Land use capability at recharge zones

Land use capability systems do not present any considerations regarding recharge zones (RZs). To improve conservation planning, the objective of this study was to present a parametrization method for the land use capability of recharge zones (LUC-RZ). RZs were characterized as the upper thirds of the elevations of all slopes with rectilinear, concave and/or convex features in the terrains. The LUC-RZ were parameterized based on the slope of the middle third of the elevations. The proposed methodology was applied to the Doce River basin (DRB) in Brazil, and 27.9% of the total area was characterized as RZs. It was found that 61.9% of the RZs area could be exploited through agricultural and livestock use; however, the usability of most of these areas was conditional on the adoption of rigorous soil and water conservation techniques. The remaining 38.1%, which was equivalent to 10.6% of the DRB, was restricted to native forest cover. Of the 61.9% of RZs area that could be used for agriculture and livestock, 18.2% was occupied by native vegetation. These areas are protected by law and are responsible for several ecosystem services and thus must be preserved. The parameterization of the LUC-RZ was sensitive to pedogeomorphological characteristics. The methodology used for the determination of the recharge zones has a strong theoretical basis and was simple to implement and therefore has great potential for use in multicriteria analyses for determining recharge zones.