NEGOTIATIONS
FOCUS
PROCESS
KEY STEPS
|
|
Your location: Home |
|
Compendium on methods and tools to evaluate impacts of, and vulnerability and adaptation to, climate
change
|
AEZ (Agro-ecological Zones) Methodology
|
|
Description
|
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) with the collaboration of the
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), has developed this system, which
enables rational land-use planning on the basis of an inventory of land resources and evaluation of
biophysical limitations and potentials.
It is anticipated that the AEZ process will be crucial in identifying agricultural and natural
resource baselines, and in monitoring how these baselines are being altered. The AEZ methodology also
provides a means of identifying how natural resources and agricultural production is likely to be
perturbed under future climate scenarios and in identifying suitable crops and locations under future
climate scenarios.
Recent availability of digital global databases of climatic parameters, topography, soil and terrain,
vegetation, and population distribution has called for revisions and improvements in calculation
procedures and in turn has allowed for expanding assessments of AEZ crop suitability and land
productivity potentials to temperate and boreal environments.
|
|
Appropriate Use
|
Climate change analysis of crop production. It is recommended that users access model results.
|
|
Scope
|
AEZ methodology and supporting software packages can be applied at global, regional, national and
sub-national levels.
|
|
Key Output
|
Maximum potential and agronomically attainable crop yields for basic land resources units (usually
grid-cells in the recent digital databases).
|
|
Key Input
|
Climate, topography and soil characteristics, and is to a large extent determined by demographic,
socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors, such as population density, land tenure, markets,
institutions, and agricultural policies.
|
|
Ease of Use
|
Expertise in crop systems
|
|
Training Required
|
Yes
|
|
Training Available
|
See Contacts
|
|
Computer Requirements
|
Web-based PC tools
|
|
Documentation
|
http://www.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/GAEZ/index.htm?sb
= 6.
|
|
Applications
|
Climate change assessments of agricultural production.
|
|
Contacts for Framework, Documentation, Technical Assistance
|
Günther Fischer
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria; Tel:
+43.2236.807.0; Fax: +43.2236.71.313; e-mail: fisher@iiasa.ac.at.
|
|
Cost
|
Depends on application
|
|
References
|
Batjes, N.H., G. Fischer, F.O. Nachtergaele, V.S. Stolbovoi, and H.T. van Velthuizen. 1997. Soil Data
Derived from WISE for Use in Global and Regional AEZ Studies. FAO/IIASA/ ISRIC Report IR-97-025.
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria.
Fischer, G. and H.T. van Velthuizen. 1996. Climate Change and Global Agricultural Potential Project:
A Case Study of Kenya. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 96
pp.
Fischer, G. and H.T. van Velthuizen. 1999. Agro-ecological zones of China, the former Soviet Union
and Mongolia. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria.
Fischer, G and G.K. Heilig. 1997. Population momentum and the demand on land and water resources.
Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Land. B 352:869-889.
Fischer, G., S. Prieler and H. van Velthuizen. 2005. Biomass potentials of miscanthus, willow and
poplar: results and policy implications for Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia. Biomass and
Bioenergy 28(2):119-132.
|
|
|
