Characterization of the river basin Canoabo in the Carabobo State, Venezuela. II. Grounds and lands

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present a soil characterization and a land capability that supports better agroecological planning. For this purpose a characterization of the main soil-forming factors was carried out; this included a phtointerpretation of satellite imagery, a digital elevation model, a map of vegetation and land cover, and a map of parent materials. All these digitized layers were superimposed with a Geographical Information System (GIS) to produce a preliminary soil cartographic map. Fifty field sites were analyzed including its geomorphology, land use, erosion, drainage, soil profile, taxonomy, and land capability classification. Results showed a clear climosequence expressed by a Humic Haplustult in the more humid higher mountains, Haplustalf dominating the intermediate side slopes, somewhat more leached in the higher slopes and shallower and eroded in the lower ones, and finally, Haplustepts in the lower valleys derived from more recent alluvial materials. Land Capability showed that in the valleys dominated the classes I to IV, while the side slopes were mostly Class VI, and the high mountains had classes VII and VIII.   The slope was the dominant factor to differentiate classes. The mainland use conflict is overutilization of steep slopes by cattle and citrus, as well as underutilization of flat slopes en the valley. Consequently, the main recommendation is to intensify land use in the valleys and to develop more sustainable land use systems in the slopes, including soil conservation practices