Data regarding species diversity and ecosystem health, including habitat conservation and biodiversity hotspots.

biodiversity

Biodiversity

Data concerning land use, land cover, and changes in land over time.  Includes agriculture, forests, and restoration.

land

Land

### Overview  
  
The Global Agro-Ecological Zoning version 4 (GAEZ v4) dataset assesses current and future agricultural resources and their potential. It is a standardized framework allowing for the characterization of climate, soil, and terrain conditions that are relevant for agricultural production. Data from the First Theme, Land and Water Resources, is displayed here and allows for the uniform classification of [biophysical](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/biophysics) resources that are relevant for agricultural production systems. Outputs are presented at 5 arc minutes resolution, which is approximately 9 km x 9 km at the equator but [changes with distance](https://www.thoughtco.com/degree-of-latitude-and-longitude-distance-4070616) from the equator.

​​Information on the current and future use of land resources is important for agricultural decision-making with implications on food security, sustainability of land and water resources, and agricultural development and policies. The GAEZ v4 dataset brings together multiple data sources to provide information on the biophysical limitations of land, current crop suitability, and information on how different agricultural resources may be impacted by climate change. Understanding what changes may occur in the future will enable different actors the ability to increase resilience, develop techniques or policies to alleviate potential challenges, and maintain food security.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) began developing the GAEZ modeling framework in the early 1980s to provide current data on the state of agricultural resources. It has since expanded to support sustainable agricultural development and provide key information on current and future risks to agricultural production, crop development, land productivity, and impacts from climate change.
  
  
### Methodology  
  
Multiple datasets were used as inputs to the GAEZ v4 modeling framework and provide data on historic and future climate attributes, soil and terrain resources, land cover, protected land, biodiversity areas, water resources, administrative units, population, and livestock. Historical climate data comes from the Climatic Research Unit TS v3.21 datasets which include monthly climate information. Future climate data for AEZ is derived from climate model outputs for four (2.6, 4.5, 6, 8.5) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) from the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Data processing was broken into several steps and seven main modules summarize the necessary steps within the GAEZ v4 modeling framework. Outputs from each of the modules are categorized into six main themes: 1) Land and Water Resources, 2) Agro-climatic Resources, 3) Agro-climatic Potential Yield, 4) Suitability and Attainable Yield, 5) Actual Yields and Production, and 6) Yield and Production Gaps.
 
The Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) sub-theme outputs fall under the first Theme, Land and Water Resources, and provides an inventory of land resources for the assessment of land productivity under specific agro-ecological conditions. Thermal and moisture layers are combined with broad categories of soil and terrain qualities allowing for the identification of land areas with biophysical constraints. 

A rigorous methodology and set of explicit principles are followed to assemble the AEZ classes and definitions. The following principles ensure that: 1) the map classes align with major climate zones based on the baseline historical period of 1981-2010, 2) map classes reflect broad ranges of the length of growing period boundaries, and 3) AEZ classes have generalized information about the prevailing soil and terrain limitations that are derived from GAEZ v4 terrain and soil resources inventories. The final AEZ layer has 57 different classes that are mapped at a spatial resolution of 5 arc minutes (approximately 9 km at the equator).
 
For the full documentation, please see the source [methodology](https://www.fao.org/3/cb4744en/cb4744en.pdf).
  
  
### Additional Information  
  
Our data catalog shows only a subset of the dataset. The Global Agro-Ecological Zoning version 4 Agro-Ecological Zones data has additional data for 2071-2100 and additional RCPs (2.6 and 6). For access to the full dataset and additional information, click on the “Learn more” button.  
  
### Visualizing the Data  
  
Our team reformatted this dataset before displaying it on WRI’s data catalog. See the documentation on how we retrieved the data on [Github](https://github.com/resource-watch/data-pre-processing/blob/master/foo_068_rw0_agro_ecological_zones/).  
  
### Disclaimer  
  
Excerpts of this description page were taken from the source metadata.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

GAEZv4 AEZ Classification by climate, soil, terrain, LC (57 classes)

foo-068-rw0-agro-ecological-zones-crt

agriadapt

AgriAdapt

2011-2040 (2020s) Agro-ecological Zones RCP 4.5

2011-2040 (2020s) Agro-ecological Zones RCP 8.5

2041-2070 (2050s) Agro-ecological Zones RCP 4.5

2041-2070 (2050s) Agro-ecological Zones RCP 8.5

1991-2010 (1990s) Agro-ecological Zones

Agro-Ecological Zone classification by climate, soil, terrain, and land cover