The advantages and limitations of current web GIS software for forest fragmentation information and analysis functionality were investigated using Landsat Thematic Mapper data of 1987 to 1999 for a test site in northern West Virginia. ESRI\u27s ArcIMS technology was used to build a Web-based forest fragmentation analysis system to query, represent, and analyze the status of forest fragmentation using landscape metrics. Both ArcIMS HTML and Java fragmentation analysis tools were constructed. The web GIS was evaluated with respect to accessibility, navigation, interactive cartographic functionality, and spatial analysis functionality. The current ArcIMS approach was found to offer only limited support for the spatial analysis functions required for fragmentation analysis. A variety of enhancements to the current web GIS software are recommended, including support for polygon-based spatial query, interactive representation and operation for raster data, and the integration of user-side and server-side data for spatial analysis
