01858nas a2200193   4500008004100000245009800041210006900139300000900208490000800217520128200225653001501507653001801522653001801540653000801558653001501566653001301581100001701594856005301611       2004                        eng d00aFocus on deforestation: zooming in on hot spots in highly fragmented ecosystems in Costa Rica0 aFocus on deforestation zooming in on hot spots in highly fragmen  a3-150 v1023 aMost estimates of deforestation are derived for areas that are not intrinsically related to the causes of deforestation, making it hard to link such estimates with strategies for improved land management. In this paper a method is presented to identify local areas of high rates of deforestation within larger areas, using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). These deforestation hot spots are identified using a local analysis approach, considering for every location only land cover changes taking place in the immediate vicinity, and they thus reflect local deforestation. This method has potential application in improved land policy development, land management and it could supplement land use change modeling at the landscape level. Specifically, the method could be used to undertake a risk assessment of the effectiveness of ecological corridors. The method was applied to the province of Limón in Costa Rica, where commercial agriculture has caused large scale deforesta- tion. The deforestation hot spots in the period 1986–1997 that were identified with this method represent a large proportion of the total deforestation having taken place in the province, and for each of the hot spots specific drivers of deforestation could be identified.10aCosta Rica10adeforestation10afragmentation10agis10aland cover10aland use1 aVan Laake, P  uhttps://insectafgseag.myspecies.info/fr/node/509