This is the first of two associate metadata and datasets. It describes and disseminates the geospatial data which underlie FAOSTAT statistics on drained organic soils. Particularly, this metadata includes the annual area drained by cropland and grazed grassland on organic soils (in ha) for the years 1992 – 2018. The associate geospatial dataset is named Drained Organic Soils Area Annual (DROSA - A).
Organic soils are wet soils ecosystems, characterized by high levels of organic matter, which accumulates under the anoxic conditions that exist in the presence of water. They include tropical and boreal peatlands, high-latitude bogs, ferns and mires. While organic soils cover globally a mere 3 percent of the terrestrial land area, they represent up to 30 percent of the total soil carbon, playing an important role in maintaining the earth’s carbon balance. Agriculture is a major cause of drainage of organic soils around the world and restoration of degraded organic soils is currently a priority in several countries as part of their commitments under the climate convention.
Estimates of drainage area and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from organic soils for the year 2000 were developed earlier by FAO and used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for global analysis. That preliminary work was based on the geospatial overlay of two static maps, one for land cover, indicating presence of agriculture, and one for soil characteristics, indicating presence of organic soils.
This version advances with additional methodological developments which, owing to the availability of time dependent land cover maps, resulted in the production, for the first time, of estimates over a complete time series (1990 – 2019). Geospatial data are then aggregated at national level and disseminated in FAOSTAT with a structure in line with country reporting requirements to the Climate Convention and following 2006 IPCC guidelines. FAOSTAT estimates use histosols as proxy for presence of organic soils, in agreement with IPCC and annual land cover maps as time-dependent component.
More information can be found in:
a) FAO 2020. Drained organic soils 1990 – 2019. Global, regional and country trends. 3rd FAOSTAT Analytical Brief Series (under finalization)
b) Conchedda G. and F.N. Tubiello. Area of Drained Organic Soils and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Validation of FAOSTAT estimates with country data. FAO Statistics Working Paper Series (submitted)
c) Tubiello F.N., Biancalani R., Salvatore M., Rossi S., and Conchedda G. 2016. A worldwide assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from drained organic soils. Sustainability 8, 371. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/4/371
Data publication: 2020-06-01
Citation:
FAOSTAT, 2020.
Contact points:
Metadata Contact: FAOSTAT
Resource Contact: Francesco Nicola Tubiello
Resource Contact: Giulia Conchedda
Data lineage:
FAOSTAT statistics are validated against official country data reported to the UN Climate Convention. Results are available under: Conchedda G., and F.N. Tubiello. Area of Drained Organic Soils and Associated Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Validation of FAOSTAT estimates with country data. FAO Statistics Working Paper Series (in preparation).
Resource constraints:
FAOSTAT data and these datasets are part of FAO corporate statistical databases in scope of the FAO Open Data Licensing Policy. Terms of use are available at: http://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en
Online resources:
FAOSTAT Emissions - Agriculture: Cultivation of Organic Soils
FAOSTAT Emissions - Land Use: Cropland
FAOSTAT Emissions - Land Use: Grassland
