Forest area change associated with life zones, slope gradients, and transportation networks was examined within the framework of a geographically referenced data base for Costa Rica. Locations of forest boundaries and other landscape attributes were digitized from available map sources. Differential rates of primary forest clearing associated with these variables were derived for four reference periods between 1940 and 1983.

Deforestation occurred predominantly in tropical dry and moist life zones during the early reference periods; in intermediate periods, tropical and premontane moist and wet zones were affected. By 1983, only the less accessible high-rainfall zones in rugged terrain remained relatively undisturbed forest.

The relationship between total primary forest cleared and slope gradient begins as an inverse and did not approach linearity until the last reference period, when improved transportation routes had penetrated the northeastern lowland Atlantic region.

Road development that provided access to the forest was an important agent of change in all reference periods. By 1977, all major regions of the country had been penetrated by roads, and only high mountain forests were relatively inaccessible.

Significant gaps exist in the data base because forest maps represent only broad zones, and locations of regenerating forest were not available. The historical data will be used to direct satellite monitoring toward landscapes of predicted change to quantitatively assess forest change dynamics.

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