How does Changing Land Cover and Land Use in New Zealand relate to Land Use Capability and Slope?

Land cover and use are critical for climate change, water quality and use, biodiversity and soil conservation as well as important drivers of rural economic activity and the evolution of rural communities. The Land Use in Rural New Zealand (LURNZ) model is a simulation model that predicts overall shifts in land use at a national scale and then allocates those changes spatially. We create a new dataset that allows us to consider fine scale land cover and use on private rural land and land characteristics associated with those land covers and uses. Second, we produce some summary statistics on the land cover transitions that were observed from 1996 to 2002. We find some evidence that supports our simple model of the relationship between land use changes and observable land quality, and the use of Land Use Capability and slope in rules to simulate the location of changes in land use and cover and also identify some directions for future work.

Datasets used in this working paper:

• Baisden, Troy, "Pastoral Productivity Index Map 2002," obtained by Motu Research in 2003. Restricted dataset 7
• Department of Conservation, 2005. "Department of Conservation Land Map 2003," obtained by Motu Research in 2005. Restricted dataset 6
• Landcare Research, 2003. "Land Use New Zealand (LUNZ) Map," obtained by Motu Research in 2003. Restricted dataset 2
• Landcare Research, 2004. "Land Environment New Zealand (LENZ) Map 2002," obtained by Motu Research in 2004. Restricted dataset 4
• Landcare Research, 2008. "Ownership Map of New Zealand 2002," obtained by Motu Research in 2008. Restricted dataset 5
• Landcare Research and MAF, 2002. "Land Use Capability Map 2002," obtained by Motu Research in 2002. Restricted dataset 3
• MfE and Terralink International, 2002. "Land Cover Database II 2002," obtained by Motu Research in 2005. Restricted dataset 1
• Todd, Maribeth, 2009. "Land Use New Zealand Map with Slope variables (from LENZ)," obtained by Motu Research in 2009. Restricted derived dataset 9951
• Maribeth, 2009. "Land Use New Zealand Map with Variables from Land Cover Database 1," obtained by Motu Research in 2009. Restricted derived dataset 9950