Data Reporting System - Theme: Land
Introduction
Land is one of the four physical spheres of the Earth's environment, along with the atmosphere, the coasts and oceans and inland waters.
The issues included in the Land theme have been structured to reflect complex systems relationships. They recognise the close relationship between the condition of the land and the condition of terrestrial biodiversity, and decouple the contributions that the land makes to human life (including heritage values) from the pressures which those contributions place on the land. The pressures on land are separated into direct pressures from human settlements and activities, and the indirect pressures and contributions that operate between the land and the overlapping themes of: coasts and oceans, inland waters and atmosphere. Societal responses to pressures or deteriorating conditions are examined as separate issues because of the time lag before responses can be expected to translate into improvements in condition or reductions in pressures.
Issues
Land condition
- Condition of terrestrial species and ecological communities
- Land cover
- Soil stability and quality
- Hydrology
- Condition of terrestrial genetic diversity
Contributions of land to human life
- Ecological services (air, water, climate)
- Living materials from the land
- Medicines and other potentially useful biological compounds from terrestrial sources
- Non-living materials from the land
- Non-materials benefits from the land
- Space occupied by human activities
Direct pressure of human activities on the land
- Land clearing
- Soil loss and loss of soil quality
- Salinity
- Species introduction and species change
- Pollution to and from the land
Contributions and pressures between the land and the atmosphere
Contributions and pressures between the land and inland water
- Pressures of changes to inland waters on land
- Pressures of changes to the land on inland waters
- Condition of species at the land-inland waters interface
Contributions and pressures between the land and the ocean
- Pressures of ocean change on the land
- Pressures of land changes on the coasts and oceans
- Condition of species at the land-ocean interface
Societal responses
- Protected terrestrial areas
- Responses to salinity
- Responses to vegetation loss, carbon loss, species loss and species change
Key
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Links to data in the DRS
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