The Role of Soil Information in Land Degradation and Desertification Mapping: A Review

Mapping land degradation and desertification (LDD) has generally been considered as a complex task, and past efforts have produced contrasting results. Until recently, this exercise has often been seen as a soil scientist’s task by the international community. However, the actual role and “weight” of soil information in LDD mapping at different spatial scales has been influenced and constrained by the changing conceptual frameworks and data availability. This chapter reviews these aspects and discusses the most recent developments. Starting from the evolving definitions of land degradation and desertification, it describes the use made of soil information by past global mapping initiatives. It presents the related past and new conceptual frameworks, and describes the approaches adopted by the most relevant ongoing international initiatives such as LADA and WAD. Finally, it highlights the existing constraints and limitations and provides recommendations on gaps and needs in terms of soil-related knowledge and data.

ZUCCA Claudio;  BIANCALANI Riccardo;  KAPUR S.;  AKCA E.;  ZDRULI P.;  MONTANARELLA Luca;  NACHTERGAELE F; 

2014-03-12

Springer International Publishing

JRC84936

978-3-319-00698-7,    978-3-319-00699-4,   

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-00699-4_3,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC84936,   

10.1007/978-3-319-00699-4,