The assessment of land suitability in the implementation of homogeneous stands of Eucalyptus: prospects for a forest sustainability in Brazil

摘要

The demand for forest products is growing, and in this context commercial plantations of eucalyptus have been planted due to multiple uses of the wood. Areas intended for the establish most of new populations of the genus, when judged against the testsystems commonly used in Brazil, are classified as inefficient. The systems are based primarily for the characteristics of agricultural crops, ignoring eucalyptus tolerance to some factors, such as low soil fertility, and the high level of technology employed in commercial plantations. This paper is a critical analysis of some systems of land suitability and their application to the implementation of homogeneous forests of eucalyptus.The systems of land suitability evaluation, seek to define the quality of sites and make possible recommendations for the improvement of limiting factors for the development of plantations. The attributes with direct influence on the productivity of eucalyptus, can be divided into five factors: effective depth, drainage, soil fertility, erosion susceptibility and impediments to mechanization. Due to the current situation of forestry in Brazil, it is justifiable to use a system compatible with limitations that are less restrictive and inclusion of other factors relevant to the planting of eucalyptus.