Common Use Cases on Human-Nature Interactions

Linkages between Land Degradation, Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Human Migration

Within GeoKur we develop two use cases to identify the information needs of data users in terms of data quality elements, ontologies and provenance to determine the suitability of global land use data for downstream analyses and to showcase the potential pitfalls if this information is lacking. 

In a first, use case we focus on how land degradation caused by agricultural intensification threatens biodiversity and ecosystem services. For example, while agricultural intensification typically increases yields, this relationship may turn negative due to soil degradation or the loss of biodiversity that is beneficial to crop production (e.g. pollinators).

In a second use case, we focus on the spatio-temporal linkages between land degradation and human migration. Land degradation poses a risk to people dependent on natural resources and thus, is a potential cause for migration. Conversely, migration can also increase land degradation in destination areas, e.g. by contributing to land use changes.

In both use cases it will be challenging to find adequate data to address these research questions on a large scale. Moreover, we expect information gaps, in particular with regard to provenance and ontologies, which makes it more difficult to assess fitness for use.

Figure: Conceptual workflow. Based on two use cases we aim to specify the information needs to determine the fitness for use. If the evaluated datasets prove to be suitable the analyses can be conducted otherwise alternative datasets need to be searched or the research question needs to be refined.