph template file (Dose Response Curve.grf) used to create graph outputs.
  • Dose-Response Calculator Instructions PDF (500 KB)
    This PDF contains installation and usage instructions for the Dose Response Calculator for ArcGIS and an example application of the tool.

For additional information contact:
Director, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center,
U.S. Geological Survey, 777 NW 9th Street
Corvallis, Oregon 97330
http://fresc.usgs.gov


Suggested citation:

Hanser, S.E., Aldridge, C.L., Leu, M., and Nielsen, S.E., 2011, Dose-Response Calculator for ArcGIS: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 631.