Soils Data

DATA SOURCE: Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research; regional and district councils

[Technical report available at environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-data... and environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-and-...]

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Soil quality and land use" indicator [available at www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/soil-quality-and-land...]

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We report on seven soil properties from 1996 to 2018: pH (a measure of acidity), Olsen phosphorus (a measure of fertility), total carbon, total nitrogen, and anaerobically mineralisable nitrogen (measures of organic reserves), and macroporosity and bulk density (measures of physical status). These are assessed across nine land uses. We report the proportion of sites above, below, and within soil quality target ranges for each of the seven soil quality indicators by land use, as well as by soil order.

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More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf. Technical report links for this dataset are environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-data... and environment.govt.nz/publications/soil-quality-and-...

DATA SOURCE: Fertiliser Association of New Zealand

Adapted by Ministry for the Environment and Statistics New Zealand to provide for environmental reporting transparency

Dataset used to develop the "Fertilisers phosphorus and nitrogen applied" indicator [available at statisticsnz.shinyapps.io/farm_fertiliser_ap...]

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This indicator measures the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus-based fertiliser (Urea, diammonium phosphate, superphosphate and ammonium sulphate) applied to agricultural land from 2002 to 2019 by region and dominant farm type.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

The data shows tonnes of nitrogen applied calculated from the application of urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), and ammonium sulphate (SOA) in New Zealand.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

Industry estimates of fertiliser nutrient consumption in New Zealand 1990–2015.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

The data identifies five classes of land in New Zealand at risk of erosion:

1. high landslide risk – delivery to stream
2. high landslide risk – non-delivery to steam
3. moderate earthflow risk
4. severe earthflow risk
5. gully risk

Landslide erosion is the shallow (approximately 1m) and sudden failure of soil slopes during storm rainfall. Earthflow erosion is the slow downward movement (approximately 1m/year) of wet soil slopes towards waterways. Gully erosion is massive soil erosion that begins at gully heads and expands up hillsides over decadal time scales.

Erosion can have negative consequences on land productivity, water quality (via increased sedimentation and turbidity), the natural form of the land, and infrastructure.

New Zealand experiences high rates of soil erosion. In the North Island, this is mostly due to the historical clearance of forest for agriculture (see also Estimated long-term soil erosion). In contrast, erosion in the South Island is mostly due to natural processes, primarily high rainfall and steep mountain slopes.

It is important to identify areas of land at risk of severe erosion to inform land-use decisions and help prioritise regional soil conservation work.

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.