Still, notable differences in the natural resource base - in the “raw materials” available to the farmer upon arrival - do exist within the study area, and likely influence agrucultural production decisions both enitially and over time, making the pattern of land use more complicated than the above “cycle” scenario might suggest. Such differences alter the possible land-use “starting points” for any such “cycle”, as well as the rate of soil change, and accompanying land-use change. Some 30% of the moderately fertile of fertile plots occurred on land characterized as hilly or steep, making some land uses (annual crops or pasture) more difficult than others (e.g. perennial crops) from the beginning. For the nearly half of sample farms overall located on steep hills, deforestation can precipitate severe soil erosion (p.11).

In the paragraph above:

Item 1 - The pattern of land use in the humid tropics is not as simple as it has been described.