A broadscale land evaluation program to assess the potential for growing particular trees in Africa

A microcomputer program is presented which can indicate the broadscale suitability of any tree taxon for cultivation at sites across Africa. The program uses a climatic and edaphic database for over 10,000 locations. The Fertility Capability Classification devised by Buol and Sanchez is used to prov...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Agroforestry systems 1998-01, Vol.40 (2), p.125-138
Main Author: Booth, T.H. (Division of Forestry and Forest Products CSIRO, Kingston, Canberra, A.C.T. (Australia).)
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidity
AFRICA
AFRIQUE
Agricultural development. Rural area planning
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biological and medical sciences
Cation exchange
CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS
CRECIMIENTO
CROISSANCE
EUCALYPTUS CAMALDULENSIS
EVALUACION DE TIERRAS
EVALUATION DES TERRES
EXIGENCE CLIMATIQUE
Fertility
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping
General agronomy. Plant production
Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development
GROWTH
LAND EVALUATION
Land use
MODELE DE SIMULATION
MODELOS DE SIMULACION
NECESIDADES CLIMATICAS
Plant growth
Plant species
SIMULATION MODELS
SOIL TYPES
Subsoils
Taxa
TIPOS DE SUELOS
Topsoil
Trees
TYPE DE SOL
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Summary:A microcomputer program is presented which can indicate the broadscale suitability of any tree taxon for cultivation at sites across Africa. The program uses a climatic and edaphic database for over 10,000 locations. The Fertility Capability Classification devised by Buol and Sanchez is used to provide a relatively simple means to define the effects of different soil types on the selected taxon. The user estimates the limiting effects for a particular tree of four type (topsoil texture) and five substrata (subsoil texture) types, as well as 14 modifiers such as salinity, soil acidity and cation exchange. The program is demonstrated using the Petford provenance of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and the output is compared with results for 32 African countries derived from 292 publications. It is concluded that together the database, model and user interface provide a useful tool to assist preliminary testing of descriptions of tree species requirements and to identify potentially suitable regions for particular plant taxa which warrant more detailed analysis.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0167-4366
1572-9680
DOI:10.1023/A:1006024420827