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To understand the extent of deforestation in the Chorotega region of Costa Rica, Juan Pablo Arroyo-Mora and colleagues used historical aerial photography and remote sensing data to track changes in the forest cover area across different land use capability classes (categories that indicate possible uses of forest land). Due to the Chorotega region's climate, various types of forested areas were converted to cattle pasture as rising international meat prices drove a cattle ranching boom in the 1960s and 1970s. By the mid-1980s, however, increased public awareness and environmental reforms, along with a decline in meat prices, triggered a natural regrowth process, as evident by the