Year: 2016
Type: data-paper
Abstract: Remotely-sensed and bottom-up survey information were compiled on eight variables measuring the direct and indirect human pressures on the environment globally in 1993 and 2009. This represents not only the most current information of its type, but also the first temporally-consistent set of Human Footprint maps. Data on human pressures were acquired or developed for: 1) built environments, 2) population density, 3) electric infrastructure, 4) crop lands, 5) pasture lands, 6) roads, 7) railways, and 8) navigable waterways. Pressures were then overlaid to create the standardized Human Footprint maps for all non-Antarctic land areas. A validation analysis using scored pressures from 3114×1 km(2) random sample plots revealed strong agreement with the Human Footprint maps. We anticipate that the Human Footprint maps will find a range of uses as proxies for human disturbance of natural systems. The updated maps should provide an increased understanding of the human pressures that drive macro-ecological patterns, as well as for tracking environmental change and informing conservation science and application.
Source: Scientific Data
Institutions: University of Northern British Columbia, The University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, James Cook University, Wildlife Conservation Society, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, ETH Zurich, Estación Biológica de Doñana, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas Isla de la Cartuja, Imperial College London, City College of New York, Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,490
OpenAlex ID: W2508921413