Land Capability for Forestry (LCF)

The Land Capability Classification for Forestry is based on an assessment of the increasing degree of limitation imposed by the physical factors of soil, topography and climate on the growth of trees and on silvicultural practices. The system described is designed for use at several levels depending on the amount and accuracy of the available data and on the purpose for which the information is required. The main use of the Land Capability Classification for Forestry is as an aid to decision-making at broad planning levels, as a guide for land managers and as a statement of the natural resources of the land of Britain in terms of forestry potential for educational and general interest purposes. The system is an interpretation derived from several sources and, as with all such approaches, will be subject to some degree of arbitrary decision.

The digital dataset contains information on the 'class' of soil. Classes range from F1 (land offering excellent flexibility for growth and management) to F7 (land unsuitable for producing trees) with seven types of limitations, these being climate, wind throw, nutrients, topography, droughtiness, wetness and soil.

The map was based on a reclassification of the 580 soil map units of the National soil map of Scotland with limited field validation. A set of rules were applied to each of the soil map units combined with information on climate and relief to assign the map units to a capability class for forestry.

The dataset should be cited as Soil Survey of Scotland Staff. (1988). Land Capability for Forestry of Scotland at a Scale of 1:250 000. Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen. 10.5281/zenodo.6322608.

There is an accompanying handbook which describes the classification system in detail (Bibby, J.S., Heslop, R.E.F. and Hartnup, R. 1988. Land Capability Classification for Forestry in Britain. The Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Aberdeen. ISBN-0-7084-0467-7.

The maintenance of this dataset is funded by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services Division of the Scottish Government. The data can also be downloaded from or viewed at https://www.hutton.ac.uk/learning/natural-resource-datasets/soilshutton/soils-maps-scotland/download or viewed at  https://soils.environment.gov.scot.

Class F1. Land with excellent flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F2. Land with very good flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F3. Land with good flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F4. Land with moderate flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F5. Land with limited flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F6. Land with very limited flexibility for the growth and management of tree crops
Class F7. Land unsuitable for producing tree crops