Global terrestrial Human Footprint maps for 1993 and 2009

• DOI: 10.1038/sdata.2016.67
• Publication Date: 2016-08-22T13:27:24Z
• Authors: Oscar Venter; Eric W. Sanderson; Ainhoa Magrach; James R. Allan; Jutta Beher; Kendall R. Jones; Hugh P. Possingham; William F. Laurance; Peter Wood; Balázs M. Fekete; Marc A. Levy; James E.M. Watson
• Keywords: Statistics and Probability; 0106 biological sciences; Data Descriptor; 910; Library and Information Sciences; 15. Life on land; 1710 Information Systems; 01 natural sciences; Computer Science Applications; Education; Multidisciplinary Sciences; 1804 Statistics; 13. Climate action; 1706 Computer Science Applications; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Probability and Uncertainty; 3309 Library and Information Sciences; 2613 Statistics and Probability; Statistics, Probability and Uncertainty; 3304 Education; Information Systems

AbstractRemotely-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 km2 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.