1.7.1 Land classification
Land classification region are based on the physical properties of land or its capabilities. The physical properties are usually ones relating to topography, soils and vegetation. In the UK such a classification was produced at the behest of the Scott Committee on Land Utilisation in Rural Areas in 1942, using the Land Utilisation Survey (LUS) as its basis (Stamp, 1940). This produced a simple three-fold classification of land, into good, medium and poor land, with some sub-categorisation (Table 1.9). This classification emphasized the current use of land, as revealed in the LUS, as opposed to the land’s inherent potential. Hence, subsequent classifications, especially in the land capability series prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), have been based on a wide range of variables relating to soils (depth, structure, chemical composition and permeability) and other physical criteria (slope, precipitation, drainage, temperature, frost susceptibility and availability of groundwater). These variables provide an indication of the physical limitations in a particular area, and hence of land capability.