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Be among the first to know 23 February 2016
Hot off the press!
The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of European Commission announced the new Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas (GSBA) in the frame of the Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment during a meeting of the AAAS last week. There will be a series of launches in many countries during 2016 and this one at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS ) meeting was just the start. The Atlas offers amazing photos, maps, charts, statistics, and shared information that scientists, educators, policy makers, and non-specialists alike can use as a toolkit for knowing and understanding soil biodiversity globally.
Soils are actually home to over one fourth of all living species on earth, and one teaspoon of garden soil may contain thousands of species, millions of individuals, and a hundred metres of fungal networks.
Soil organisms provide numerous and essential services such as nutrient cycling, soil formation and primary production. In addition, soil biodiversity influences all the main environmental services such as the regulation of atmospheric composition and climate, water quantity and quality, pest and disease incidence in agricultural and natural ecosystems, and human diseases.
Soil organisms may also control, or reduce environmental pollution. Finally, soil organisms also contribute to provisioning services that directly benefit people, for example, the development of novel pharmaceuticals.
The Atlas is divided in 8 chapters covering all the aspects of soil biodiversity:
- Chapter I: The soil habitat
- Chapter II: Diversity of soil organisms
- Chapter III: Geographical and temporal distribution
- Chapter IV: Ecosystem functions and services
- Chapter V: Threats
- Chapter VI: Interventions
- Chapter VII: Policy, education and outreach
- Chapter VIII: Conclusions
Soil biodiversity experts from all over the world are involved in the project aiming at the creation of a reference publication not only for soil biodiversity researchers but also policy makers and general public. Read more
Useful references to land and soil:
Carbon pool in soils - With an estimated global stock of 2 300 Gt of carbon, soil organic matter contains more than three times the amount of carbon of the atmosphere. The distribution of soil organic carbon varies greatly with climatic conditions and land use. The JRC contributed to a global map of soil organic carbon (2011) that was used to update the UNEP-WCMC’s Carbon and biodiversity map. See also:
More from ESDAC/JRC
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The new World Atlas of Desertification - Mapping Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management Opportunities is expected soon
The new World Atlas of Desertification (WAD) builds on recent scientific advancements, and aims to be a pragmatic exercise and example of the implementation of up-to-date concepts of land degradation.
The WAD is to be the foundation for better addressing and including desertification and land degradation in the newly defined sustainable development goals (SDGs) and strategies on food security, resource efficiency, emission schemes, development and poverty reduction.
An introductory brochure provides a short overview on the concept, issues and processes that can lead to land degradation and some local examples that reflect global patterns.
- Aridity and drought patterns cause increasing pressure on land and water resources
- 4 times more land and 10 times more water is needed to produce 1 kg of protein from beef than from pulses
- More than 75% of the land is used by humans ( excluding Greenland and Antarctica)
- 2007 was the first year in human history when most people on Earth live in cities
- Map and statistics about world drought frequency, duration, and severity for 1951–2010
- Globally arid areas increased between 1951-1980 and 1980-2010 many of them coinciding with land degradation problems.
- Underlying causes and consequences of land degradation, and
- Potential and limitation of efforts to combat desertification
- Maintaining or improving the productive capacity of land requires a move towards land degradation neutrality
The new WAD illustrates and underlines the need to monitor land dynamics by combining long-term information from Earth observations with in situ observations to improve the understanding of the site specific impact of changes in land use and observed land cover trends. Learn more facts from the WAD introductory brochure.
For more information, follow JRC-EC
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More from UNCCD LIBRARY:
Learn about the new analysis issued by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) which shows that 2015 – the hottest year on record – confirmed that weather and climate-related disasters now dominate disaster trends linked to natural hazards. 2015 disaster facts and figures vs 2005-2014 averages and more you can find in our February issue here.
About land, SDGs, security, migration, drought, gender, the global risks and the economic prospects in latest reports you can find in our previous issue
More than 100 DLDD and SLM referenced articles, links to over 30 web resources and databases about land, land deals, land contracts, gender and land rights, conflict and cooperation, drought, climate adaptation, easy to use in your everyday work with data, statistics, case studies and more.
Find out in UNCCD Library online catalogue and database
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