Land Potential.org
LandPKS
What is LandPKS?
A free modular mobile phone app connected to cloud-based storage, global databases, and models
A system for storing and accessing user data
A system for sharing data, information and knowledge
What are the modules?
LandInfo– for rapid soil (texture, color) characterization, soil identification, and accessing soil and ecological site information.
Predicts soil infiltration & plant available water-holding capacity (AWC) at variable soil organic matter (SOM)
Determines Land Capability Class (LCC) for sustainable land use planning and management
Determines Soil Color using the phone’s camera and a standardized reference card
SoilID (early 2019) – matches user inputs to global soil databases to dentify the soil
LandCover– for rapid vegetation monitoring (vegetation composition, plant height, and canopy/basal gaps).
NRCS/BLM-compatible methods
Used for rangeland monitoring, natural resource conservation, and crop residue monitoring
Determines vegetation composition, plant height, and canopy/basal gaps
LandManagement (early 2019) –on-farm record keeping (inputs, management, yields)
Provides data summaries
Allows for record keeping about crops, fertilizer, lime, irrigation, rainfall, erosion control, tillage, etc
Other Modules coming soon: SoilHealth and Biomass/Utilization.
Land potential is defined as the inherent potential of the land to sustainably generate ecosystem services. Management determines whether the inherent potential is sustainably realized. Land potential includes three elements: (1) inherent potential for generation of ecosystem services, (2) potential degradation resistance, and (3) potential resilience, which is the capacity to recover following degradation.(Source: UNEP IRP Report)
Land potential can also be defined in terms of the capacity of land to support more specific land use objectives, including its potential to provide the resources necessary for one or more species to complete their life cycles and reproduce. The value of applying the land potential concept to biodiversity conservation is that it allows the potential future range of species to be predicted based on habitat requirements, rather than relying solely on historic or existing plant and animal community patterns. This is particularly important where climate change and invasive species modify the conditions necessary for species of interest to survive and reproduce.
Through an understanding of climate, soils, and topography, land potential can be seen as the potential of the land to be degradation resistant (the ability of the land to resist disturbances) and resilient (the ability of the land to rebound after disturbances). Application of the land potential concept can support sustainable agricultural production, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem services.
Different types of land in different climates have different potential, production, and resilience.
It’s important to understand not only the production capacity of the land, but also the resilience. If an area of land is non-resilient but has high productivity, it requires one type of management where soils with high productivity and high resilience require another.
