Williams-GuillÁ©n, K., C. McCann, J.C. MartÁnez SÁ¡nchez, 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…
Revised on December 23, 2018Research on coffee growing
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…
Revised on November 14, 2019Perfecto, 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…
Revised on October 26, 2010These 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.
Revised on June 12, 2014A 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….
Revised on November 24, 2020These two recent papers discuss the diversity and role of ants in coffee plantations, and how the growing method (sun versus shade) impacts these ants. Ants are vital in ecosystems. In tropical forests, there are entire groups of birds (known…
Revised on June 12, 2014Here are some background papers from peer-reviewed journals covering research on biodiversity and related issues in coffee plantations.
Revised on March 23, 2014Pineda, E., C. Moreno, F. Escobar, and G. Halffter. 2005. Frog, bat, and dung beetle diversity in the cloud forest and coffee agrosystems of Veracruz, Mexico. Conservation Biology 19: 400-410. Cloud forest fragments and shade coffee plantations were compared in…
Revised on June 12, 2014