Research on coffee growing category archives
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June 27, 2009:
Research: Andean shade coffee quality habitat for birds
Bakermans, M. H., A. C. Vitz, A. D. Rodewald, and C. G. Rengifo. 2009. Migratory songbird use of shade coffee in the Venezuelan Andes with implications for the conservation of the cerulean warbler. Biological Conservation. Accepted manuscript, online. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.05.018 Most...
May 13, 2009:
Research: Coffee as an invasive plant in India
A study from India measures the invasiveness of coffee into forest fragments from adjacent farms.
April 6, 2009:
Research: Coffee and sacred groves in India
Comparing tree diversity and composition in coffee farms and sacred forests in the Western Ghats of India. 2009. S. Ambinakudige and B. N. Sathish. Biodiversity and Conservation 18:987-1000. The Western Ghats of India is a global biodiversity hotspot with high...
March 11, 2009:
Coffee-related deforestation in Sumatra
Three decades of deforestation in southwest Sumatra: effects of coffee prices, law enforcement and rural poverty. 2009. D. L. A. Gaveau, M. Linkie, Suyadi, P. Levang, and N. Leader-Williams. Biological Conservation 142:597-605 . I've written in the past about Sumatra’s...
February 12, 2009:
Research: Coffee certification and bird conservation in Ethiopia
Ethiopian coffee cultivation -- Implications for bird conservation and environmental certification. 2008. A. D. Gove, K. Hylander, S. Nemomisa, and A. Shimelis. Conservation Letters 1:208-216. This is probably the first peer-reviewed paper specifically about coffee growing/shade coffee and birds in...
January 9, 2009:
Research: Ethiopian garden coffee preserves epiphyte biodiversity
Home garden coffee as a repository of epiphyte biodiversity in Ethiopia. 2008. K. Hylander and S. Nemomissa. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 6:524-528. Nearly all the work that's been done examining the relationship between shade coffee and biodiversity has...
December 26, 2008:
Research: Shade coffee promotes genetic diversity of native trees
Shade coffee farms promote genetic diversity of native trees. 2008. Jha, S. and C. W. Dick. Current Biology 18:R1126-1128. This study looked at genetic differences and gene flow in an understory shrub, Miconia affinis, in a 1200 ha matrix of...
November 14, 2008:
Research: Shade coffee provides additional income besides the coffee crop
Agricultural intensification within agroforestry: the case of coffee and wood products. 2008. Rice, R. A. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 128:212-218. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2008.06.007 Robert Rice, of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, surveyed 338 owners of coffee farmers in Peru and Guatemala to...
October 30, 2008:
Research: Meta-analysis of biodiversity loss in coffee farms
Biodiversity loss in Latin American coffee landscapes: review of the evidence on ants, birds, and trees. 2008. Philpott, S. M. et al. Conservation Biology 22:1093-1105. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01029.x At a recent ornithological conference I attended, I saw a presentation on this paper...
October 21, 2008:
Research: Higher beetle diversity in shade coffee, more pests in sun
Simplification of a coffee foliage-dwelling beetle community under low-shade management. C. E. Gordon, B. McGillb, G.Ibarra-Núñezc, R. Greenberg, and I. Perfecto. 2008. Basic and Applied Ecology, in press. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2008.04.004 This study looked at beetle abundance and diversity in coffee farms...
October 11, 2008:
Research: Shade coffee = more pollinators = higher fruit set
Pollinator diversity increases fruit production in Mexican coffee plantations: The importance of rustic management systems. C. H. Vergara and E. I. Badano. 2009. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 129: 117-123. Although arabica coffee is self-pollinating, it can benefit from the activity...
September 29, 2008:
Research: migratory birds provide pest control, increase profit, in Jamaican coffee farms
Migratory birds prey on serious insect pests on Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee farms, providing economic benefits to farmers -- as long as there was natural habitat for the birds nearby.
August 4, 2008:
Research: Sumatran coffee weak on preserving forest biodiversity
Philpott, S. M., P. Bichier, R. A. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2008. Biodiversity conservation, yield, and alternate products in coffee agrosystems in Sumatra, Indonesia. Biodiversity Conservation 17:1805-1820. The vast majority of field research on biodiversity conservation in coffee agrosystems has...
February 18, 2008:
Blogging bird and coffee research
At the Partners in Flight 4th International Conference Background Wearing my occupational hat as an ornithologist, I just attended the Partners in Flight (PIF) conference in south Texas. PIF is a consortium of conservation agencies and organizations that partner to...
February 14, 2008:
Research: Spiders on Indian coffee farms
Kapoor, V. (2008). Effects of rainforest fragmentation and shade-coffee plantations on spider communities in the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Insect Conservation, 12(1), 53-68. Ants and butterflies are often the two most studied arthropods on coffee farms, so it was...
January 23, 2008:
Research: Butterflies in Indian coffee farms
Adult butterfly communities in coffee plantations around a protected area in the Western Ghats, India. J. Dolia, M. S. Devy, N. A. Aravind, and A. Kumar. 2008. Animal Conservation 11:26-34. Butterfly diversity was examined in 12 coffee plantations in India's...
January 3, 2008:
Research: Tree species diversity in Veracruz coffee farms
Tree species diversity and vegetation structure in shade coffee farms in Veracruz, Mexico. A. M. López-Gómeza, G. Williams-Linera, and R. H. Manson. 2008. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 124:160-172. 10.1016/j.agee.2007.09.008 Fifteen shade coffee farms, under different types of shade management, and...
September 5, 2007:
Research: Mammals in coffee plantations in India's Western Ghats
The mammalian communities in coffee plantations around a protected area in the Western Ghats, India. A. Balia, A. Kumarb, and J. Krishnaswamy. 2007. Biological Conservation 139: 93-102. This study looked at the number of mammal species found in 15 coffee...
July 26, 2007:
Research: Evaluating benefits of coffee certification programs
Field-testing ecological and economic benefits of coffee certification programs. S. M. Philpot, P. Bichier, R. Rice, and R. Greenberg. 2007. Conservation Biology 21:975-985. This study looked at the ecological (vegetation, ants and birds) and economic (yield, revenue) aspects of coffee...
June 6, 2007:
Research: Ants eat more coffee borers on shade farms
Testing ant predation on the coffee berry borer in shaded and sun coffee plantations in Colombia. I. Armbrecht and M. C. Gallego. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 124:261-267. The study took place in Apia, Colombia (Risaralda dept., red on map). Prior...
April 10, 2007:
Research: Forest birds using Costa Rican coffee farms
Persistence of forest birds in the Costa Rican agricultural countryside. C. H. Sekercioglu, S. R. Loarie, F. Oviedo Brenes, P. R. Ehrlich, and G. C. Daly. 2007. Conservation Biology 21:482-494. This study radiotracked several species of resident forest birds in...
March 21, 2007:
Research: Shade coffee buffers against climate change
Agroforestry management as an adaptive strategy against potential microclimate extremes in coffee agriculture. B. B. Lin. 2007. Agriculture and Forest Meteorology 144:85-94. DOI:10.1016/j.agrformet.2006.12.009. A few months ago I wrote a detailed post on coffee growing and climate change. Climate change...
March 8, 2007:
Research: Birds in shade coffee favor plant diversity
Dietsch, T.V., I. Perfecto, and R. Greenberg. 2007. Avian foraging behavior in two different types of coffee agrosystem in Chiapas, Mexico. Biotropica 39:232-240. Other studies have documented that structural diversity is important in coffee farms -- it is the complexity...
February 24, 2007:
Research: Beneficial fungi in wild Ethiopian coffee forests
Composition of coffee shade tree species and density of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spores in Bonga natural coffee forest, southwestern Ethiopia. Muleta, D., F. Assefa, S. Nemomissa, and U. Granhall. 2007. Forest Ecology and Management 241:145-154. Mycorrhizal fungi have...
February 3, 2007:
Research: Leaf-cutting ants don't harvest coffee leaves in shade farms
Varon, E. H., S. D. Eigenbrode, N. A. Bosque-Perez, and L. Hilje. 2007. Effect of farm diversity on harvesting of coffee leaves by the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes. Agriculture and Forest Entomology 9:47-55. Leaf-cutting ants, which are common in the...
January 9, 2007:
Endangered coffee
I previously discussed the important species and varieties of coffee. An understanding of these varieties can be of great help to consumers looking for sustainable coffee, as different types are typically grown under shade or sun conditions. The species and...
December 2, 2006:
Research: Biodiversity and profitability in coffee agrosystems
Gordon, C., R. Manson, J. Sundberg, and A. Cruz-Angon. 2006. Biodiversity, profitability, and vegetation structure in a Mexican coffee agrosystem. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 118:256-266. This study looked at coffee grown in various types of shade in central Mexico, and...
November 22, 2006:
Research: Nesting birds in shade coffee
Gleffe, J.D., J. A. Collazo, M. J. Groom, and L. Miranda-Castro. 2006. Avian reproduction and the conservation value of shaded coffee plantations. Ornitologia Neotropical 17: 271-282. Most of the research on birds and coffee farms focuses on migrant birds which...
November 3, 2006:
Research: The value of wild coffee
Hein, L. and F. Gratweiler. 2006. The economic value of coffee (Coffea arabica) genetic resources. Ecological Economics 60:76-185. This fascinating paper is not about the sort of ecological research I usually summarize here, but absolutely keeps with the theme of...
October 22, 2006:
Coffee growing and climate change
Coffee (Coffea sp.) requires quite specific growing conditions. It grows in subtropical regions that have distinct wet and dry seasons. Although plants can live and produce fruit for decades, drought or heat in summer can diminish production and quality. And...
October 11, 2006:
Abstracts on presentations at the NAOC
Here are some very brief summaries of research that had to do with coffee growing that were presented at North American Ornithological Conference. I also put together a page with full abstracts, and author contacts. Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) foraging...
September 24, 2006:
Research: American Redstarts in Jamaica
Johnson, M.D., T.W. Sherry, R. T. Holmes, and P.P. Marra. 2006. Assessing habitat quality for a migratory songbird wintering in natural and agricultural habitats. Conservation Biology 20:1433-1444. This study examined American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) in natural and agricultural habitats in...
September 8, 2006:
Research: Ants on Colombian coffee farms
Armbrecht, I., I. Perfecto, and E. Silverman. 2006. Limitation of nesting resources for ants in Colombian forests and coffee plantations. Ecological Entomology 31:403-410. Ants are popular research subjects in coffee farms because they are abundant and important components of tropical...
August 5, 2006:
Research: Biodiversity in wild coffee farms in Ethiopia
Senbeta, F. and M. Denich. 2006. Effects of wild coffee management on species diversity in the Afromontane rainforests of Ethiopia. Forest Ecology and Management 232:68-74. Traditional coffee management in Ethiopia ranges from harvesting cherries in relatively undisturbed forest, to reducing...
July 10, 2006:
Research: Bat diversity in different types of shade coffee
Garcia Estrada, C., A. Damon, C. Sanchez Hernandez, L. Soto Pinto, and G. Ibarra Nunez. 2006. Bat diversity in montane rainforest and shaded coffee under different management practices in southeastern Chiapas, Mexico. Biological Conservation 132:351-361. Southeastern Chiapas is Mexico's primary...
June 14, 2006:
Research: Shade coffee farms as habitat for monkeys
Williams-Guillén, K., C. McCann, J.C. Martínez Sánchez, and F. Koontz. 2006. Resource availability and habitat use by mantled howling monkeys in a Nicaraguan coffee plantation: can agroforests serve as core habitat for a forest mammal? Animal Conservation (published as an...
April 24, 2006:
Research: Birds and lizards as insect predators in shade coffee
Borkhataria, R. R., J. A. Collazo, and M. J. Groom. 2006. Additive effects of vertebrate predators on insects in a Puerto Rican coffee plantation. Ecological Applications 16:696-703. The authors used an exclosure study to see if birds and lizards had...
February 14, 2006:
Research: Biodiversity, yield, and certification
Perfecto, I., J. Vandermeer, A. Mas, and L. Soto Pinto. 2005. Biodiversity, yield, and shade coffee certification. Ecological Economics 54:435-446. The more complex overstory (and thus shade) in a coffee plantation, the higher the diversity. However, the more shade, the...
January 31, 2006:
Research: Epiphytes in coffee plantations
These two recent papers looked at epiphytes (plants that grow on others, but are not parasitic, such as orchids or bromeliads) in coffee plantations -- whether shade coffee plantations preserved epiphyte biodiversity, and whether epiphytes were important to birds. Under...
January 27, 2006:
Research: Shade grown coffee and orchids
A paper in the journal Conservation Biology reports that shade coffee plantations in Mexico provide refuge for orchids from lower montane cloud forest habitats -- the most endangered forest type in the country, now comprising only 1% of Mexico's land....
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