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Determinants of Land Use in Amazônia: A Fine‐Scale Spatial Analysis
Author(s) -
Chomitz Kenneth M.,
Thomas Timothy S.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8276.00504
Subject(s) - amazon rainforest , land use , land cover , amazon basin , geography , productivity , pasture , agricultural land , agriculture , census , scale (ratio) , precipitation , spatial ecology , environmental science , agroforestry , forestry , ecology , economics , cartography , meteorology , population , demography , archaeology , sociology , biology , macroeconomics
Wetter areas of the Amazon basin exhibit lower rates of agricultural conversion. Previous analyses, using relatively aggregate data on land cover, have been unable to determine the extent to which this reflects limited access versus unfavorable agroclimatic conditions. This article uses census‐tract level data for the Brazilian Amazon to relate forest conversion and pasture productivity to precipitation, soil quality, infrastructure and market access, proximity to past conversion, and protection status. The probability that land is used for agriculture or intensively stocked with cattle declines markedly with increasing rainfall, other things equal.