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-...

Soil supports the productivity of agriculture, horticulture, and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways from becoming contaminated. Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can change soil quality. Soil quality is assessed under four different groups of land uses: forestry, cropping and horticulture, dairy, and dry stock by measuring the following soil properties: acidity (pH), fertility (Olsen P), organic reserves (total carbon, total nitrogen, mineralisable nitrogen), and physical status (macroporosity and bulk density). Soil scientists have identified the target range for each of these indicators, for maintaining production but with a prime focus for managing risk to the environment.

This measure reports on soil quality, by land use and soil order.

UPDATED 21/04/2017
(See "Land domain updates" page for details; www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/env...)

Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can result in changes to soil health. Healthy soil supports the productivity of agriculture and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways becoming contaminated. Soils are considered healthy if they fall within the target ranges for the indicators of acidity, fertility, organic reserves, and physical status.

This dataset relates to the "Soil health and land use" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

For raw data see "2015 land aotearoa soil health data for release.xlsx" at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/LTBnRL

NEW FILE 21/04/2017
(See "Land domain updates" page for details; www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/env...)

Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can result in changes to soil health. Healthy soil supports the productivity of agriculture and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways becoming contaminated. Soils are considered healthy if they fall within the target ranges for the indicators of acidity, fertility, organic reserves, and physical status.

This dataset relates to the "Soil health and land use" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

For raw data see "2015 land aotearoa soil health data for release.xlsx" at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/LTBnRL

UPDATED 21/04/2017
(See "Land domain updates" page for details; www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/env...)

Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can result in changes to soil health. Healthy soil supports the productivity of agriculture and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways becoming contaminated. Soils are considered healthy if they fall within the target ranges for the indicators of acidity, fertility, organic reserves, and physical status.

This dataset relates to the "Soil health and land use" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

For raw data see "2015 land aotearoa soil health data for release.xlsx" at data.mfe.govt.nz/x/LTBnRL

Updated 21/04/2017
(See "Land domain updates" page for details; www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/environment/env...)

Different land uses put pressure on the land environment and can result in changes to soil health. Healthy soil supports the productivity of agriculture and forestry, and filters water to help prevent waterways becoming contaminated. Soils are considered healthy if they fall within the target ranges for the indicators of acidity, fertility, organic reserves, and physical status.

This dataset relates to the "Soil health and land use" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

For raw data see "2015 land aotearoa soil health data for release.xlsx" attachment below.

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 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.

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.

high-class land is the most productive land for growing food. It supports most crops across New Zealand. Expanding lifestyle blocks and urban areas reduces the availability of high-class land for commercial crop growing, and this land is unlikely to be returned to primary production. This affects our commercial food-production capacity.

Column headings:
area_kha = area of land measured in kilohectares (ie multiply by 1000 to get hectares)

This dataset relates to the "High-class land for food production" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.