Examining the Pandemic’s Effect map gallery

Discovering the Deer Species of the United Kingdom

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About the map

Six species of wild deer reside in the United Kingdom, but how many are native to our shores? Only two species, roe deer and red deer, are considered truly native. Fallow deer are now a well-established part of the ecosystem, having been introduced during the 11th century.

Other species were introduced more recently, including sika deer, which are most commonly found in regions of Scotland. Reeves’ muntjac and Chinese water deer are smaller species also introduced within the last few hundred years, and are generally found in south, central and eastern England.

We created this informative map to demonstrate the similarities and differences in the distribution of the long established and recently introduced species of deer in a visually unique way.

Why it works

Nature isn’t constrained by neat boundaries with straight lines. Recognising that, the sightings data in these maps was transformed into generalised regions that represent areas where you would be most likely to spot a deer of each species. The result is a visually interesting interpretation of the data, which strikes that cartographic balance between art and science.

The map’s presentation draws inspiration from infographic-style posters and includes contextual information about the different deer species to help guide readers. Focus is maintained on the maps themselves using masking and framing to isolate the UK from nearby land masses and other elements in the layout.

Important Steps

  • 1.

    Load the data into ArcGIS Pro as point feature classes, creating separate layers for each species. Then, use the Aggregate Points tool to generate polygons around areas with clustered points.  

  • 2.

    Experiment with the layers, using buffering and generalisation tools to make the polygons more visually appealing. For example, we used Eliminate Polygon Part to remove internal holes and Smooth Polygon to remove jagged edges and sharp angles.

  • 3.

    Once you have established a workflow that achieves the desired result, bring the tools into ModelBuilder to automate geoprocessing for each of the other layers.

  • 4.

    As a final processing step in the model, clip the polygons to a UK boundary layer to ensure that deer territory does not extend past the coastline!

  • 5.

    Use transparency, layer blending and hatched symbology fills to visualise areas where different species overlap. Try out different combinations before deciding on a final style.

  • 6.

    Make use of the ArcGIS Pro layout tools to enhance your map’s presentation. For example, a background mask can be used to place focus on the map and provide a structure for contextual elements such as text and images.

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Requirements

  • Data and software

    This map was created using geoprocessing tools and ModelBuilder in ArcGIS Pro. Data representing individual deer sightings from the NBN Atlas was used as an initial starting point and input for the geoprocessing model.

  • Analysis

    The model created buffers around the aggregated polygons; larger polygons received more buffering than smaller areas to ensure good overall coverage. After buffering, the polygons were merged, internal holes were removed, and the edges were smoothed.

  • Time

    Whilst loading the data was quick and easy, it took some time to experiment and make decisions about how to generalise the polygons. Once the model is built, it can be easily tweaked and re-run until the desired result is achieved.

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Tips and tricks

  • tip-1-deer

    Annotate your model

    ModelBuilder models can get complicated, so keep the layout simple and add annotations to keep track of what each component contributes to the overall workflow.

  • tip-2-deer

    Working with overlaps

    Transparency and hatched fills are useful for visualising overlapping data, but a Union operation gives you greater control to fine tune the appearance of each overlap type.

  • tip-3-deer

    Get creative with legends

    For overlapping layers, why not swap out a traditional legend for a Venn diagram? To do this, change the legend patch shapes to circles. Convert them to graphics to rearrange as you wish.

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Links & Resources

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Scott Ward

Map Author

Scott Ward

Scott (he/him) is on the Graduate Programme at Esri UK and has a background in physical geography. In his free time, he enjoys travelling, photography and watching films.

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