Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon
Using census data from the Censo Agropecuario 1995-96, the authors map indicators of current land use, and agricultural productivity across Brazil's Legal Amazon, These data permit geographical resolution about ten times finer than afforded by...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/1614880/geographic-patterns-land-use-land-intensity-brazilian-amazon http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19506 |
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okr-10986-195062021-04-23T14:03:43Z Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon Chomitz, Kenneth M. Thomas, Timothy S. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES AGRICULTURE AGROFORESTRY CLIMATE COMMODITIES CONSERVATION CROPS CULTIVATION DAIRY FARMERS DEFORESTATION DEGRADED LAND DRY SEASON ECONOMIC VALUE EMPLOYMENT EXPLOITATION FARMERS FARMS FOREST FOREST AREAS FOREST CONVERSION FOREST COVER FOREST MANAGEMENT GRASSLANDS LAND COVER LAND OWNERSHIP LAND QUALITY LAND USE LAND USES LAND VALUE LOGGING NITROGEN OVERGRAZING PARKS PHOSPHORUS PLANTATION PRECIPITATION PRECIPITATION DATA PRIVATE PROPERTY PRODUCTIVITY RAINFALL REGENERATION REMOTE SENSING RIVERS SILVICULTURE SOIL SOIL RESOURCES SOILS SPATIAL PATTERNS STUDY AREA SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE TIMBER UPLAND AREAS VEGETATION LAND USE GEOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AMAZON RIVER REGION CENSUSES GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PASTURE & FORAGE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PRIVATE VALUE ECONOMIC VALUATION LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIVITY LAND OWNERSHIP FARMLAND VALUATION FOREST DEGRADATION RAINFALL MEASUREMENT SOIL MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT DEFORESTATION Using census data from the Censo Agropecuario 1995-96, the authors map indicators of current land use, and agricultural productivity across Brazil's Legal Amazon, These data permit geographical resolution about ten times finer than afforded by "municipio" data, used in previous studies. The authors focus on the extent, and productivity of pasture, the dominant land use in Amazonia today. Simple tabulations suggest that most agricultural land in Amazonia yields little private economic value. Nearly ninety percent of agricultural land is either devoted to pasture, or has been out of use for more than four years. About forty percent of the currently used pastureland, has a stocking ratio of less that 0.5 cattle per hectare. Tabulations also show a skewed distribution of land ownership: almost half of Amazonian farmland is located in the one percent of properties that contain more than two thousand hectares. Multivariate analyses relate forest conversion, and pasture productivity to precipitation, soil quality, infrastructure, and market access, proximity to past conversion, and protection status. The authors find precipitation to have a strong deterrent effect on agriculture. The probability that land is currently claimed, or used for agriculture, or intensively stocked with cattle, declines substantially with increasing precipitation levels, holding other factors (such as road access) constant. Proxies for land abandonment are also higher in high rainfall areas. Together these findings suggest that the wetter Western Amazon is inhospitable to exploitation for pasture, using current technologies. On the other hand, land conversion, and stocking rates are positively correlated with proximity to past clearing. This suggests that in the areas of active deforestation in eastern Amazonia, the frontier is not :hollow:, and land use intensifies over time. But this area remains a mosaic of lands with higher, and lower potential agricultural value. 2014-08-20T18:33:32Z 2014-08-20T18:33:32Z 2001-10 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/1614880/geographic-patterns-land-use-land-intensity-brazilian-amazon http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19506 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2687 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Latin America & Caribbean Brazil |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES AGRICULTURE AGROFORESTRY CLIMATE COMMODITIES CONSERVATION CROPS CULTIVATION DAIRY FARMERS DEFORESTATION DEGRADED LAND DRY SEASON ECONOMIC VALUE EMPLOYMENT EXPLOITATION FARMERS FARMS FOREST FOREST AREAS FOREST CONVERSION FOREST COVER FOREST MANAGEMENT GRASSLANDS LAND COVER LAND OWNERSHIP LAND QUALITY LAND USE LAND USES LAND VALUE LOGGING NITROGEN OVERGRAZING PARKS PHOSPHORUS PLANTATION PRECIPITATION PRECIPITATION DATA PRIVATE PROPERTY PRODUCTIVITY RAINFALL REGENERATION REMOTE SENSING RIVERS SILVICULTURE SOIL SOIL RESOURCES SOILS SPATIAL PATTERNS STUDY AREA SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE TIMBER UPLAND AREAS VEGETATION LAND USE GEOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AMAZON RIVER REGION CENSUSES GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PASTURE & FORAGE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PRIVATE VALUE ECONOMIC VALUATION LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIVITY LAND OWNERSHIP FARMLAND VALUATION FOREST DEGRADATION RAINFALL MEASUREMENT SOIL MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT DEFORESTATION |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL LAND USE AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES AGRICULTURE AGROFORESTRY CLIMATE COMMODITIES CONSERVATION CROPS CULTIVATION DAIRY FARMERS DEFORESTATION DEGRADED LAND DRY SEASON ECONOMIC VALUE EMPLOYMENT EXPLOITATION FARMERS FARMS FOREST FOREST AREAS FOREST CONVERSION FOREST COVER FOREST MANAGEMENT GRASSLANDS LAND COVER LAND OWNERSHIP LAND QUALITY LAND USE LAND USES LAND VALUE LOGGING NITROGEN OVERGRAZING PARKS PHOSPHORUS PLANTATION PRECIPITATION PRECIPITATION DATA PRIVATE PROPERTY PRODUCTIVITY RAINFALL REGENERATION REMOTE SENSING RIVERS SILVICULTURE SOIL SOIL RESOURCES SOILS SPATIAL PATTERNS STUDY AREA SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT TEMPERATURE TIMBER UPLAND AREAS VEGETATION LAND USE GEOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AGRICULTURAL LAND AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AMAZON RIVER REGION CENSUSES GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PASTURE & FORAGE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY PRIVATE VALUE ECONOMIC VALUATION LIVESTOCK PRODUCTIVITY LAND OWNERSHIP FARMLAND VALUATION FOREST DEGRADATION RAINFALL MEASUREMENT SOIL MANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT DEFORESTATION Chomitz, Kenneth M. Thomas, Timothy S. Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| geographic_facet |
Latin America & Caribbean Brazil |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 2687 |
| description |
Using census data from the Censo
Agropecuario 1995-96, the authors map indicators of current
land use, and agricultural productivity across Brazil's
Legal Amazon, These data permit geographical resolution
about ten times finer than afforded by "municipio"
data, used in previous studies. The authors focus on the
extent, and productivity of pasture, the dominant land use
in Amazonia today. Simple tabulations suggest that most
agricultural land in Amazonia yields little private economic
value. Nearly ninety percent of agricultural land is either
devoted to pasture, or has been out of use for more than
four years. About forty percent of the currently used
pastureland, has a stocking ratio of less that 0.5 cattle
per hectare. Tabulations also show a skewed distribution of
land ownership: almost half of Amazonian farmland is located
in the one percent of properties that contain more than two
thousand hectares. Multivariate analyses relate forest
conversion, and pasture productivity to precipitation, soil
quality, infrastructure, and market access, proximity to
past conversion, and protection status. The authors find
precipitation to have a strong deterrent effect on
agriculture. The probability that land is currently claimed,
or used for agriculture, or intensively stocked with cattle,
declines substantially with increasing precipitation levels,
holding other factors (such as road access) constant.
Proxies for land abandonment are also higher in high
rainfall areas. Together these findings suggest that the
wetter Western Amazon is inhospitable to exploitation for
pasture, using current technologies. On the other hand, land
conversion, and stocking rates are positively correlated
with proximity to past clearing. This suggests that in the
areas of active deforestation in eastern Amazonia, the
frontier is not :hollow:, and land use intensifies over
time. But this area remains a mosaic of lands with higher,
and lower potential agricultural value. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Chomitz, Kenneth M. Thomas, Timothy S. |
| author_facet |
Chomitz, Kenneth M. Thomas, Timothy S. |
| author_sort |
Chomitz, Kenneth M. |
| title |
Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| title_short |
Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| title_full |
Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| title_fullStr |
Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Geographic Patterns of Land Use and Land Intensity in the Brazilian Amazon |
| title_sort |
geographic patterns of land use and land intensity in the brazilian amazon |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2001/10/1614880/geographic-patterns-land-use-land-intensity-brazilian-amazon http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19506 |
| _version_ |
1764439942652493824 |