Problem Question
The focus of this assignment is defining the ways and routes professor Mattson should use to gather information about the Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly. Therefore, the problem questions are: Where should Professor Mattson go to look for Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly in a town near Lowell? What routes should she take to get to the town and then to reach specific locales where she is likely to find the butterfly?
Hypothesis
Accordingly, the hypothesis of this paper is that the use of the GIS map of Massachusetts butterfly habitats will be the best way to answer the problem questions and actually assist Professor Mattson in achieving her current goal.
Procedure and Results
To either affirm or reject the hypothesis it is necessary to access the home page of Mass GIS and obtain background information on the Hessel’s Hairstreak butterfly and the Juniper Hairstreak as the latter is similar in its looks to the Hessel’s Hairstreak, which might cause confusion while identifying their habitat. Then, it is necessary to access the tool of MassGIS Butterfly Atlas Viewer and access the viewer itself. Finally, the necessary area and the butterfly species are checked and the habitat, outline in purple is displayed on the map.
Thus, Hessel’s Hairstreak is found in the area between Northern Andover, Boxford, and Middleton. The list of the butterflies from the area reveals that Hessel’s Hairstreak’s specific habitat is only in the area near Northern Andover. It is also interesting that Juniper Hairstreak is not observed in the area, so no confusion can happen during Professor Mattson’s exploration of the area. The map zoomed in several times, the street and lane names become visible that would direct Professor Mattson in her search. Keeping in mind that Hessel’s Hairstreak is found in Atlantic white cedar swamps, the most appropriate area where Hessel’s Hairstreak can be observed is Cedar Lane. To get from Lowell to Northern Andover Professor Mattson will have to follow Westford Street, Andover Street, reach North Tewksbury, follow Lowell Street, cross Wild Rose Drive, cross the William Street and follow the Haverhill Street to the crossing of the Andover Street and Turnpike Street. The latter goes straight to Northern Andover.
Analysis
Thus, this report managed to define the exact route Professor Mattson should follow to reach Northern Andover and study the Hessel’s Hairstreak observed there near the Cedar Lane that can be accessed by following the Forest Street. The finding of this paper not only allows Professor Mattson specifically to go and study the butterfly species, but can also widen the overall scientific knowledge on Hessel’s Hairstreak habitat.
Conclusion
To conclude, the research carried out allowed supporting the hypothesis that the use of the GIS map can guide Professor Mattson in her search of Hessel’s Hairstreak habitat near Northern Andover. Also, the research findings allow hoping that other scholars might use the map to define the location of species they are interested in and set off to study them in their natural habitat conditions.
Discussion
To practice the use of GIS map, the research on Juniper Hairstreak near Lowell has also been taken up to avoid study confusion as this species is quite similar to Hessel’s Hairstreak. The research resulted in zero findings as the List tool presented no species of Juniper Hairstreak in the area studied, which allows assuming that Professor Mattson will face little confusion in her study of Hessel’s Hairstreak in Northern Andover.