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Evaluating land use at the sub‐regional level in the Atlantic zone of Costa Rica, considering biophysical land potentials
Author(s) -
Huising E.J.,
Wielemaker W.G.,
Bouma J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
soil use and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.709
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1475-2743
pISSN - 0266-0032
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-2743.1994.tb00478.x
Subject(s) - land use , environmental science , scale (ratio) , land use, land use change and forestry , land management , unit (ring theory) , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , geology , cartography , ecology , mathematics , mathematics education , geotechnical engineering , biology
. Soils and land use in the Atlantic Zone of Costa Rica were mapped independently at a scale of 1: 1. At this scale, mapping units are often composite, both in terms of soil type and land utilization type. Combinations of given soil and land utilization types were produced by overlaying the soil and land use maps, on which there was 63% coincidence of unit boundaries. Each combination of land unit and land use was evaluated in terms of bio‐physical potentials. From expert judgement land use was shown to be (a) in balance with the use potential, (b) exceeding the use potential (‘over‐use’) or (c) less than the use potential (‘under‐use’). 18% of the area is over‐used, in non‐sustainable forms of land use, but 51% is under‐used and could be put to more demanding types of land use.