1998/06/01 by A.S. Mather, Coby L. Needle · 7 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Agricultural Economics and Policy #Forest Management and Policy #Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management #Reforestation #Agriculture #Abandonment (legal) #Afforestation #Agricultural land #Tree planting #Agroforestry #Land use #Land use, land-use change and forestry #Natural resource economics #Environmental science #Geography #Economics #Ecology #Political science
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1475-4762.1998.tb00055.x
openalex publication_date 1998/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/17
Summary A theoretical basis for the forest transition (the change from contraction to expansion of national forest area) is suggested in terms of increasing agricultural adjustment to land quality. This adjustment, operating through a process of learning by farmers, results in the concentration of agricultural production in smaller areas of better land, and the agricultural abandonment of larger areas of poorer land, which are then available for reforestation through natural regeneration or planting.