Abstract

BUSTILLOS-HERRERA, J. Antonio; VALDEZ-LAZALDE, J. René; ALDRETE, Arnulfo  and  GONZALEZ-GUILLEN, Manuel de J.. Land suitability for eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden) plantations: definition through the analytic hierarchy process and GIS. Agrociencia [online]. 2007, vol.41, n.7, pp.787-796. ISSN 2521-9766.

Evaluating the degree of land suitability makes it possible to identify the inherent capacity of a land unit to support its most appropriate use. In the present study, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was implemented, combined with membership functions (fuzzy logic) in the context of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to define areas with suitability for establishing Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden in eight municipalities located in the south-central part of the State of Sinaloa, México. Cartographic information of climate, soil and topography was used, along with the opinion of expert planters, to evaluate the degree of land suitability. According to the results, in the region of study there are approximately 38 863, 121 932 and 302 551 ha with high, medium and low suitability. The multi-criteria analysis technique AHP was useful for incorporating the expert knowledge of forest planters in the decision making process, and in spatial localization and quantification of surfaces with different degrees of suitability for the establishment of eucalyptus forest plantations.

Keywords : Eucalyptus grandis; spatial analysis; fuzzy logic; cartographic modeling; decision making.