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The Role of Organic Production in Biodiversity - Bio

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1. No Scientific Name Local Name Other names Family 1 Mangifera indica Mango Anacardiaceae 2 Spondias mombin Jocote Jocote Jobo Anacardiaceae 3 Spondias purpurea Jocote Ciruela Jocote Corona Anacardiaceae 4 Tapirira mexicana Troton Anacardiaceae 5 Anona reticulata Anona Annonaceae 6 Scheelea rostrata Corozo Aracaceae 7 Eupatorium daleoides Matorral Mu eco Asteraceae 8 Perymenium nicaraguense Tatasc n Asteraceae 9 Carpinus tropicalis Cuero de Toro Sauce Saucillo Betulaceae 10 Bixa orellana Achiote Bixaceae 11 Cordia alliodora Laurel Boraginaceae 12 Bauhinia sp Pata de Paloma Caesalpiniaceae 13 Tamarindus indica Tamarindo Caesalpiniaceae 14 Crateva tapia Matasanillo Manzana de Playa Capparaceae 15 Cecropia peltata Guarumo Cecropiaceae 16 Licania platypus Sonzapote Zapote unaco Chrysobalanaceae 17 Calophyllum brasiliense Mar a Clusiaceae 18 Terminalia oblonga Guayabo Seale Combretaceae 19 Lonchocarpus oliganthus Chaperno Euphorbiaceae 20 Ricinus comunis Higuera Euphorbiaceae 21 Albizia adinocephala Gavilan Fabaceae 22 Albizia saman Genizaro Milig iste Fabaceae 23 Cassia grandis C rao Fabaceae 24 Dalbergia cubilquitzensis Granadillo Fabaceae 25 Diphysa americana Guachipilin Fabaceae 26 Erythrina berteroana Elequeme Gualiqueme Fabaceae 27 Erythrina fusca Coralillo Fabaceae 28 Erythrina poeppigiana Bucaro Fabac
2. 206 17 7 Qu deberian hacer las agencias certificadoras para conseguir que mas productores certifiquen su finca Abaratar los costos de certificaci n Brindar mas asistencia t cnica Visitar mas a menudo a los productores No cobrar por la certificacion No deberian hacer nada diferente Otra 17 8 El caf que se produce dentro de reas protegidas no se deber a certificar 1 2 3 4 5 MUY DE ACUERDO DE ACUERDO NO SE EN DESACUERDO MUY EN DESACUERDO Por que 17 9 Se deber a permitir el establecimiento de nuevas plantaciones de caf en reas protegidas 1 2 3 4 5 MUY DE ACUERDO DE ACUERDO NO SE EN DESACUERDO MUY EN DESACUERDO Por que 207 18 Impacto de los precios 18 1 Sia un productor le pagan un buen precio por su cosecha en que le recomendar a usted invertir sus ganancias Ampliar el cafetal Aplicar m s insumos Diversificar finca Mejorar os cafetales que ya tiene No invertir a mas de lo normal en el caf Comprar animales Mejorar la infraestructura de la finca Reforestar con rboles tiles Otros cultivos ma z frijol etc Capacitaci n Otros gastos 18 2 Sia un productor le pagan un mal precio por su cosecha en que le recomendar a usted invertir sus ganancias Quitar el cafetal para sembrar algo que sea m s r
3. 25 Coffee pulp use compost Mi po Coffee husk use No use discarded 80 Let it run in the freely stream 5 8 compost applied to coffee 16 Di ded Waste water use o area 71 Figure 3 15 Coffee growers opinions on use of agricultural waste 145 No use 4 apply directly to coffee 33 Compost 63 Coffee pulp use No use 24 cooking bricks 24 cattle folder a 24 apply directly to coffee plants 4 Coffee husk use Figure 3 16 Agronomists recommendations on use of agricultural waste 146 Pay debts Conservation 30 Cue en practices 4 4 plantation O no additional 22 investment Z 3 use more inputs 17 Renew old plantation 7 Education 7 Buy catte _ Mpo 2 Buy lan infrastructure High coffee prices 7 24 Pay less si Abandon Sell cattle plantation 2 7 Sell plantation 1 Nothing 18 Use more family labor O id Less maintenance pi ie Low coffee prices Figure 3 17 Coffee growers coffee prices and farm management Coffee growers description of how price would influence farm management 147 fumigation ah Use new varieties prunning 5 3 Better bean quality apply more fertilizer 24 wet processing 37 renew plantations 5 other nothing 15 7 prunning 5 Use new varieties 4 Higher yields fumigation 5 regulate shade 6 Nothing 6 other 6
4. Hacer abono para el cafetal Echarla en la quebrada Otro 16 2 Qu recomienda usted que se haga con la cascarilla del caf 1 Quemarla 2 Dejarla que se descomponga Hacer abono para el cafetal Echarla en un r o o quebrada Otro 17 Certificaci n 17 1 Cu ntos tipos de certificaci n conoce Org nica Rainforest Alliance Amigable con las Aves Certificaci n Starbucks Certificaci n Comercio Otra s 205 17 2 Cu nto cree que le cuesta a un productor certificar su finca 17 3 Cu l es el sobreprecio que puede obtener un productor si su caf est certificado 17 4 El sobreprecio que se paga por el caf certificado es justo 1 MUY JUSTO 2 JUSTO 3 MAS O MENOS 4 INJUSTO MUY INJUSTO 5 6 NO SABE 17 5 Por qu cree usted que algunos productores certifican su caf y otros no 17 6 Cree usted que el rendimiento de una finca cambia cuando 17 6 1 Se convierte a producci n org nica 17 6 2 Se convierte a caf de sombra 17 6 3 Se certifica como Caf de Comercio Justo 17 6 4 Se certifica con Rainforest Alliance 17 6 5 Se certifica con Starbucks SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE
5. 3 3 3 Forma de los rboles 1 Copa estrecha y espigada 2 Copa con forma de sombrilla 3 Una mezcla de copas estrechas y anchas 4 La forma de la copa no importa 3 3 4 Tama o de las hojas 1 Peque as 2 Grandes 3 Una mezcla de hojas grandes y peque as 4 No importa 3 3 5 Producci n de hoj arasca 1 rboles que boten muchas hojas 2 rboles que boten pocas hojas 3 Una mezcla de los dos tipos 4 No importa la cantidad de hojas que 3 3 6 Producci n de madera 1 Importante que sean rboles maderables 2 No importa si son maderables o no 3 Mezcla maderables y no maderables 4 Sin rboles maderables 200 3 3 7 Producci n de le a 1 Importante que sirvan para le a 2 No importa si sirven o no Mezcla de rboles que sirven para le a con 3 otros que no sirven 4 Sin rboles que sirvan para le a 3 3 8 Producci n de fruta 1 Importante que produzcan fruta 2 No importa si sirven o no 3 Mezcla de frutales y no frutales 4 Sin rboles frutales 3 3 9 Facilidad de poda 1 rboles que se poden f cilmente 2 No importa la facilidad con que se poden 3 3 10 Permanencia de las hojas 1 rboles que mantienen las hojas todo el a o 2 rboles que botan la hoja en la poca seca 3 No importa que los
6. Agronomists opinions mirrored those of coffee growers in most issues including appreciation for shade plantations forest fragments and use of agricultural waste They are more aware of the role of bees although we must interpret this result with caution I mentioned the word pollination when I asked my question What are the environmental conditions that are the most favorable to obtain the best pollination of coffee flowers and this could have biased our respondents The fact that they did not connect the presence of forest fragments with favorable conditions for pollinators suggests they may not see this correlation When this very same question was asked to policy makers and coffee experts they responded in a very similar manner Perhaps the most interesting aspect of our survey is the perception that agronomists and policy makers have about growing coffee inside protected areas Their opinion about certifying coffee plantations inside protected areas clearly defies current 128 standards of any certification seal However it seems to us that this is a very logical approach If you want to avoid deforestation inside protected areas you need to certify existing crops and give coffee growers a good incentive to manage plantations in a sustainable way Certification becomes a tool to develop an accurate land use registry in ecologically sensitive areas such as the last remnants of cloud forest in the Nicaraguan highlands
7. For most respondents the biggest achievement of CONACAFE is the creation of the national registry of coffee producers traders and exporters Other experts mentioned better projection of the sector to new open markets Although the National census of the coffee sector may be useful to provide better services to coffee growers the overall opinion is that so far there are few concrete results Lack of adequate representation in the current CONACAFE is a major concern among respondents A better mechanism to select representatives was mentioned repeatedly Small and medium size coffee growers should be represented according to the specific weight they have in the coffee sector Changes in the CNC composition should be introduced to truly provide services mentioned in the coffee law to all coffee producers and participation should be expanded at all levels but especially in coffee growing regions Overall CONACAFE is not widely accepted among coffee growers 117 Government policies and price oscillations All interviewed policy makers including those working for the current Government concurred that there are no policies to respond to price oscillations The goal is to implement a retention mechanism when coffee prices are above 100 QQ and use these funds when needed to support coffee growers when coffee prices drop below an unspecified benchmark Certification and yields Policy makers were familiar with several certification s
8. total number of trees Rank Organic 1 Inga oerstediana 463 2 Gliricidia sepium 267 3 Ficus obtusifolia 84 4 Cedrela odorata 57 5 Cecropia peltata 43 6 Luehea candida 34 7 Guazuma ulmifolia 24 8 Cordia alliodora 23 9 Cordia gerascanthus 23 10 Albizia lebbeck 22 Transition Gliricidia sepium 292 Inga oerstediana 193 Cedrela odorata 107 Ficus obtusifolia 49 Cecropia peltata 38 Cordia alliodora 34 Enterolobium cyclocarpum 22 Guazuma ulmifolia 21 Albizia saman 12 Diphysa americana 9 Conventional Inga oerstediana 422 Gliricidia sepium 167 Ficus obtusifolia 76 Cecropia peltata 72 Cordia alliodora 43 Cedrela odorata 33 Albizia guachapele 21 Enterolobium cyclocarpum 17 Erythrina berteroana 15 Terminalia oblonga 14 Table 2 4 Summary of vegetation variables Total Total Tree Tree N fixing Coffee Coffee tree Canopy No oftree Total leaf Plots Trees spp Trees plot spao trees Shade trees plot height height strata volumes CONVENTIONAL Progreso 20 389 30 19 45 158 4 2540 32 77 29 3 83 47 1543 51 155 55 11 32 2 0240 12 13 6440 72 3 0540 15 35 0042 16 Miravalle 10 136 19 13 6042 94 6 3040 88 61 0545 89 67 20 4 97 204 20 16 00 2 9540 18 15 43 1 02 3 100 21 23 9043 05 Sta Cecilia 13 220 22 16 92 1 39 5 38 0 37 62 24 4 08 43 00 44 36 137 694 14 04 1 694
9. LLL WW o o Figure 1 3 Shade levels in organic and non organic farms Shade levels in organic white and conventional black farms infested with M citricolor hatched and non infested solid 25 100 p 80 60 Shade level 20 B y 0048x 81 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Coffee trees ha x 1000 Figure 1 4 Shade level vs coffee tree density Black squares conventional plantations white triangles organic plantations Regression line represents relationship between shade levels and coffee density in conventional farms 26 100 80 60 40 Forest 20 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Coffee Figure 1 5 Proportion of land use in forest versus coffee Land use in organic triangles and conventional squares farms as percentage of the total area covered in forest vs active coffee plantation pastures and other crops are excluded from this analysis 27 Table 1 1 List of variables measured on each plot 1 Elevation measured in meters with an altimeter at the center of the plot 2 Age of the coffee plot provided by the farm owner or plantation manager Total number of species of canopy trees gt 10 cm DBH including bananas and plantains 4 Total number of canopy trees gt 10 cm DBH 5 Number of strata The number of vegetation strata formed by trees gt 10 cm DBH other than coffee Vegetation on each plot as a whole wa
10. 154 Agronomists preferred location of forest fragments 0 0 0 0 ceeeeee 155 Agronomists and the role and best use of forest fragments 156 Policy makers and forest conversion in coffee farms eeeeee 157 Agronomists bean quality and yields oooconccnonccnncnnncnncnonnconcnononanonos 158 Pollination A A rau vases es ease toe oat 159 Agronomists ideal coffee farm cue eicist as adts 160 Policy makers certification and yields cccesesesseeeeeeeceneceeeeeeens 161 Agronomists certification and yields oococcnnoncnnocinccnocnnnnconccononnnonos 162 Policy makers bean quality and Yidis 163 Farm changes 5 years from NOW cesseesseecceseceeceeeceeeeeeeeeeeneeneeees 164 111 Table 1 1 Table 1 2 Table 1 3 Table 1 4 Table 1 5 Table 1 6 Table 1 7 Table 2 1 Table 2 2 Table 2 3 Table 2 4 Table 2 5 Table 2 6 Table 2 7 Table 2 8 Table 3 1 LIST OF TABLES page List of variables measured on each plot oooooocnccinnccnocaconaconcnonancnnncconncnns 2H Tree species recorded in coffee plantations cecceecseesseeeteceeeeeeeeeeees 28 Tree diversity indexes in surveyed plantations oooonnccnincococccoccnnoncconncnnns 32 Distribution of coffee varietals per plot oonoonnccnnnccnnncinococonaconnnonnnconncnos 33 Comparison of vegetation and plantation characteristics oooonooninnnnnn 34 Relation between forest cover and M citricolor infest
11. Como 222 cree usted que un cafetal produce mas con arboles o sin arboles Usted no esta obligado a responder a todas las preguntas Me gustaria grabar la entrevista para asi tener un registro mas preciso Solo los miembros del equipo de investigaci n tendr n acceso a las grabaciones que permanecer n guardadas en un archivo bajo llave La grabaci n de su entrevista ser transcrita en las pr ximas 10 semanas le asignaremos un c digo y destruiremos la grabaci n RIESGOS ESTR S O MEOLESTIAS Algunas personas sienten que dar informaci n para investigaciones es una invasi n de privacidad Yo he tomado en cuenta estas preocupaciones sobre privacidad en las siguientes secciones Algunas personas se sienten conscientes de si mismas cuando se graba su voz BENEFICIOS DEL ESTUDIO Esperamos que los resultados de este estudio nos sirvan para entender mejor las percepciones de los caficultores sobre cual es la mejor forma de manejar sus fincas a largo plazo Asimismo deseamos que nuestro estudio sirva para llenar el vac o entre las percepciones de los diversos actores que trabajan en el sector del caf Usted puede que no reciba un beneficio directo por participar en esta investigaci n OTRA INFORMACION Su informaci n es confidencial Yo estar encargado de codificar la informaci n de este estudio Guardar la clave entre su nombre y el c digo asignado en un lugar seguro y diferente al de las entrevistas hasta Mayo del 2
12. 54 Cedrela odorata Cedro Real Meliaceae 55 Acacia pennatula Carbon Espino Mimosaceae 56 Inga oerstediana Guaba Colorada eure e Mimosaceae 57 Inga paterno Guaba Paterna Guaba Extranjera Mimosaceae 58 Inga punctata Guaba Negra Mimosaceae 59 Inga vera Guaba Cuajiniquil Mimosaceae 60 Lysiloma sp Quebracho Mimosaceae 61 Brosimum alicastrum Ojoche Moraceae 62 Castilla elastica Palo de Hule Moraceae 63 Ficus obtusifolia Higuer n Matapalo Moraceae 64 Ficus sp 1 Chilamate Lechoso Moraceae 65 Ficus sp 2 Higo Moraceae 66 Juglans olanchana Nogal Moraceae Table 1 2 continue 30 Ternero No Scientific Name Local Name Other names Family 67 Ardisia costaricensis Cuya de Montana Myrsinaceae 68 Ardisia revoluta Cujia Cuya Myrsinaceae 69 Eugenia esteliensis Saray Myrtaceae 70 Psidium guajava Guayaba Comun Myrtaceae 71 Syzygium jambos Manzana Rosa Myrtaceae Tinajera Mierda de 72 Cespedesia spathulata Lengua de Vaca Gallina Vara Ochnaceae Blanca Tabac n 73 Piper aduncum Cordoncillo Piperaceae 74 Rupala montana Orin de Chancho Zorrillo Proteaceae 75 Karwinskia calderonii Milig iste Genizaro Rhamnaceae 76 Eriobotrya japonica Ciruela Rosaceae 77 Genipa americana Jagua Rubiaceae 78 Casimiroa sapota Matasanos Rutaceae 79 Citrus cinensis Naranja Rutaceae 80 Citrus lim
13. Best 5 trees in coffee plantation according to agronomists 138 Reasons given by coffee growers to keep forest fragments 139 Coffee growers opinions on converting forest fragments 140 Coffee growers agreement with statements about forest conversion 141 Coffee growers agreement with statements about forest expansion 142 Perceptions of coffee growers and agronomists on birds and insects 143 Coffee growers opinions on use of agricultural waste eee 144 Agronomists recommendations on use of agricultural waste 145 11 Figure 3 17 Figure 3 18 Figure 3 19 Figure 3 20 Figure 3 21 Figure 3 22 Figure 3 23 Figure 3 24 Figure 3 25 Figure 3 26 Figure 3 27 Figure 3 28 Figure 3 29 Figure 3 30 Figure 3 31 Figure 3 32 Figure 3 33 Figure 3 34 Coffee growers coffee prices and farm management eeeeeeee 146 Coffee growers bean quality and yields ooooooccinncninccnoccnincccncnconncnnns 147 Coffee flowers and beans aiii ti 148 Self reported yields in coffee plantations over three years 149 Self reported yields for conventional and organic farms 150 Shade tree characteristics preferred by agronomists cceeeeee 151 Shade levels preferred by coffee growers and agronomists 153 Ideal proportion of forest fragments in coffee plantations
14. Birding Association s Songbird Coffee use bird conservation as the main argument for certification Bird friendly certification requires all coffee to be certified organic prior to any further inspection SMBC 2000 2002 It is not clear whether this is the case for all Audubon s shade grown coffee since they use two separate certification standards one for organic OCIA and another Rainforest Alliance for the shade 64 component http www auduboncoffeeclub com shop Songbird coffee is at least for the shade component self certified by the coffee trader that buys the coffee and it does not require its shade coffee to be organically grown http www thanksgivingcoffee com justcup songbird For a coffee and bird lover it is not easy to figure out what is the best choice of coffee The real benefits of shade are buried under a better known certification seal organic even though it is the shade that really matters Our results indicate that priority should be given to encourage farmers to grow coffee under a diverse shade and that organic production should not be a prerequisite to certify coffee as bird friendly More attention should be devoted to both the composition of the tree layer and especially the preservation of forest fragments within and around plantations Raman 2006 The canopy layer of coffee plantations could be easily improved as bird habitats with introduction of specific tree species attractive to
15. M ndez et al 2001 Albertin amp Nair 2004 Trees add organic matter to the soil via mulching of decaying leaves branches and trunks and decaying leaves form a protective layer that acts as a natural herbicide Romero Alvarado et al 2002 Their deep root systems reduce soil erosion and compaction and reduce water run off during severe storms Jim nez Avila et al 1982 Shade trees increase relative humidity in coffee plantations and act as a buffer for daily and seasonal changes in temperature Perfecto 1996 By creating a more stable microclimate trees also regulate ripening and maturation of coffee fruits and significantly increase the lifespan of coffee trees Salazar 1999 Muschler 2001 All of these benefits should motivate both organic and conventional growers alike and thus perhaps it is not surprising to find no systematic difference between these types of farms regarding their use of shade trees However in plantations where fungal infestation is a problem the advantages of having a diverse and dense shade tree layer maybe compromised 17 I expected to find a greater number of vegetation layers in organic than conventional farms but probably for the wrong reason A more plausible explanation for the higher number of vegetation layers in organic plantations is the greater age of organic farms and the tradition of organic farmers in Nicaragua of minimizing labor costs associated with tree pruning and overall vegetation ma
16. Plant Disease 72 688 690 Redford K H 1992 The empty forest Bioscience 42 412 422 Rice P D amp J McLean 1999 Sustainable Coffee at the Crossroads The Consumer s Choice Council 193 p Rice R A 1990 Transforming agriculture The case of Leaf Rust and Coffee Renovation in Southern Nicaragua Dept of Geography Univ of California Berkeley Rice R A 1999 A place unbecoming The coffee farm of Northern Latin America The Geographical Review 89 554 579 Rice R A 2001 Noble goals and challenging terrain Organic and fair trade coffee movements in the global marketplace Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics 14 39 66 Rice R A and J Drenning 2003 Manual de caf bajo sombra Smithsonian Migratory bird Center Washington D C Rice R A and J R Ward 1996 Coffee Conservation and Commerce in the Western Hemisphere Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center and Natural Resources Defense Council Washington D C 47 p Ricketts T H G C Daily P R Ehrlich and C D Michener 2004 Economic value of tropical forest to coffee production Proc Nat Acad Sciences 101 12579 12582 Rojas L C Godoy P Hanson C Kleinn and L Hilje 2001 Hopper Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha diversity in shaded coffee systems of Turrialba Costa Rica Agroforestry Systems 53 171 177 176 Rolim S G and A G Chiarello 2004 Slow death of Atlantic forest trees in cocoa agroforestry in southea
17. ltima vez que redujo el rea con caf 3 4 Qu aspectos considera cuando decide si va a sembrar abandonar o eliminar un rea de caf 3 5 Sirve para algo dejar una parte de la finca con monta a bosque Por qu 4 Asistencia T cnica 4 1 Recibe ayuda o asesor a de alg n SI NO organismo 4 2 En que consiste la ayuda que recibe 1 2 3 4 Pr stamo Asistencia T cnica Insumos Otra 4 3 Considera que la ayuda que recibe es Muy til resuelve mis problemas Sirve para resolver algunos problemas No sirve para resolver problemas B Wl N No recibo ayuda 4 4 Donde se puede acudir para recibir ayuda Oficina del gobierno Cooperativa Banco Asociaci n de productores Organismo no gubernamental Centro de acopio Casa comercial Otra ol A DA Mm B Q NI 184 5 Certificaci n 5 1 Tiene certificado su caf Al EMO 5 2 Qu tan complicado le result conseguir que le certifiquen su caf 1 2 3 4 5 MUY FACIL FACIL MAS O MENOS DIFICIL MUY DIFICIL 5 3 Ha logrado que le paguen mejor por el caf certificado SI NO 5 4 Cu nto m s le han pagado por el caf certificado 5 5 Cree que el sobreprecio que se paga por el caf certificado es justo 1 2 3 4 5 MUY
18. to whom the author has granted the right to reproduce and sell a copies of the manuscript in microform and or b printed copies of the manuscript made from microform Signature Date Aent 2007 University of Washington Abstract The Role of Organic Production in Biodiversity Conservation in Shade Coffee Plantations Juan C Martinez Sanchez Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee Associate Professor Martha Groom Department of Biology I researched the impact of organic agriculture in coffee plantations in Nicaragua First I compared the structure and composition of the shade tree layer in organic production and in conventional coffee plantations that use synthetic inputs I found that organic certification per se does not affect tree cover composition or shade levels However coffee plantations infested with the fungus Mycena citricolor have significantly lower levels of shade than non infested plantations This effect is more evident in organic farms located in humid areas In a separate field experiment bird diversity and abundance were compared in organic and conventional shade coffee plantations over a two year period Farms were alike in structure and composition of the shade tree layer Results indicate that bird diversity and abundance were not influenced by pesticide use in conventional plantations but were related to tree canopy structure and composition Last I present the results of a surve
19. 3 11 Figure 3 12 Figure 3 13 Figure 3 14 Figure 3 15 Figure 3 16 LIST OF FIGURES page Map of Nicaragua with the general location of the study farms 22 Location of selected plantations and relative humidity 0 0 0 0 cee 23 Shade levels in organic and non organic farMS ococccnncnocnnononononncnnnconannnos 24 Shade level vs coffee tree densa laa 25 Proportion of land use in forest versus coffee oooooonoccnicccinocnoococoncconnconnnos 26 Location of Mombacho Volcano Nicaragua ccccceseeeseeeeeeeeeeeenees 66 Distribution of coffee plantations in Mombacho Nicaragua 67 Rarefaction curve for tree species de csercanii asii trat iia acid 68 Cluster analysis of tree canopies coincida sindicales 69 Rarefaction curve for bird species ia 70 Cluster analysis of bird communities oooonocccococonoconcnonnnconncconoconn cono ncnnnonns 71 Coffee plantations in the Northern Highlands of Nicaragua 130 Education among interviewed coffee growers ooococccocccocononcnoncnnncnnccnnos 131 Education among interviewed technicians cecceeccesseereeereeeeeeteeeaes 132 Work affiliation among interviewed technicians ccceseeeeereeeeees 133 Work affiliation among interviewed policy makers and experts 134 Land use and farm SIZE A dd 133 Sh ad levels and farir Size AAA A i dah a E 136 Best 5 trees in coffee plantation according to coffee growers 137
20. 43 35 50228 44 2 5 1 286 354 4 40 004 Resident abundance 63 00 53 48 32 10 25 61 26 95225 47 2 5 1 342 252 4 377 004 Migrant abundance 12 10 10 10 10 10 12 81 6 4028 39 2 5 748 520 2 905 028 Bird species 16 40 6 06 11 3035 75 9 7524 47 2 5 1143 390 11 726 lt 001 Resident species 11 903 573 8 104 01 7 8033 62 2 5 900 464 12 322 lt 001 Migrant species 4 50 2 84 3 20 2 20 2 25 1 83 2 5 1 093 404 4 885 002 Trophic weight SA 50 1033 36 46 1045 62 26 5529 16 NA NA A LARB 6 90 4 16 4 00 6 19 4 2535 75 NA NA Se FLS 39 40 33 09 21 10250 80 17 25 15 25 NA NA N 126 80 16159 48 00 59 36 63 801 86 55 2 5 1 855 250 878 507 ss 1 8033 82 6 8 12 59 70 L59 NA NWA data is square root transformed N A unequal variances test not applicable 6L 80 81 CHAPTER 3 THE ROLE OF COFFEE PLANTATIONS IN BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS FROM NICARAGUA INTRODUCTION In the last 20 years demand for coffee Coffea arabica L produced under more environmentally and socially friendly conditions has been growing Several initiatives have been developed to promote best environmental and or social practices Environmental standards that have been promoted include requiring a protective shade layer Rice amp Drenning 2003 Fishersworring 2002 Larson 2003 prohibiting the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers IFOAM 1996 Rice amp Ward 1996 Rice 2001 Bray et al 2002
21. Coffee height 1 99 0 06 2 04 0 04 Coffee density 5231 173 5622 183 35 Table 1 6 Relation between forest cover and M citricolor infestation Forest cover as percentage of total farm size and infestation with M citricolor Percentage of Forest Cover Not infested with Infested with M citricolor M citricolor 34 3 80 33 2 71 4 20 5 56 19 5 45 8 9 1 21 7 0 8 8 7 3 ojojojojojojo 36 Table 1 7 Average yields kg ha for the last three harvest seasons Data provided by the farm owners via personal interviews Organic Conventional Farms Farms 916 8 581 0 387 4 1536 5 1026 5 1401 0 755 4 1329 9 652 1 1175 0 1239 6 1310 6 1065 2 471 3 968 4 Average 876 4495 1115 0 158 37 CHAPTER 2 THE ROLE OF ORGANIC CULTIVATION ON BIRD DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE IN SHADE COFFEE PLANTATIONS INTRODUCTION There is growing recognition that parks and protected areas are not keeping pace with the biodiversity crisis Terborgh 1999 Bruner et al 2001 and that more attention should be devoted to enhancing the conservation potential of areas used for agricultural production Murniati et al 2001 Vandermeer amp Perfecto 2007 Bhagwat et al 2008 Criteria for assessing successful management differ for parks and agricultural lands Areas devoted to conservation are considered successful when species and biological processes are preserved with a
22. Furthermore neither agronomists nor policy makers supported certifying new plantations or to allow new plantations inside protected areas Nevertheless I found numerous examples of farms being certified inside protected areas and certification agencies are not even aware of park boundaries This is a sensitive issue and one I could not explore any further because I did not want to compromise the confidentiality of participants in this survey Nicaraguan coffee plantations are probably among the most diverse and densely shaded in the world regardless of farm size Interestingly the official figures on percentage of coffee grown under shade 96 according to MAGFOR 2003 matches our coffee growers perception that coffee production increases under a tree layer 94 of the respondents Currently we are in a cycle of high coffee prices and that combined with low national wages for farm workers give coffee growers a substantial economic boost But this situation is far from stable and lack of government policies to support coffee growers during times of crisis forces coffee growers to rely on themselves and their cooperatives to survive Bacon 2005 More 129 work is needed to explore ways to stabilize yields without compromising ecological integrity of these plantations especially on how fertilizers both synthetic and organic are used Perfecto et al 2005 Certification agencies especially those working with organic standards shou
23. L Miranda Castro 2006 Avian reproduction and the value of shaded coffee plantations Ornitolog a Neotropical 17 271 282 Gobbi J A 2000 Is biodiversity friendly coffee financially viable An analysis of five different coffee production systems in western El Salvador Ecological Economics 33 267 281 Gorenflo L J amp K Brandon 2005 Agricultural capacity and conservation in high biodiversity forest ecosystems Ambio 34 199 204 170 Gotelli N J and G L Entsminger 2001 EcoSim Null models software for ecology Version 7 0 Acquired Intelligence Inc and Kesey Bear http homepages together net gentsmin ecosim htm Gotelli N J and G R Graves 1996 Null models in ecology Smithsonian Institution Press Washington D C 368 p Greenberg R P Bichier and J Sterling 1997 Bird populations in rustic and planted shade coffee plantations of eastern Chiapas M xico Biotropica 29 501 514 Gregory R D D Noble R Field J Marchant M Raven and D W Gibbons 2003 Using birds as indicators of biodiversity Ornis Hungarica 12 13 11 24 Grossman J M 2003 Exploring farmer knowledge of soil processes in organic coffee systems of Chiapas Mexico Geoderma 11 267 287 Guharay F D Monterroso amp C Staver 2000 Manejo Integrado de Plagas en el Cultivo del Caf Manual T cnico No 44 CATIE Managua Nicaragua y Turrialba Costa Rica 267 pp Harrer A E 1963 Coffee Growing Oxford Uni
24. Por qu 12 4 La tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os sera aumentar la proporci n de caf certificado org nico 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 12 5 La tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os sera aumentar el rendimiento por ha 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 220 12 6 La tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os sera mejorar la calidad del grano 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 13 Comentario Final 221 APPENDIX D ORIGINAL CONSENT FORM TO INTERVIEW COFFEE FARMERS FORMULARIO DE CONSENTIMIENTO DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE WASHINGTON El Papel de los Programas de Certificaci n del Caf en la Conservaci n del Bosque Tropical Un caso de Estudio en Nicaragua Nombre Martha Groom Afiliaci n Acad mica UW College of Juan C Martinez Sanchez University of Washington Arts and Sciences Tel fono 206 718 1463 Cell 505 428 0555 DECLARACI N DE LOS INVESTIGADORES Por este medio le estamos solicitando su participaci n en una investigaci n El objetivo de este Formulario de Consentimiento es darle la informaci n que necesita para decid
25. R G Muschler and F L Sinclair 2001 Productivity and profitability of multistrata organic versus conventional coffee farms in Costa Rica Agroforestry Systems 53 205 213 Magfor 2003 Estrategia para la reconversi n y la diversificaci n competitiva de la caficultura en Nicaragua Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal Managua Nicaragua 40 p Magurran A E 2004 Measuring biological diversity Blackwell Science Ltd Oxford U K Mc Aleece 1997 Biodiversity Pro version 2 0 available at www sams ac uk research software M ndez V E R Lok and E Somarriba 2001 Interdisciplinary Analysis of Homegardens in Nicaragua Micro zonation Plant Use and Socioeconomic Importance Agroforestry Systems 51 85 96 Michon G F Mary and J Bompard 1986 Multistoried agroforestry garden system in West Sumatra Indonesia Agroforestry Systems 4 271 379 Mineau P 2005 Direct losses of birds to pesticides beginnings of a quantification USDA Forest Service Gen Tech Rep PSW GTR 191 Moguel P and V M Toledo 1999 Biodiversity conservation in traditional coffee systems of Mexico Conservation Biology 13 11 21 Murniati D P Garrity and A Ng Gintings 2001 The contribution of agroforestry systems to reducing farmers dependence on the resources of adjacent national parks A case study from Sumatra Indonesia Agroforestry Systems 52 171 184 Murray D L T Raynolds and P L Taylor 2003 One Cup at a Tim
26. and shade and more dense plantations tend to have less shade cover Figure 1 4 Spearman s p 0 445 P lt 0 001 In contrast coffee tree density and shade do not show any correlation in organic plantations Spearman s p 0 102 P 0 323 Overall organic farms had significantly more strata than conventional farms F1 13 31 p lt 0 001 To test if this could be an artifact of the pre existing vegetation I removed from the analysis two farm pairs containing two plantations established in the last 9 years one organic farm in a cloud forest and a conventional in an open pasture There was no difference in the number of strata between conventional and organic farms when I excluded these two recently established farms F18 3 39 p 0 067 although differences between farm pairs remained significant F 160 11 13 p lt 0 001 Organic and conventional farms were not significantly different in abundance of canopy trees F 1 9 0 98 p 0 323 or bananas F 9 1 67 p 0 198 although variation between farm pairs was significant Infestation with American Leaf Spot Mycena citricolor 12 Most farms surveyed had little or no infestation with M citricolor The only plantations affected 4 organic and 3 conventional were those located in the eastward side of the study area in the Jinotega and Nueva Segovia Highlands Figure 1 2 These plantations are located in areas where high humidity is prevalent over most of the
27. as a group organic coffee growers preferred higher density levels than their non organic peers One way ANOVA F 5 59 d f 1 79 p 0 02 However shade levels between small organic and conventional farms were very similar One way ANOVA F 1 019 d f 1 33 p 0 32 In contrast shade levels reported by owners of medium farms were significantly different with organic coffee growers reporting shade levels 10 higher than conventional coffee growers One way ANOVA F 5 769 d f 1 35 p 0 02 This was also the case for large farms with owners of organic plantations preferring 101 almost double the amount of shade than their conventional peers One way ANOVA F 14 253 d f 1 7 p 0 007 Most coffee growers 96 preferred trees with a wide canopy over narrow shaped trees Trees with big leaves were preferred by 37 6 of the respondents versus 14 6 that chose small leaves and 41 5 that expressed no preference for either Nearly all respondents 95 prefer trees that shed lots of leaves Similarly ease of pruning was chosen as desirable by most coffee growers 85 4 Coffee growers gave a diversity of responses regarding the importance of selecting shade trees for multiple uses such as timber firewood or fruit production Half of the coffee growers considered that it important to select trees that generate useful timber while 13 4 preferred not to use timber producing trees for shade and 24 4 said it did not
28. contributing to forest clearing The picture is even more confusing when coffee prices go up Some argue that this creates a clear incentive to boost production and deforestation increases accordingly in those areas where forest fragments are intermixed with coffee plantations and pastures or pushes farmers into protected forests to establish new plantations O Brien and Kinnaird 2003 2004 In Nicaragua the area under coffee cultivation almost doubled from 1990 to 2000 Magfor 2003 Whether this expansion was achieved by restoring abandoned coffee plantations or through encroaching on remaining forest fragments is unknown Opinion surveys are a tool that can shed light on these contentious issues and can provide a valuable insight on how rules and regulations of different certification programs are viewed on the farm If farmers do not understand the intended 85 consequences of environmental practices it is unlikely they will apply them when there are insufficient economic incentives On the other hand if certification agencies do not understand farmers perceptions it is also unlikely their environmental standards will achieve their intended goals While many farmers are aware of the importance of coffee quality the need to mitigate watershed pollution or the benefits of shading coffee very few have ever heard about the environmental services provided by the forest fragments in their coffee plantations or the importance of respe
29. conventional squares organic triangles transitional diamonds Data points are mean expected richness at three points of individual resampling and bars represent 95 confidence intervals 69 CONV_Miravalle TRANS _Luz CONV_Progreso CONV_Cecilia ORG4 _Crater CONV_Cutirre ORG3_Joaquin TRANS_Sta_Ana ORG2 Teresa ORG1_Carmelo 50 100 Figure 2 4 Cluster analysis of tree canopies Cluster analysis based on Bray Curtis similarity index of tree canopies of farms surveyed in Mombacho Labels correspond to farming method acronyms CONV conventional TRANS transition and ORG for organic followed by the farm name 70 Species richness 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 Number of individuals Figure 2 5 Rarefaction curve for bird species Birds in coffee plantations at Mombacho Nicaragua managed under different farming methods conventional squares organic triangles transition rhombs Data points are mean expected richness at six points of individual resampling and bars represent 95 confidence intervals 71 Miravalle_CONV Cutirre_ CONV Crater_ORG Progreso_CONV Cecilia CONV Teresa _ORG Sta_Ana_TRANS Joaquin_ORG Carmelo_ORG La_Luz_TRANS 50 100 Figure 2 6 Cluster analysis of bird communities Analysis of bird communities in Mombacho coffee plantation
30. dejando los rboles m s altos para que me sirvan de sombra Sacando primero los rboles m s grandes hacer una socola y dejar rboles peque os para que se desarrollen como sombra Botando todos los rboles limpiando el terreno y estableciendo nueva sombra con estacas de rboles tiles Botando todos los rboles limpiando bien el terreno y estableciendo una sombra de chag lite para proteger los nuevos cafetos Otra 20 2 C mo deber a ser para usted la finca ideal 1 Con sombra 2 Sin sombra 3 Certificada org nica 4 Certificada de sombra 5 Certificada Comercio Justo 6 Sin certificaci n 7 Certificada Starbucks 8 Certificada Rainforest 8 Solo con caf 9 Diversificada 210 20 3 Qu otras cosas le gustaria que se produjera en una finca cafetalera 1 Hortalizas Flores Helechos Cacao Frijoles Ma z Pastos olny Aj UA A WwW N Frutales 21 Comentario Final 9 Tabaco 10 Tilapias 11 Pollos 12 Cerdos 13 Ganado 14 rboles maderables 15 Ecoturismo 16 Servicios Ambientales 17 Otros 211 APPENDIX C ORIGINAL INTERVIEW TO POLICY MAKERS Entrevista para asesores y tomadores de decisiones en Nicaragua Pagina de Cubierta para despegar y guardarla en un archivo aparte Nombre Correo
31. departments Jinotega 2 farms Esteli 4 Madriz 6 and Nueva Segovia 8 Fig 1 2 Shade trees were an array of native species from the original forest as well as planted native and non native species Banana plants were also widely used Vegetation Sampling Sampling was conducted in 25 m radius circular plots evenly distributed within each plantation Plots were spaced a minimum of 100 m apart and at least 50 m away from the nearest forest patch The exact number of plots sampled in each plantation was a function of the size of the plantation to avoid undersampling the diversity of larger plantations by using a fixed sample size As a rule a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 plots were surveyed in a single plantation Habitat variables measured at each plot included elevation distance to the edge canopy tree species richness number of canopy trees number of strata coffee density percent canopy cover coffee yields and presence of fungal infestation Table 1 1 Farmer interviews To understand what factors play an important role in the short and long term management of these coffee plantations owners and administrators of 16 of the 20 coffee plantations were interviewed using a standardized questionnaire This is part of a separate research project on farmer s perspectives on the role of forest fragments in their plantations Chapter 3 but it allowed us to gather information on farming practices and yields Stati
32. expandir el rea cafetalera Chinandega Le n Meseta de los Pueblos Jinotega Sierras de Managua Isla de Ometepe Nueva Segovia Volc n Mombacho Matagalpa Estel Madriz R o San Juan RAAN Boaco Chontales RAAS Por qu 11 4 Cu les son las regiones en donde a su juicio no es rentable que se produzca caf Chinandega Le n Meseta de los Pueblos Jinotega Sierras de Managua Isla de Ometepe Nueva Segovia Volc n Mombacho Matagalpa Estel Madriz R o San Juan RAAN Boaco Chontales RAAS Por qu 12 Mirando hacia el futuro 12 1 Usted cree que la tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os ser incrementar el rea sembrada de caf 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 219 12 2 La tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os sera aumentar la proporci n de caf que se produce bajo sombra 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 12 3 La tendencia de caficultura Nicarag ense para los pr ximos a os sera aumentar la proporci n de caf que se produce sin sombra 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO
33. forest due to lack of resources to convert the land to other uses or because the land was useless for agriculture Coffee growers 60 expressed that they did not get any direct economic benefit from the forest portion of their lands When asked why they had not converted these forest fragments into coffee plantation or pasture most respondents rejected the idea stating they were not interested in converting it to coffee 104 or to pasture Fig 3 11 When asked similar questions as a statement on a Likert scale most coffee growers disagreed with converting forest to coffee plantation to pasture or to other crops Fig 3 12 Coffee growers also agreed with the statement it will be better to expand the area covered with forest and to a lesser extend forest fragments in my farm increase my coffee yields Fig 3 13 Coffee growers in general do not think forests serve as a refuge for coffee pests Those responding affirmatively 12 2 mentioned coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei Ferr Coleoptera Curculionidae American leaf spot Mycena citricolor and coffee leaf rust Hemileia vastatrix Berk and Br Basidiomycota Pucciniales Agronomists tended to agree with coffee growers in this regard and 76 disagree or strongly disagree with the statement Forest serves as a refuge to coffee pests In the case of policy makers and coffee experts however the results were more divided with 55 disagreeing and 35 agreei
34. matter A large proportion of coffee growers considered using fruit trees for shade important 48 1 but 21 did not want to have fruit trees to avoid problems with workers stealing fruit or damaging coffee trees while picking up fruits Most coffee growers 80 5 preferred to use trees for shade that can produce firewood Many shade trees in coffee plantations produce leaves all year round and nearly all coffee growers 95 1 responded that this characteristic was important in their 102 selection of tree species to use in the shade layer The majority of coffee growers 79 3 preferred trees from the same area while 20 7 did not consider the origin of the tree local vs introduced a relevant factor Favorite trees Coffee growers tree of choice was Inga spp Species identity is not clear because common names can refer to different species and the same species can be referred to by more than one common name Coffee growers make a distinction between local Inga species Guaba Negra Guaba Roja Guaba Blanca Guaba Verde etc and what they called Guaba Extranjera o Paterna probable Inga paterno Inga spp was the most popular group of trees as a first second and third 23 choice for coffee growers Fig 3 8 In contrast the introduced B caro Erythrina poeppigiana was mentioned only a handful of times Bananas and plantains were a medium priority choice and wild avocados were mentioned consistently in the re
35. minimum human intervention Considerable effort is devoted to isolate these areas from the market forces in a globalized economy Redford 1992 Peres 2005 Kramer et al 1997 In contrast land used for agricultural or timber extraction is basically at the mercy of these very same market forces Hecht amp Saatchi 2007 and government policies are usually designed to promote trade Nagendra et al 2003 This is especially the case for agricultural commodities produced in developing countries Niesten et al 2004 Coffee is by far the most important agricultural commodity both in economic terms and in the number of producers traders and consumers involved Pendergrast 1999 Furthermore it provides a pertinent example of how market forces influence agricultural landscapes and the attendant consequences for biodiversity conservation worldwide O Brien amp Kinnaird 2003 38 In the last decade a growing number of publications have emphasized the importance of shade coffee plantations as a refuge for biodiversity in agricultural landscapes Perfecto amp Snelling 1995 Perfecto et al 1996 Greenberg et al 1997 Calvo amp Blake 1998 Wunderle 1999 Johnson 2000 Rojas et al 2001 Carlo et al 2004 Pineda et al 2005 Gleffe et al 2006 Philpott et al 2006 Dietsch et al 2007 These studies compare diversity levels of birds and other taxa in sun coffee plantations that grow coffee without using trees for shade with shade grown c
36. nitrogen losses Bornemisza 1982 Thus I predict that organic plantations should employ a greater density or diversity of nitrogen fixing trees when compared with conventional counterparts Coffee yields can be reduced by fungal pathogens American leaf spot caused by a fungus Mycena citricolor Berk amp Curtis is one of the most serious diseases in coffee plantations across Latin America Buller 1934 Tewari et al 1984 It causes extensive defoliation and if left unattended the fungal infection can spread to twigs and berries causing berry drop Rao amp Tewari 1988 The disease is more prevalent in plantations with high humidity and above 1000 m conditions typically associated with highland top quality arabica coffee Coffea arabica L Since organic coffee producers would lose their organic certification if they used fungicides they have few options to limit the incidence of coffee leaf spot Vargas 1984 Vargas 1996 As 1996 One option available to organic farmers is to modify the forest environment to increase the amount of sunlight that reaches the coffee bushes thereby drying the environment and increasing UV incidence which has been shown to be effective in reducing American leaf spot infections Beer et al 1998 Staver et al 2001 The easiest and the most cost effective approaches to increasing light levels to the coffee bushes are to 1 reduce the number of trees that shade the plantation 2 change the compos
37. o 197 APPENDIX B ORIGINAL INTERVIEW TO AGRONOMISTS Entrevista para t cnicos y extensionistas agr nomos en Nicaragua P gina de Cubierta para despegar y guardarla en un archivo aparte Nombre Correo electr nico Tel fono oficina celular Edad Sexo Nivel escolar Cargo 198 1 Datos Generales de la Entrevista 1 1 Fecha 1 2 Departamento 1 3 Municipio 1 4 Comunidad Comarca 1 5 Lugar de la entrevista 1 6 Hora de iniciar 1 7 Hora de terminar 2 Experiencia con caf 2 1 A os de trabajar con caf 2 2 A os de trabajar como t cnico 2 3 En que consiste su trabajo 2 4 Cu ntos productores atiende 3 Sombra en caf 3 1 C mo piensa que produce m s caf un cafetal CON ARBOLES SIN ARBOLES mezclado con rboles que dan sombra o a pleno sol 3 2 Por qu 3 3 Cu les son las caracter sticas m s importantes de la sombra para lograr el mejor rendimiento en un cafetal 3 3 1 Altura de los rboles de sombra 1 M s de 5 m de alto 2 Menos de 5 m de alto 3 Una combinaci n de rboles altos y bajos 4 La altura de los rboles no importa 199 3 3 2 Cantidad de sombra 1 Sombra rala 2 Sombra densa 3 Una mezcla de sombra densa y rala 4 No importa si es densa o rala
38. plot 1 Elevation measured in meters with an altimeter at the center of the plot 2 Distance from the center of the plot to the edge of the nearest forest patch pasture or any annual crop To have a better idea of the overall importance of coffee plantations in relation to other land uses in Mombacho I mapped forest coffee plantations and other crops using recent 1995 ortho photomaps scale 1 10 000 from Instituto Nicaragiiense de Estudios Territoriales INETER Three field crews covered approximately an area of 50 km using hand held gps units to map vegetation boundaries between forest and coffee plantations Fig 2 2 Birds were censused using two complementary techniques Fixed 25 m radio point counts and mist netting transects Ralph et al 1996 A total of 200 points were selected 83 distributed in 4 farms certified as organic 54 in two transitional farms and 63 points in 4 conventional farms Censuses were conducted between 6 00 am and 10 30 am Birds were recorded for a 10 minute period using both visual and 48 auditory clues All birds detected were recorded but for the final analysis I excluded individuals detected beyond the 25 m radius as well as birds that flew over the point Each point was censed 5 times over a period of 16 months from November 1997 through April 1999 by a team of four ornithologists Additionally I mist netted in 8 of the plantations 4 organic 2 transition and 2 conventional with 5
39. rboles mantengan o boten sus hojas 3 3 11 Origen de los rboles 1 Que sean de la zona J Tra dos de afuera 3 No importa de donde sean Otros usos que se le da a los rboles del cafetal 201 3 4 Indique los nombres de las cinco especies de arboles mas importantes para la finca cafetalera y el por qu Especie Le a Madera Postes Fruta Rompevientos Sombra Medicinal Otro 4 Bosque y cafetales 4 1 Tiene alg n sentido mantener parches de bosque entremezclados con los cafetales Por qu SI NO 4 2 Si piensa que el bosque le ayuda al cafetal cu nto bosque hay que mantener entremezclado con el caf para que sirva de ayuda 4 3 D nde hay que mantener el bosque Por qu En la periferia del cafetal En una sola parcela Repartido en varias parcelas Protegiendo fuentes de agua En laderas con fuerte pendiente La ubicaci n no importa 14 1 202 Cree que el bosque sirve de refugio para plagas 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 14 2 Cree que el bosque ayuda al cafetal 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 14 3 El bosque que me queda en un
40. results could challenge the conventional view that shade grown is always the most environmentally friendly way for growing coffee at least in areas where infestation with M citricolor is a problem Under those circumstances it may be more feasible to grow coffee with low shade levels and applying the correct amount of chemical fertilizers to balance yearly loses of N and K van der Vossen 2005 if in exchange part of the farm can be set aside for conservation Forest fragments are needed for biodiversity conservation because it is unlikely that shaded plantations alone will provide feeding resources and the structural habitat complexity demanded by many species for example large avian frugivores that undertake complex altitudinal migrations Powell amp Bjork 2003 Our on going research explores this link by looking at the composition and structure of bird communities in organic and conventional coffee plantations Chapter 2 Unfortunately the argument that areas with remaining forest are of marginal value for agriculture expansion Gorenflo amp Brandon 2005 does not discourage farmers from converting remaining forest patches into coffee plantations especially when the coffee prices are high O Brien amp Kinnaird 2003 Perhaps biodiversity conservation 20 would be better accomplished via directing our efforts to developing a comprehensive accounting mechanism for all the environmental services that remaining forest patches pr
41. test farming method Fy 7 0 483 p 0 636 farm name farming method F7 199 7 97 p lt 001 Species not recorded in a particular group of farms organic transition or conventional were usually recorded in very low numbers in general Euphonia affinis was the only species with more than 10 records in organic and transitional farms that was never recorded in conventional farms Trophic guilds At the species level there were no differences in bird species feeding on arthropods small reptiles or birds fruits or seeds SA LARB FLS and SS between organic transition and conventional farms Nevertheless conventional farms had more 56 species of nectar feeders than organic and transition farms Effect test farming method F2 7 6 952 p 0 02 farm name farming method F7 190 10 05 p 0 005 However when I ran the same analysis for weighted values of nectar feeders these differences became non significant Effect test farming method F2 7 2 07 p 0 2 farm name farming method F7 190 7 40 p lt 0 001 Mist netting results I captured 1840 birds of 79 species 50 residents and 29 Neotropical migrants with an estimated effort of 10 069 net hours Captures averaged 18 birds per 100 net hr but ranged widely between farms There was an eight fold range in capture rates from 5 57 birds 100 net hr in a transition farm to 40 3 birds in Cutirre a conventional farm Table 2 6 Hummingbirds comprised the majority
42. the best five tree species for the success of their farm 94 One section of the interview explored questions about the availability of forest fragments on the farm their perception of the utility of such fragments and the motivation that influenced the farmer to choose that particular location to grow coffee If farmers had forest fragments on their land they were asked their opinions on a six level Likert scale of different alternative uses of forest fragments All farmers regardless of whether or not they had forest fragments on their land were asked whether they believed forest fragments helped or hindered their coffee plantations and what where the relationships between the presence of forest fragments and pests or pollinators I asked several questions about the role of forest fragments that were intentionally designed to be redundant with other sections of the survey so I could evaluate internal consistency in the responses across the entire survey A portion of the survey focused on plantation management including questions on farm waste and how farmers handle it fertilizer use and whether the area under cultivation had increased or decreased in the last 5 years Some questions explored whether and how farmers might change their management practices given hypothetical changes in coffee prices exploring both alternatives of becoming high or low These questions were to explore how price fluctuations influence farmer s de
43. 0 15 12 25 0 90 3 15 0 18 28 9242 68 Cutirre 20 2 28 14 70 0 79 6 60 0 33 52 08 4 65 72 4543 51 120 25 11 32 2 3940 12 16 3540 72 3 5540 15 31 3542 16 Sub total 63 1039 TRANSITION Sta Ana 24 458 37 19 0041 40 5140 49 71234425 62 5443 21 162 67 10 33 2 0740 11 12 10 0 66 2 9240 13 31 83 187 La Luz 30 468 47 1560 117 65340 39 47 8343 76 67 4042 87 107 70 9 24 1 99 0 10 12 04 0 59 2 930 20 25 131 76 Subtotal 54 926 ORGANIC Cameo 20 389 47 1945 L9 7 56 0 59 57 52 4 68 79 35 3 51 156 45 11 32 2 80 0 12 12 0840 72 3 000 15 30 80 2 16 Sta Teresa 20 3235 32 16 2540 97 5 2540 36 61 1243 73 47 75 3 51 172 60 11 32 2 1040 12 10 31 0 72 2 3040 15 24 35 2 16 San J oaquin 23 321 25 13 9640 75 5 4340 34 56 4143 77 47 9143 28 87 39 410 55 2 4440 18 13 0240 67 2 9640 14 25 3042 01 El Crater 20 270 34 13 50 101 4 704055 69 0245 11 64 3043 51 128 65 11 32 2 6340 12 15 3640 72 3 00 0 15 26 1042 16 Sub total 83 1305 TOTAL 200 3270 Numbers show mean standard error and letters indicate significant differences p lt 0 05 within a variable SL 76 Table 2 5 Most recorded bird species Ranking of the ten most recorded species in point counts at Mombacho coffee plantations grouped by farming practice total number of birds Rank Organic Thryothorus pleurostictus 203 Dendroica petechia 176 Euphonia hirundin
44. 012 En esa fecha destruir esta clave Si los resultados de este estudio se publican o se presentan en p blico no usaremos ninguna cita de su entrevista al menos que usted nos de permiso para hacerlo Dado que trabajo para una universidad de los Estados Unidos necesito informarle que las autoridades de la universidad a veces revisan estudios como este para estar seguros que se llevan a cabo de forma segura y legal Si se llevara a cabo una revisi n de este estudio su registro podr a ser examinado Los revisores respetar n su privacidad Los registros de esta investigaci n no se usar n para provocarle da o legal alguno Es posible que necesite volver a contactarle para aclarar informaci n sobre la entrevista En ese caso le telefonear o le visitar para acordar una cita para poder hacerle las preguntas adicionales estrechamente relacionadas con la entrevista 223 original Por favor hagame saber si usted me da permiso para contactarle para este prop sito Este permiso no le obliga en forma alguna POSIBILIDAD DE INVESTIGACI N EN UN FUTURO Finalmente es posible que decida llevar a cabo un estudio sobre cambios en pr cticas o actitudes en el cultivo del caf Le gustar a que volviera a contactarle dentro de 5 10 a os para hacerle nuevas preguntas Que me de permiso no le obliga en forma alguna a participar Firma del investigador Nombre del investigador Fecha DECLARACI N DEL PARTICIPANTE Me han explicado en qu
45. 02 Species composition of bird communities in shade coffee plantations in the Venezuelan Andes Ornitolog a Neotropical 13 397 412 Kein A M I Steffan Dewenter and T Tscharntke 2003 Pollination of Coffea canephora in relation to local and regional agroforestry management Journal of Applied Ecology 40 837 845 Komar O 2006 Ecology and conservation of birds in coffee plantations A critical review Bird Conservation International 16 1 23 Kramer R C P van Schaik and J Johnson 1997 Last stand Protected areas and the defense of tropical biodiversity Oxford U Press New York Kratgen S K B Trimbos and G R de Snoo 2008 Breeding skylarks Alauda arvensis on organic and conventional arable farms in The Netherlands Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 126 163 167 La Gaceta 1983 Creaci n de Reservas Naturales en el Pac fico de Nicaragua Decreto No 1320 La Gaceta No 213 19 de septiembre de 1983 La Gaceta 1991 Declaraci n de reas protegidas en varios macizos monta osos volcanes y lagunas del pa s Decreto ejecutivo NO 42 91 La Gaceta No 207 4 noviembre 1991 La Gaceta 2001 Ley No 368 Ley del Caf La Gaceta Diario Oficial No 17 24 de enero del 2001 Larson B 2003 Eco labels for credence attributes The case of shade grown coffee Environment and Development Economics 8 529 547 172 Le Pelley R H 1968 Pests of coffee Longsman London 590 p Lyngbeek A E
46. 04 Coefficient values range from 0 for totally dissimilar communities to 1 when they are identical These values were clustered using a single linkage nearest neighbor method that is based on Euclidean distance using the software package Biodiversity Pro version 2 0 McAleece 1997 The same analysis was performed to estimate bird community similarity between farming methods In all statistical analyses a probability of committing a Type I error was placed at the 0 05 level of significance Means are given with one standard error I explore whether individual characteristics of the tree layer predicted bird species richness using linear regressions I follow a stepwise multiple linear regression with backward selection of 6 vegetation variables Total number of trees tree richness percent canopy cover mean canopy tree height number of canopy tree strata and total leaf volumes These were the independent variables and bird species richness and abundance were dependent variables Data for canopy tree height and total leaf 51 volumes were log transformed Data for bird abundance were square root transformed I analyze data from mist net captures separated from those of point counts because our relative sampling effort among farming practices was different on both cases RESULTS Vegetation analysis I recorded a total of 119 tree species plus 17 morpho species that I were unable to identify Tree species richness was similar amo
47. 2004 Study sites Farmer interviews focused on individuals from two coffee growing regions in the Northern Highlands Las Segovias and Jinotega JCMS contacted managers of coffee cooperatives located in departmental capitals of Jinotega Esteli and Ocotal as well as the towns of Jalapa and Dipilto to request access to interview them Interviewees were asked at the end of the interview to introduce the interviewer JCMS to other 90 technicians and experts in the coffee sector for a potential interview They also provided names of many local farmers affiliated or not with their cooperatives Most of the interviews with owners of small to medium size plantations were conducted at their farms I actively sought to include an even balance of organic conventional farmers To minimize any bias towards farmers affiliated to cooperatives or small farmers I actively contacted the largest coffee growers in the region making use of personal contacts and connections made through farmers interviewed earlier in the study In Managua the capital JCMS interviewed policy makers experts and government officials Many new contacts were found through those interviewed I also used my own knowledge of the local government and non governmental organizations to approach potential interviewees In only a few cases three farmers three policy makers and 2 agronomists was our request for an interview declined and this was usually due to scheduling co
48. 298 0 227 12 17 5 787 7 561 3 356 4 412 2 2 837 1 351 0 092 0 385 38 18 17 056 3 862 10 812 2 598 3 1 346 1 883 0 392 0 293 10 17 3 841 6 575 2 553 3 411 4 2 626 1 956 0 117 0 245 31 27 13 822 7 071 8 523 4 074 5 1 553 2 526 0 278 0 121 16 25 4 726 12 500 3 604 8 258 6 1 835 2 413 0 294 0 134 23 25 6 267 11 168 3 405 7 465 7 2 575 1 396 0 117 0 328 33 11 13 131 4 041 8 545 3 049 8 2 012 1 741 0 227 0 269 27 19 7 476 5 701 4413 3 720 9 1 970 1 640 0 288 0 412 28 30 7 169 5 157 3 476 2 425 10 2 499 0 928 0 148 0 647 26 18 12 174 2 529 6 780 1 546 MEAN 2 101 1 786 0 225 0 306 24 4 20 7 9 145 6 617 5 547 4 096 33 Table 1 4 Distribution of coffee varietals per plot Percentages have been rounded to the nearest unit Note that totals do not match total plot number because several plots have more than one varietal Variety Organic Conventional Caturra 74 66 67 63 Catuai 24 21 10 10 Borbon 8 7 4 4 Arabica 0 0 1 1 Maracaturra 4 4 3 3 Maragojipe 0 0 6 6 Catimor 2 2 4 4 Paca 0 0 9 9 112 100 104 100 34 Table 1 5 Comparison of vegetation and plantation characteristics Variable Mean SE Organic Conventional Shade level 56 49 2 21 56 45 1 87 Tree strata 3 01 0 09 2 65 0 09 Plantation age yrs 13 92 0 91 10 69 0 67 Total trees 24 49 1 41 26 12 1 46 Total Musaceae 35 21 3 7 40 86 4 03
49. 6 Nevertheless inter farm variation superseded any difference associated with farming practices Summarizing organic and conventional farms in Mombacho are alike in composition and structure of tree canopies as well as their coffee plantations Bird diversity and abundance I recorded a total of 4 478 individuals of 92 bird species 72 residents and 20 Neotropical migrants with our point counts Twenty five additional species were captured in mist nets but not recorded our point counts Overall species richness was similar among farms grouped together by farming method and ranged from 61 in transitional farms to 74 species in conventional ones I combined the results of the 5 censuses and constructed rarefaction curves with 6 resampling points at intervals of 53 250 individuals Estimated species richness as determined by rarefaction analysis confirmed these results Figure 2 5 note overlap of the confidence intervals Furthermore bird communities did not cluster together by farming method Fig 2 6 Organic and conventional farms were very similar in bird species composition Table 2 5 These farms shared 8 out of the10 most commonly recorded species Two migrants Vermivora peregrina ranking 1 and Dendroica petechia ranking 3 and one resident wren Thryothorus pleurostictus ranking 2 were the most common birds in conventional farms while Thryothorus pleurostictus and Dendroica petechia and Euphonia hirundinacea ranked a
50. 90 1350 544 40 30 459 85 45 29 16 TOTAL 10069 1840 18 27 1451 389 79 50 29 LL 78 Table 2 7 The ten most capture bird species Ranking of the ten most frequently captured species in mist nets at Mombacho coffee plantations grouped by farming practice total number of birds RANK TRANSITION ORGANIC CONVENTIONAL 3 10 Amazilia saucerrottei 49 Chiroxiphia linearis 44 Thryothorus pleurostictus 41 Chlorostilbon canivetti 30 Hylocharis eliciae 30 Archilocus colubris 26 Dendroica petechia 26 Empidonax flaviventris 22 Thryothorus modestus 17 Vermivora peregrina 17 Chlorostilbon canivetti 102 Amazilia saucerrottei 72 Hylocharis eliciae 69 Chiroxiphia linearis 64 Amazilia rutila 53 Thryothorus pleurostictus 42 Tolmomyias sulphurescens 34 Archilocus colubris 30 Dendroica petechia 28 Vermivora peregrina 28 Amazilia saucerrottei 124 Hylocharis eliciae 106 Chiroxiphia linearis 71 Chlorostilbon canivetti 65 Thryothorus pleurostictus 54 Amazilia rutila 49 Vermivora peregrina 43 Phaethornis striigularis 33 Tolmomyias sulphurescens 20 Archilocus colubris 19 Table 2 8 Summary of Nested ANOVA test for mist netting data Conventional Transition Organic Faming FanmNarre Variable Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD df Method p Farming Method p Bird abundance 75 10 55 79 42 20 37
51. Books New York 458 p Peres C A 2005 Why we need megareserves in Amazonia Conservation Biology 19 728 733 Perfecto I 1996 Climatic Changes and the Indirect Loss of Ant Diversity in a Tropical Agroecosystem Oecologia 108 577 582 Perfecto I R A Rice R Greenberg and M E Van der Voort 1996 Shade coffee a disappearing refuge for biodiversity BioScience 46 598 608 174 Perfecto I and R Snelling 1995 Biodiversity and the transformation of a tropical agroecosystems Ants in coffee plantations Ecological Applications 5 1084 1097 Perfecto I J H Vandermeer G L Bautista G I Nufiez R Greenberg P Bichier and S Langridge 2004 Greater predation in shaded coffee farms The role of resident Neotropical birds Ecology 85 2677 2681 Perfecto I J Vandermeer A Mas L Soto Pinto 2005 Biodiversity Yield and Shade Coffee Certification Ecological Economics 54 435 446 Philpott S M P Bichier R Rice and R Greenberg 2007 Field testing ecological and economic benefits of coffee certification programs Conservation Biology 21 975 985 Philpott S M I Perfecto and J Vandermeer 2006 Effects of management intensity and season on arboreal ant diversity and abundance in coffee agroecosystems Biodiversity and Conservation 15 139 155 Piha M J Tiainen J Holopainen and V Veps l inen 2007 Effects of land use and landscape characteristics on avian diversity and abundance
52. Coffee and protected areas When asked their level of agreement with the statement Coffee produced inside protected areas should not be certified most agronomists responded with disagreement 79 2 or strong disagreement 2 When asked to elaborate most respondents acknowledged the fact that coffee plantations already exist in many protected areas and certification could allow a mechanism to control them better Several agronomists suggested the creation of a specific certification seal denominaci n de origen with the dual purpose of setting strict rules for growing coffee and to give coffee and added value for example as conservation coffee Several respondents suggested demanding all plantations inside protected areas use no agrochemicals adopting organic methods Other argue that shade coffee plantations do not degrade protected areas and to the contrary act as a buffer against more destructive farming practices such as annual crops or pastures Still other agronomists responded that coffee plantations should only be established to restore areas currently deforested and should never be established inside forest When asked to provide their level of agreement with the statement Establishment of new coffee plantations in protected areas should be allowed the interviewees either 113 disagreed 83 or strongly disagreed 3 7 with this statement Among reasons given was that agricultural practices should not expa
53. I can evaluate if consumer perception is supported by scientific evidence at least in this particular aspect Studies of the effects of organic agriculture on terrestrial biodiversity are relatively rare Most of them have been carried out in Europe for annual crops Piha et al 2007 studied the effect of organic agriculture on birds at the landscape level and found that landscape structure and agricultural land use were the principal determinants for bird diversity and species richness not organic cultivation per se Other studies conducted on particular species such as skylarks Alauda arvensis in the Netherlands found significantly more birds nesting in organic fields Kragten et al 2008 but this experiment did not control for significant differences in crop density higher in organic farms and uneven sample sizes A comparison of bird populations on organic and conventional farm systems in Britain found very few significant differences in bird density outside the breeding season Individual species tended to be more strongly associated with other habitat variables than with organic management and organic farms had more trees and significantly greater proportion of 41 higher and wider hedges than conventional farms Chamberlain et al 1999 These differences could very well explain the higher number of birds in organic farms Ina review of papers published on the effect of organic agriculture on biodiversity Bengston et al 2005 n
54. Interacci n de tratamiento biol gico y qu mico en el combate del ojo de gallo Mycena citricolor en el cafeto Agronom a Costarricense 8 91 97 Vargas E 1996 Opciones al uso de fungicidas en el combate de ojo de gallo en caf Pp 3 6 In Memorias X Congreso Nacional Agron mico III Congreso de Fitopatolog a Warkentin I G R Greenberg and J Salgado Ort z 1995 Songbird use of gallery woodlands in recently cleared and older settled landscapes of the Selva Lacandona Chiapas Mexico Conservation Biology 9 1095 1106 Westphal S M 2002 When change is the only constant Coffee agroforestry and household livelihood strategies in the Meseta de los Pueblos Nicaragua PhD dissertation Roskilde University Denmark Willie C 2004 Certification A catalyst for partnerships Human Ecology Review 11 288 291 Wunderle Jr J M 1999 Avian distribution in Dominican shade coffee plantations area and habitat relationships Journal of Field Ornithology 70 58 70 Wunderle Jr J M and S C Latta 1996 Avian abundance in sun and shade coffee plantations and remnants pine forests in the Cordillera Central Dominican Republic Ornitologia Neotropical 7 19 34 179 Wunderle Jr J M and S C Latta 1998 Avian resource use in Dominican shade coffee plantations Wilson Bulletin 110 271 281 Z iga Pereira C 2000 Tipolog as Cafetaleras y Desarrollo de Enfermedades en los Cafetales de la Reserva Natural M
55. JUSTO JUSTO MAS O MENOS INJUSTO MUY INJUSTO 5 6 Est satisfecho con la agencia certificadora SI MAS O MENOS NO 5 7 Por qu raz n no tiene certificado su caf Costos muy altos 2 Papeleo engorroso 3 No sirve para mucho 4 No sabe por donde empezar 5 Tiene miedo que baje el rendimiento de la finca 6 Otras razones 185 5 8 Donde vende su caf 1 Lo vendo en la finca 2 Lo llevo a la cooperativa que es la que lo vende 3 Lo llevo directamente a la agencia 4 Otro 6 Presencia de rboles 6 1 Tiene rboles dentro de su cafetal SI NO 6 2 Sino tiene cuales son los perjuicios que ocasiona tener rboles 5 z mezclados con el caf TB 2 Aumentan las enfermedades 3 Compiten con el caf 4 Aumentan los costos 5 Otros problemas 6 3 Si tiene cu les son los beneficios de tener rboles mezclados con el caf 1 Aumenta el rendimiento 2 Menos enfermedades 3 Protege al caf del calor 4 Producen le a 5 Producen madera Producen fruta Xp A Dan sombra 8 Otros beneficios 6 4 6 5 6 6 6 7 mezclado con rboles que dan sombra o a pleno sol Por qu produce m s con rboles Por qu produce m s a pleno sol 186 Como piensa que produce m s caf un cafetal 1 2 Con rboles Sin rboles Cu les so
56. Nueva Segovia 29 Miraflor and Sontule Dep of Esteli 6 and San Rafael del Norte and Asturias Dep of Jinotega 22 Most coffee growers were interviewed either in their farms or in nearby towns Coffee growers were 49 3 1 5 years old on average Most 72 had some formal education Fig 3 2 and had owned their farms for an average of 24 9 2 6 years Technicians were 40 7 1 3 years old 91 had a university degree Fig 3 3 and were working in the coffee sector on average for more than a decade working with the government or the private sector Fig 3 4 They were based in 4 departments Nueva Segovia 44 4 Jinotega 24 1 Esteli 14 8 and Managua 16 7 All the experts and policy makers age 46 4 2 2 had university degrees were working on coffee issues for an average of 18 years and were affiliated with the government and organizations of the private sector Fig 3 5 Experts and policy 99 makers were also in the same departments but in different proportions with the highest number located in the capital Managua 40 Most of the coffee growers and agronomists 89 and policy makers 80 were males Farm profiles Together the interviewed coffee growers own a total of 5557 1 ha Table 1 gives a summary of the different land uses reported by the interviewees grouped by farm size As a group these farms had large proportion of their land covered with forest although this pattern was seen only
57. O 7 3 Si beneficia en su finca qu hace con la pulpa del caf 1 La quemo 2 La dejo que se descomponga 3 Hago abono para el cafetal 4 La hecho en la quebrada 5 Otro 7 4 Si beneficia en su finca que hace con la cascarilla del caf 1 La quemo 2 La dejo que se descomponga 3 Hago abono para el cafetal 4 La hecho en la quebrada 5 Otro 7 5 Si beneficia en su finca que hace con las aguas mieles 1 Las boto en la quebrada Las utilizo para hacer abono 3 Las hecho en una pila de filtraci n 4 Otro 192 Establecimiento de nuevas parcelas de caf 8 1 Como le gustaria a usted establecer nuevas parcelas de caf 1 Hacer una socola dejando los rboles m s altos para que me sirvan de sombra A Sacar primero los rboles m s grandes hacer una socola y dejar rboles peque os para sombra Botar todos los rboles limpiar el terreno y establecer nueva sombra con i estacas de rboles tiles 4 Botar todos los rboles limpiar bien el terreno y establecer una sombra de 5 Sin sombra 6 Otra 8 2 Hay alguna diferencia en la manera de establecer un plantio entre una variedad de caf y otra SI NO Explique Biodiversidad asociada 9 1 9 2 9 3 Las aves silvestres 1 Son beneficiosas para el caf 2 Son da inas para
58. S en el 2001 Elaborado por Ing Luis Valerio 1 oo008e1 T T T sroboo 570000 00000 0000 850000 esobo0 Figure 3 1 Coffee plantations in the Northern Highlands of Nicaragua after Valerio 2000 131 No education 26 Figure 3 2 Education among interviewed coffee growers 132 Biologist Ecologist Secondary ee 4 Economist 2 MSc PhD Business 13 Administrator 4 Civil Engineer RR a 4 seat Pitt Y Agricultural Engineer 56 Figure 3 3 Education among interviewed technicians 133 Proj se _ Independent 7 6 Government 26 Cooperatives 42 Figure 3 4 Work affiliation among interviewed technicians 134 _ Independent 10 SN SS es te He Private 5 Figure 3 5 Work affiliation among interviewed policy makers and experts 135 Secondary o _Vegetation Forest gt 2 5 Other EN Lo Crops _ gt SMALL FARMS 4 4 Non Productive Coffee 10 Secondary Vegetation 7 Pasture 15 MEDIUM FARMS Non Other productive Crops Coffee he 9 Non _ productive Coffee LARGE FARMS os Other Pasture Crops Secondary 30 1 Vegetation 6 Figure 3 6 Land use and farm size 136 Shade Small Medium Large Figure 3 7 Shade levels and farm size 137 Other Other Wild avocados Citrus trees Wild avocados Inga spp Timber trees 5 Timber trees Musaceae Er
59. Sustainable Agriculture Network 2005b Additional criteria and indicators for coffee production Rainforest Alliance San Jos Costa Rica Terborgh J 1999 Requiem for Nature Island Press Washington D C Tewari J P L M Browne and W A Ayer 1984 The American leaf spot of Coffee University Alberta Agric For Bull 7 66 68 The Fairtrade Foundation 2002 Spilling the Beans on the coffee trade The Fairtrade Foundation U K Toledo V M and P Moguel 1997 Searching for sustainable coffee in Mexico The Importance of Biological and Cultural Diversity Pp 163 173 In R A Rice A M Harris and J McLean eds Proceedings of the 1 Sustainable Coffee Congress September 1996 Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Washington D C 178 TransFair USA 2007 Fair trade almanac 1998 2006 35 p http www transfairusa org pdfs 2007FairTradeAlmanac pdf Valerio L 2000 Mapa cafetalero de Nicaragua Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal Managua Nicaragua 1 CD Valkis R D Kruger and A D Mason 2004 Shocks and Coffee Lessons form Nicaragua The World Bank Publ No 0415 Washington D C Van der Vossen H A M 2005 A critical analysis of the agronomic and economic sustainability of organic coffee production Experimental Agriculture 41 449 473 Vandermeer J and I Perfecto 2007 The Agricultural Matrix and a Future Paradigm for Conservation Conservation Biology 21 274 277 Vargas E 1984
60. The Role of Organic Production in Biodiversity Conservation in Shade Coffee Plantations Juan C Mart nez S nchez A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2008 Program Authorized to Offer Degree Department of Biology University of Washington Graduate School This is to certify that I have examined this copy of a doctoral dissertation by Juan C Martinez Sanchez and have found that it is complete and satisfactory in all respects and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made Chair of the Supervisory Committee Martha Groom Martha Groom Aadan lmm Reading Committee Gordon H Orians Robert A Rice P Dr lr Supervisory Committee P Dee Boersma Kristiina A Vq Date Ihre A453 In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree at the University of Washington I agree that the Library shall make its copies freely available for inspection I further agree that extensive copying of the dissertation is allowable only for scholarly purposes consistent with fair use as prescribed in the U S Copyright Law Requests for copying or reproduction of this dissertation may be referred to Proquest Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor MI 48106 1346 1 800 521 0600
61. Wayne Arendt helped in the design of the ornithological component of this project training and surveying Gerry Bauer U S Forest Service and Margaret Harritt U S Agency for International Development were instrumental in securing funding for research in Mombacho The Wildlife Conservation Society provided initial research funds Rosario Saenz gave invaluable assistance through her Fundacion Nicaragiiense para el Desarrollo Sostenible in Managua Miguel Angel Castell n from Instituto para el Desarrollo Rural facilitated many institutional contacts In the Northern highlands Corina Picado George and Liliana Duriaux Octavio and Lidia Vilchez and many other families offered their hospitality while visiting coffee farmers Merling Preza PRODECOOP Esteli Carlos Sanchez CLUSA Managua Fernando L pez UCAFE Dipilto Fernando L pez UCAFE Jalapa and F tima Ismael Espinoza SOPPEXCCA Jinotega provided contacts and valuable information to access technicians and farmers in the Nicaraguan highlands In Seattle Laurie McCullem offered her friendship and invaluable support organizing information from the surveys My sister Paloma and her husband Cass Avery rescued and fed me more than once while working long days at the Department of Biology I thank my mother in Madrid for her lifelong faith in me And last but not least to my wife Loretta Garden for her patience understanding and endurance during our separation and her continued sup
62. Z 2 093 p 0 036 and more area under coffee production H 601 Z 2 363 p 0 018 However they do not have significant 109 differences in the amount of forest cover H 840 Z 0 191 p 0 849 pasture H 768 Z 2 363 p 0 343 or secondary vegetation H 802 Z 0 733 p 0 463 nor in the number of farms that has planted more coffee in the last 5 years H 839 0 244 p807 Agronomist s perceptions on the role of trees and desirable tree characteristics I asked our interviewees their opinion about how to achieve higher coffee yields with trees shade coffee or without them sun coffee The response was nearly unanimous with 90 6 responding that having shade trees led to higher yields Three technicians responded that coffee without trees was the ideal choice but complained that coffee growers were nevertheless not willing to spend the money needed to grow coffee that way Only two respondents chose it depends with the explanation that although yields could be higher without trees the environmental and economic costs of this option made it unsustainable Agronomists expressed a preference for use of a combination of short and tall trees for shade Fig 3 22 and considered between 30 and 50 the most appropriate shade level for optimal coffee yields Fig 3 23 Preference for wide canopy trees was almost unanimous while opinions on leaf size characteristics were split evenly among all categories large leaves sm
63. a finca 14 3 1 Estar a mejor convertido en cafetal 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 14 3 2 Estaria mejor convertido en potrero 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 14 3 3 Estar a mejor convertido en otros cultivos 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 14 3 4 Estar a mejor ampliarlo 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 203 14 3 5 Hace aumentar la cosecha 1 2 3 4 5 MUY DE ACUERDO DE ACUERDO NO SE EN DESACUERDO MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 15 Biodiversidad asociada 15 1 Las aves silvestres 1 Son beneficiosas para el caf 2 Son da inas para el caf 3 No tienen importancia 15 2 Los insectos que no son 1 Son beneficiosos para el caf plaga 2 Son da inos para el caf 3 No tienen importancia 15 3 Qu otros animales aparte de las plagas son da inos para el cafetal En qu manera 15 4 Qu otros animales son beneficiosos para el cafetal 204 16 Manejo de residuos organicos 16 1 Qu recomienda usted que se haga con la pulpa del caf Quemarla Dejarla que se descomponga
64. acea 132 Calocitta formosa 129 Psarocolius montezuma 110 Chiroxiphia linearis 108 Thryothorus modestus 101 Amazilia saucerrottei 97 Vermivora peregrina 97 Melanerpes hoffmannii 54 Transition Thryothorus pleurostictus 199 Dendroica petechia 116 Vermivora peregrina 116 Calocitta formosa 69 Psarocolius montezuma 65 Brotogeris jugularis 48 Melanerpes hoffmannii 46 Chiroxiphia linearis 43 Thryothorus modestus 35 Vireo flavoviridis 28 Conventional Vermivora peregrina 209 Thryothorus pleurostictus 186 Dendroica petechia 178 Psarocolius montezuma 98 Amazilia saucerrottei 87 Euphonia hirundinacea 80 Thryothorus modestus 65 Calocitta formosa 60 Hylophilus decurtatus 60 Amazona albifrons 56 Table 2 6 Summary of mist netting captures Farming Net x Birds Birds 100 spp spp spp Farm name Method nets Hours hours total net hours Residents Migrants total residents migrants El Carmelo Org 15 82 1230 286 23 25 238 48 34 23 10 Sn Joaquin Org 15 81 1215 128 10 53 119 9 14 9 5 Sta Teresa Org 15 80 1200 158 13 17 95 63 22 15 7 El Cr ter Org 17 76 1292 99 7 66 81 18 24 18 6 La Luz Trans 19 68 1292 72 5 57 61 11 15 10 5 Sta Ana Trans 15 79 1185 347 29 28 232 115 37 20 17 Miravalle Conventional 15 87 1305 206 15 79 166 40 28 19 9 Cutirre Conventional 15
65. al Fy 11 30 p lt 0 001 Bird abundance peaked in conventional and transition farms in the third census July while in organic farms it peaked earlier February For migrants differences between censuses were not significant although their numbers were slightly higher in the 4 census November 1998 under all farming practices If farming practice e g pesticide use is having an impact on the bird community I expected it to be strongest at the crop level in our case around the coffee bushes The average number of birds was almost identical between organic 0 90 0 06 and conventional farms 0 93 0 08 Kruskal Wallis ANOVA H 1 42 2 d f p 0 49 Resident birds followed a similar patterns Kruskal Wallis ANOVA H 1 10 2 d f p 55 0 58 Migrant numbers at the coffee tree level were too low a mere 16 birds in 800 point counts for any meaningful statistical analysis I analyzed my data of resident birds in the canopy layer adding the results of the 5 surveys and using a square root transformation There was no statistical difference in the numbers of birds recorded in the canopy tree layer between conventional 2 80 0 18 than organic farms 2 46 0 15 as the numbers between farms of each type ranged more widely than differences between farm types Effect test farming method F 7 0 586 p 0 582 farm name farming method F7 190 8 68 p lt 001 Migrants at the canopy layer behave in a similar fashion Effect
66. al land birds In this regard there is a lot we need to do to prove a cause effect relationship between pesticide use and survival and fitness of resident and migratory birds The presence of Neotropical migrants in such low numbers may have nothing to do with the management of these coffee plantations and more to do with the presence of more suitable habitat in the nearby forest Mombacho appears to be off the main route 62 for Neotropical migrants heading south and may be an added factor explaining the lack of Neotropical migrants Preliminary data from two monitoring station in Mombacho support this hypothesis Fundaci n Cocibolca unpl records Another factor of concern is the scale of our natural experiment It is quite possible birds are using these plantations as suboptimal habitats and that their territories and food resources spread over areas covering several plantations even forest patches This may be the case for some of the migrants and could explain why they are less sensitive to certain vegetation parameters of the tree canopy like shade levels and tree richness I have anecdotal evidence that many resident forest birds embark in seasonal altitudinal movements moving to higher altitudes during the dry season That could explain the changes in bird numbers I observed between censuses It is likely that the differences observed in certain trophic guilds between plantations are the result of subtle differences in the st
67. all leaves and a mix of leaf sizes There was a 110 more uniform opinion about trees and mulch production with most agronomists preferring trees that produce lots of leaves for mulching Fig 3 22 Permanence of leaves all year around was considered an important attribute for a shade tree as well as ease of pruning Most agronomists also preferred shading coffee with locally available species of trees Fig 3 22 The Role of forest fragments in coffee plantations I asked agronomists if keeping forest fragments is useful for the coffee plantation I asked this twice first as an open question and later in the interview as a statement they needed to rate using a Likert scale In both cases their responses were very similar with all but one interviewee either agreeing 88 7 or strongly agreeing 3 8 that keeping forest fragments is useful for coffee plantation Responses of policy makers were very similar with 90 agreeing that forest fragments help coffee plantations in general I asked for an estimate of how much area should be devoted to forest in a typical 20 to 100 ha coffee plantation Most agronomists recommend leaving between 20 and 50 of the farm under forest When the same question was asked to policy makers they recommended similar levels Fig 3 24 111 I also asked coffee growers an open question regarding where they feel forest patches should be located Most agronomists mentioned more than one location bu
68. ancas 1610 59 333 91 194450 12 57 1 67 Mesa Moropotente 363 42 363 42 2 35 0 31 Miraflor 578 07 578 07 3 74 0 50 Salto Rio Yasica 39 43 1 44 40 87 0 26 0 04 Sierra Quirragua 148 33 148 33 0 96 0 13 Tepesomoto Pataste 496 61 496 61 3 21 0 43 Victimas del Huracan Mitch 12 08 12 08 0 08 0 01 Volcan Mombacho 16 42 16 42 0 11 0 01 Volc n Yal 1221 62 1221 62 7 89 1 05 Y cul 985 43 252 79 1238 22 8 00 1 07 Total 13642 31 1832 72 15475 03 100 00 13 31 88 16 11 84 100 00 Nacional 12 45 27 36 13 31 166 Total extension of coffee plantations in Nicaragua is estimated in 116242 32 ha after Valerio 2000 167 REFERENCES Albertin A amp P K R Nair 2004 Farmer s perspectives on the role of shade trees in coffee production systems An assessment from the Nicoya Peninsula Costa Rica Human Ecology 32 443 463 As E 1996 Opciones al uso de fungicidas en el combate de ojo de gallo en caf Pp 3 6 in X Congreso Nacional Agron mico y de Recursos Naturales en memoria Fitopatol gica Vol II Editorial EUNED EUNA San Jos Costa Rica Balcomb R R Stevens and C A Bowen II 1984 Toxicity of 16 granular insecticides to wild caught songbirds Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 33 302 307 Bandeira F P C Martorell J A Meave amp J Caballero 2005 The Role of Rustic Coffee Plantations in the Conservation of Wild Tree Diversity in the Chinantec Region of Mexico Bi
69. anli El Diablo Jinotega was mentioned the most 8 times followed by R N Volc n Mombacho Granada 6 Bosaw s Jinotega and RAAN 5 and R N Cordillera Dipilto Jalapa Nueva Segovia 5 Nearly all 90 of the policy makers disagreed with the statement Coffee plantations inside protected areas should not be certified Instead they suggested either to create a specific certification of origin seal or to use any of the current certification schemes to enforce environmental standards of these seals Certification was not perceived as a foe but as an ally in the preservation of these protected areas In response to the next question What should be the government policy towards growing coffee within the boundaries of protected areas interviewees recommended allowing only already established coffee plantations 119 Improving coffee quality and yields Policy makers were asked the same questions I gave to agronomists and coffee growers about how to improve yields and coffee quality Policy makers ranked first apply more fertilizer to increase yields followed by plantation renovation and adequate pruning Fig 3 33 When asked how to improve bean quality two post harvest activities ranked on top improving wet processing facilities and drying and storage in dry processing facilities Fig 3 33 Trends in coffee production Should we plant more coffee in Nicaragua I posed this and other ques
70. apply more fertilizer 49 renew plantations 19 Figure 3 18 Coffee growers bean quality and yields Management actions to increase bean quality and yields 148 bee pollination pruning 1 4h Right famigation precipitation 11 23 shade 7 Right humidity 7 other 2 Doesn t know 3 fertilizer 42 Figure 3 19 Coffee flowers and beans Coffee grower opinions on conditions that favor transformation of flowers into good quality beans 149 E Yields2004_05 E Yields2005_06 2 400 0 E Yields2006_07 2 100 0 1 800 0 1 500 0 1 200 0 Yields kg ha 900 0 600 0 300 0 0 0 Small Medium Large Farm size Figure 3 20 Self reported yields in coffee plantations over three years 150 1 800 0 1 500 0 1 200 0 900 0 Yields kg ha 600 0 300 0 0 0 Conventional Organic Farming method Figure 3 21 Self reported yields for conventional and organic farms Each bar corresponds to a different harvest cycle Black 2004 05 grey 2005 06 white 2006 07 Doesn t Matter ad 2 Low 32 Mix 47 High Tree height 19 doesn t Mix matter 28 28 Large Small 23 21 Size of leaves doesn t no_ matter 2 2 yes 96 Ease of pruning Mix Narrow 2 gt 4 Wide 94 Tree shape doesn t non matter 4AN 4 yes 92 Mulch production o doesn t 2 XA eo matter 6 yes 92 Per
71. ation 0 35 Average yields kg ha for the last three harvest seasons eeeeeeee 36 Use of chemical inputs in coffee plantation of Mombacho Nicaragua 72 Summary of sampling dates ui li 73 Ranking of the ten most recorded trees o ooonocccnoccnoccconncconaconnconnncnnncconncns 74 Summary of vegetation variables ooooonnccnoconicnnnncnconncconoconn nono ncnnnoconocnnos 75 Most recorded bird species oa 76 Summary of mist netting captures dit dio dorada 77 The ten most capture bird Species iniciados 78 Summary of Nested ANOVA test for mist netting data 0 eee 79 List of Protected areas with coffee plantations in Nicaragua 165 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research project has had many contributors over the last 10 years but first and foremost I want to thank Martha Groom for her support over the last three years of my graduate work and Gordon H Orians for his support at an earlier stage Special thanks to Judy Farrow for helping me to navigate all the steps and paperwork to complete my doctorate Many people in Nicaragua participated in this project Francisco Mu oz with his first hand knowledge of birds coffee and the reality of coffee farmers was an invaluable assistant in the field Jos Manuel Zolotoff Osmar Arr liga and Juan I Matamoros did an excellent job surveying birds and trees in Mombacho with the logistical support provided by Fundaci n Cocibolca Joseph Wunderle Jr and
72. avifauna using the tree layer Here is where differences between farms are more obvious regardless of the farming method under management In contrast the resident avifauna using the coffee tree substratum is almost identical among plantations further evidence that current levels of pesticide application in conventional farms are 61 not having a detrimental effect on the bird population If anything a dense and diverse canopy probably keeps most of the birds away from the coffee layer thereby acting as refuge from pesticide poisoning In that sense the workers applying these pesticides are probably at a far greater risk than any bird Nevertheless I did not find any bird carcasses during our days in the field over a two year period nor did I receive any report of human poisoning Further research should be conducted in coffee plantations under more intense cultivation lower and less diverse shade levels and higher pesticide applications Multiple point counts should be conducted before and after pesticides are applied Ideally a control should be established within the same plantation to minimize differences between farms The absence of many resident bird species in coffee plantations has always been linked to lack of suitable habitat and no research has explored a potential connection between pesticide sensitivity and rarity among tropical resident birds Nor I am aware of any publication documenting pesticide bioaccumulation in tropic
73. aware of the role of bees as coffee pollinators Conversely they did not link the presence of forest fragments with better pollination services even though they perceive forests helped coffee production in several other ways water conservation microclimate etc Agronomists and policy makers were more aware of the role of bees but again failed to connect bees with the presence of forest fragments Given the considerable interest that this issue generated in our informal conversations after conducting the survey I suggest understanding pollination services when training coffee growers by certification agencies should be a priority Furthermore certification agencies and coffee traders that claim environmental benefits should pay more attention to the presence of forest fragments as a key element for certification of environmentally friendly coffee because there is a synergy of benefits to the coffee grower and biodiversity conservation in general 126 Most coffee growers consider birds and non pest insects as beneficial or neutral to the coffee harvest A handful of coffee growers were aware of the role of birds as insect predators although some of the roles assigned to birds were questionable hummingbirds as pollination agents or birds in general as providing natural fertilizer with their droppings I did not explore in detail the level of awareness of coffee growers regarding integrated pest management techniques Most coffee growers
74. be motivated to use some of these techniques e g keeping trees for shade or using organic fertilizers not because of the premium prices they can fetch but because it allows them an upfront reduction of costs associated with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides or for cultural reasons we may not fully understand Segura et al 2004 In small coffee plantations organic farmers compensate for the extra labor needed using family labor But what are the limitations of these systems Are they applicable to farms of all sizes or just to small family run properties How will the farmers compete with their relative low yields and or higher production costs How sustainable are these practices when coffee prices go up or down 84 Farmers are faced with a variety of decisions that influence how much of the land area is cultivated what species of trees and how much shade cover they retain on their plantation These decisions are influenced by the size of their plantation their access to labor as well as the stability of and changes in coffee prices Bennett amp Godoy 1992 Lower coffee prices may push farmers to search for alternative income by cutting trees to produce firewood or timber Flores et al 2002 while others may neglect basic maintenance practices in the plantation or reduce chemical inputs Valkis et al 2004 Dietsch et al 2004 argue that price drops may result in worker layoffs on large farms or land conversion on small farms
75. birds Carlo et al 2004 Nevertheless criterion for bird attractive tree species remains vague for all three bird related coffee certifications or endorsements and it is even less clear when dealing with forest fragments In conclusion encouraging shade coffee plantations to become organic may not help bird diversity and abundance We should focus our efforts into better understand the 65 role of individual species of shade trees as food resources for birds Furthermore forest fragments at the farm level and beyond may be critical for conservation of multiple taxa A wise tradeoff could be to increase yields by 20 or more applying the right amount of fertilizer while at the same time freeing 20 of the land for conservation Could this become the new biodiversity coffee 66 FIGURES HONDURAS a COSTA RICA _ Figure 2 1 Location of Mombacho Volcano Nicaragua 67 Figure 2 2 Distribution of coffee plantations in Mombacho Nicaragua Distribution of organic open circles conventional solid circles and transition squares coffee plantations in relation to forest dark grey pastures and crops light grey and the overall coffee area medium grey 68 Species richness 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Number of individuals Figure 2 3 Rarefaction curve for tree species Trees in coffee plantations at Mombacho Nicaragua managed under different farming methods
76. cisions on land use 95 I also explore what factors influence yields and quality I explore farmer s knowledge of pollination and the relationship between pollination quality and yields and bean quality Farmers also were asked what they would like to do to increase yields and the quality of their coffee The final section explored the farmer s perception of the future and how s he would like to see the farm in 5 years time The interview typically ended in an informal talk about coffee and farm management Survey design for coffee technicians and agronomists Most of the sections in this survey were identical to the survey for farmers but the questions were presented in the format of asking the technician or agronomist about the types of professional advice they offer to farmers See Appendix B For example one question asked What do you recommend should be done with forest fragments in a coffee farm In addition I had specific questions for agronomists about their perceptions regarding coffee and biodiversity their knowledge of different certification programs and their opinion about growing and certifying coffee planted inside protected areas The section about how price oscillations influenced farmer s decisions had two parts First I asked about the type of advice they offered farmers Later I asked what they 96 though farmers did when coffee prices are high or low In another shift in wording for these sp
77. coffee since Nicaragua does not have commercial plantations of lowland coffee varieties Five year projection on coffee plantations I asked coffee growers to look into the future and imagine how they would like to see their farms five years from now Most of them envisioned their farms with higher yields and more areas planted with coffee Fig 3 34 DISCUSSION Our surveys albeit limited in coverage and representativeness detected several important patterns among Nicaraguan coffee growers First and foremost they use trees for shade regardless of farm size and certification because they consider shade 121 trees useful for the coffee plantation particularly for providing better and more stable yields Boa et al 2000 Soto Pinto et al 2000 Nevertheless there is an inverse trend between farm size and reported shade levels with smaller coffee growers reporting higher levels of shade regardless of certification status Organic certification influenced reported shade levels among medium and large farm owners with organic coffee growers reporting denser shade levels Coffee growers preferred to shade with wide canopy trees that shed leaves but maintain foliage all year and are easy to prune They value variable tree heights and tree types although fruit trees were disliked by a significant number of coffee growers 22 because of illegal picking by farm workers However none of the small farmers lt 10 ha dislike having fr
78. confirm this possible relationship further research should be carried out focused in coffee plantations infested with M citricolor especially in areas where microclimatic conditions high relative humidity favor the development of the fungal disease Further the ways in which vegetation management might impact the incidence of this particular fungal infection is poorly studied so it is difficult to generalize what practices might decrease its incidence in coffee plantations Z iga Pereira 2000 More research is needed to look at infestation patterns within farms in relation to multiple factors such as coffee variety soil type shaded tree density topography wind exposure and distance to nearby forest areas All farms affected by M citricolor had relatively large forest fragments regardless of farm size Organic farms tended to have twice as much area in forest than conventional farms Although I have no conclusive evidence linking forest cover and infestation with M citricolor this remains a possibility It is also possible that because the farms infested with M citricolor occur in wetter higher elevation sites in the eastern portion of the study area this correlation simply reflects a coincidence 19 with the location of the few remaining forest fragments Certainly I strongly urge that forest fragments be preserved and if possible expanded in this region to support watershed services and biodiversity conservation Our
79. creases Doesn t 6 know 38 Increases No change 28 55 Increases D a 39 FAIR TRADE RAINFOREST No change Doesn t 17 know 22 Decreases 6 STARBUCKS Increases 55 Figure 3 31 Policy makers certification and yields Policy makers expectations on how certification affects yields Responses represent how yields are expected to change after certification 162 Doesn t Increases know No change 9 4 17 No change 26 Increases 32 Decreases Decreases 38 74 ORGANIC SHADE GROWN Doesn t know Doesn t know 36 9 No change 34 No change 46 o Decreases Increases lt Decreases 11 19 17 FAIR TRADE RAINFOREST No change 25 Doesn t know 40 STARBUCKS an Decreases 4 Increases 31 Figure 3 32 Agronomists certification and yields Agronomists expectations on how certification affects yields Responses represent how yields are expected to change after certification 163 Use new varieties 6 dry processing l apply more 14 fertilizer 9 trainin 9 renew plantations O oe 9 fumigation 6 roads other 6 11 Better bean quality wet processing 33 regulate shade fumigation 3 by ES _ Use new varieties po increase plant density Z apply more fertilizer 24 prunning 22 Higher yields renew plantations other 299 18 Figure 3 33 Policy makers bean quality and yields Policy make
80. cting the integrity of nearby protected areas For example studies in Brazil Costa Rica and Panama showed how bees alone especially stingless bees that are native to these forests can increase coffee quality and yields by between 10 and 20 when they pollinate coffee flowers Klein et al 2003 Ricketts et al 2004 Roubik 2002 However it is not clear that most coffee growers are aware of the pollination services provided by these bees Farmer s decisions are influenced by agronomists and other professionals that provide them with advice and training These professionals are responsible for disseminating official policies that influence farmers access to credit as well as which regions are chosen for initiation of special projects to assist farmers Traditionally technicians overemphasized the importance of using substantial amounts of agrochemical inputs and the removal of trees to obtain a pest free harvest and high yields Le Pelley 1973 86 Rice 1990 Wesphal 2002 However in the last 10 15 years there has been a radical shift in the message as more and more technicians received training and salaries from international agencies and organizations that promote the use of Integrated Pest Management practices planting of shade trees and minimal use or no use at all of chemical inputs Guharay et al 2000 For all these reasons it is important to understand the role technician s opinions play in management decisions taken b
81. dentro de reas protegidas no se deber a certificar 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO Por que 7 4 Cu l cree que debe ser la politica del gobierno sobre la producci n de caf dentro de los l mites de reas protegidas 8 Bosque y cafetales 8 1 Tiene alg n sentido mantener parches de bosque entremezclados con los cafetales Por qu SI NO 8 2 Si piensa que el bosque le ayuda al cafetal cu nto bosque hay que mantener entremezclado con el caf para que sirva de ayuda 8 3 D nde hay que mantener el bosque Por qu En la periferia del cafetal Repartido entre los cafetales Protegiendo fuentes de agua en laderas con fuerte pendiente En el centro del cafetal La ubicaci n no importa 8 4 216 El bosque sirve de refugio para ciertas plagas del caf 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 8 5 Estar a mejor convertido en cafetal 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 8 6 Estaria mejor convertido en potrero 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 8 7 Estaria mejor convertido en otros cult
82. dia alliodora and Nogal Juglans olanchana Agronomists were not concerned with potential allelopathic effects of any shade trees as evidenced that was never mentioned When it comes to coffee grower preferences regarding the preservation of forest fragments farm size matters This is not surprising considering that small coffee growers have limited choices when it comes to land uses There was only a 6 difference in percentage of the farm devoted to forest between medium and large farms suggesting there is a threshold in farm size to achieve a balance between coffee production and forest preservation In fact large farms have nearly as much land devoted to pasture as they have to forest while in medium size farms forest 123 cover is higher than pasture cover by 9 Cattle in Nicaragua are used by many coffee growers as alternative to savings account to get cash on demand That may explain why medium size farms keep a significant area under pasture even though the coffee growers could earn several orders of magnitude more money from expanded coffee production Dairy cows allow a constant cash flow for the coffee grower In this regard coffee is more like gold you receive your money when you sell it usually just a few times per year More attention should be devoted to understanding what factors drive coffee growers decisions on alternative land uses Our comparison of land use between conventional and organic farms indicated t
83. dream to explore the tropics he volunteered for the literacy campaign in Nicaragua and discovered the need for conservation of the last standing rainforests During the turbulent decade of the 1980s Dr Martinez Sanchez was instrumental in establishing the foundation for conservation in Nicaragua His accomplishments include designing environmental interpretation for Masaya Volcano National Park establishing the first vertebrate collection in the country and serving as the first director of Bosawas which a decade later would become one of the largest biosphere reserves in Central America Dr Martinez Sanchez began his doctoral studies at Virginia Tech in 1990 and transferred to the University of Washington a year later Upon completion of his general exam he returned to Nicaragua to undertake his dissertation While collecting data at one of his field sites he encountered the rapid destruction of cloud 226 forest on Mombacho Volcano He took advantage of a unique opportunity to lead a newly formed coalition of stakeholders that convinced the Nicaraguan government to turn over the management of this protected area This served as a model for management of protected areas around the country Over the next five years he trained a diverse team of field biologists interpreters and park managers who later assumed responsibility for conservation around the country He published a book on biodiversity in Nicaragua and researched and compi
84. e Poverty Alleviation and Fair Trade in Latin America Fairtrade Research Group Colorado State University Muschler R G 2001 Shade Improves Coffee Quality in a Sub optimal Coffee Zone of Costa Rica Agroforestry Systems 85 131 139 173 Nagendra H J Southworth and C Tucker 2003 Accessibility as a determinant of landscape transformation in Western Honduras Linking pattern and process Landscape Ecology 18 141 158 Nestel D 1995 Coffee in Mexico International market agricultural landscape and ecology Ecological Economics 15 165 178 Niesten E T R E Rice S M Ratay and K Paratore 2004 Commodities and conservation The need for greater habitat protection in the Tropics Center for Applied Biodiversity Science Conservation International Washington D C 33 p O Brien T G and M F Kinnaird 2003 Caffeine and conservation Science 300 587 O Brien T G and M F Kinnaird 2004 Response to Dietsch et al Science 303 625 626 OCIA 2007 International Certification Standards Approved on AGMM 2007 OCIA International Lincoln Nebraska Orians G H 1969 The number of bird species in some tropical forests Ecology 50 783 801 Peakall D B and J R Bart 1983 Impacts of aerial application of insecticides on forest birds CRC Critical Reviews in Environmental Control 13 117 165 Perdergrast M 1999 Uncommon grounds The history of coffee and how it transformed our world Basic
85. e coffee tree level should also be disproportionably affected because it is at this level that all the pesticides are applied in conventional farms If pesticides do not explain the differences in bird diversity and abundance in shade coffee plantations I will test whether the structure and composition of the tree component does STUDY AREA AND METHODS The study was conducted in coffee plantations adjacent to the Volcan Mombacho Natural Reserve an isolated mountain 1345 m a s 1 located 10 km south of the city of Granada in the Pacific slope of Nicaragua 11 50 N 85 59 This massive volcano creates its own highly seasonal microclimate Fig 2 1 Annual rainfall 1800 2200 mm falls mainly during 6 months June through November Rains during the dry season January through April are brief and infrequent Northeast trade winds are prevalent from December through February speeding up the seasonal decline in the plantation s relative humidity INETER unpublished data For the purpose of this study I selected 10 plantations 4 certified organic referred thereafter as Organic 4 that use chemicals referred thereafter as Conventional and 2 transition plantations farms that have adhered to organic standards in the last 2 years and are in the process of being certified as organic all located between 400 and 44 800 m above sea level Fig 2 2 Organic farms were all certified under the same standard
86. e consiste esta investigaci n Yo estoy de acuerdo en participar en ella He tenido la oportunidad de hacer preguntas Si m s adelante tengo preguntas sobre la investigaci n puedo preguntar a uno de los investigadores que se mencionan Si tengo preguntas sobre mis derechos como participante de esta investigaci n puedo llamar a la Divisi n de Participantes Humanos de la Universidad de Washington al 206 543 0098 Doy permiso para que los investigadores graben mi entrevista tal como se describe en este formulario de consentimiento Yo recibir una copia de este formulario de consentimiento Yo doy permiso para que el investigador pueda usar citas textuales de mi entrevista Si No Yo doy permiso para que el investigador pueda volver a contactarme para aclarar informacion Si No Yo doy permiso para que el investigador pueda volver a contactarme para participar en una futura investigaci n S No Firma del participante Nombre del participante Fecha CC Archivo Participante 224 225 Vita Juan Carlos Martinez Sanchez interest in biology began as a young child exploring nature in the Sierra de Madrid Spain Binoculars in hand he enjoyed all moving creatures alike and took special care to share this enjoyment with his family by bringing an array of wild visitors to his home Determined to be a biologist he received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology from the Universidad Aut noma de Madrid Following his
87. e similar in vegetation structure and composition Canopy cover coffee tree densities and number of tree strata were compared between farming methods organic and conventional using nested analysis of variance ANOVA This design where farms were nested within corresponding farming practice allowed us to incorporate differences at the farm level while comparing farming practices When data distribution violated parametric assumptions I used square root transformation or ran non parametric tests Mann Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis sign test I used sample based rarefaction analysis Gotelli amp Graves 1996 to assess the reliability of our point counts in recording tree and bird species richness and to control for different sampling effort James amp Rathbun 1981 Iran 1000 simulations using EcoSim v 7 software Gotelli amp Entsminger 2001 Based on the results of our vegetation sampling I set the maximum number of individual trees to 900 allowing us to compare tree species richness among organic transition and conventional plots 50 Conversely I did the same rarefaction analysis for the birds by setting the maximum number to 1500 individuals I estimated the overall canopy vegetation similarity using the Bray Curtis coefficient Cv 2N Na No where N and N are the total number of individuals in site A and B and N is the sum of the lower of the two abundances recorded for species found in both sites Magurran 20
88. e their boundaries 13 What are the trends in coffee production nationwide 14 What is the Government policy towards to coffee sector Does it promote environmentally sound practices Does it encourage higher yields or expansion of the coffee growing areas STUDY AREA AND METHODS All surveys were conducted by the senior author JC Martinez Sanchez in Nicaragua a typical coffee growing country with a well developed specialty coffee sector and 89 with numerous highland areas designated as nature reserves La Gaceta 1983 1991 A number of these protected areas are located in coffee producing regions mainly in the Northern Highlands Table 1 provides a list of protected areas located in coffee producing regions In Nicaragua 96 percent of coffee is cultivated under some kind of shade Magfor 2003 although these official figures seem high compared to neighbor countries and contradict data from other sources Perfecto et al 1996 Most of the coffee grown in the country comes from Coffea arabica varieties and are cultivated in the highlands between 600 and 1800 m elevation A significant proportion of the coffee produced in the country is certified as organic Fair Traded or both Nicaragua is the third largest producers of Fair Trade coffee worldwide TransFair USA 2007 For the 2005 2006 harvest coffee exports reached a record of 200 million dollars making it by far the most important cash crop in the country Valkis et al
89. e yields 89 For improving bean quality agronomists recommended improving wet processing facilities followed by using more fertilizer and using new varieties Fig 3 28 To increase yields they recommend using more fertilizer pruning coffee trees increasing plant densities and renewing plantations Fig 3 28 On the question about pollination What are the environmental conditions that favor a good pollination of coffee flowers there were multiple responses per interviewee Most agronomist mentioned bees as pollination agents but this question elicited a wide range in the responses Those include plant nutrition right precipitation and right humidity level Fig 3 29 Self pollination and hummingbirds as pollination agents were mentioned a handful of times Policy makers experts also mentioned bees more often followed by plant nutrition However 20 of the respondents could not provide any explanation Fig 3 29 The ideal coffee farm I asked agronomist to choose the most desirable characteristics of their ideal farm All but one preferred a farm with diversified production I presented a list of 17 possible activities to combine with coffee production The number of responses 316 115 in total gives an idea of the abundance and diversity of farming activities they chose Ranking first was fruit trees followed by environmental services timber trees and ecotourism Fig 3 30 Impact of the Coffee Law and t
90. eae 29 Gliricidia sepium Madreado Madero Negro Fabaceae 30 Hymenaea courbaril Guapinol Fabaceae 31 Pterocarpus officinalis Sangredrago Fabaceae 32 Senna sp Vainilla Fabaceae 33 Quercus cortesii Lisaki Masica Pimienta Fagaceae Table 1 2 continue 29 No Scientific Name Local Name Other names Family 34 Quercus sapotifolia Roble Encino Encino Fagaceae 35 Quercus segoviensis Roble Fagaceae 36 Casearia arborea Comida de Culebra Chilillo Flacourtiaceae 37 Casearia corymbosa Huesillo Huesito Flacourtiaceae 38 Homalium racemosum Areno Flacourtiaceae 39 Liquidambar styraciflua Liquidambar Hamamelidaceae 40 Alfaroa williamsii Cogollo Colorado hesa de Juglandaceae 41 Beilschmiedia riparia Aguaslipe Lauraceae 42 Cinamomum sp Aguacate Blanco Lauraceae 43 Nectandra sp Aguacate Canelo Canelo Lauraceae 44 Ocotea cf veraguensis Canelo Lauraceae 45 Ocotea helicterifolia Aguacate Pos n Lauraceae 46 Ocotea sp 1 Aguacate Morado Lauraceae 47 Ocotea sp 2 Aguacate Pach n Lauraceae 48 Ocotea sp 3 Aguacate Colorado Lauraceae 49 Ocotea veraguensis Aguacate Sabanero Lauraceae 50 Persea americana Aguacate Comestible EA de Lauraceae 51 Persea caerulea Aguacate Mico A ai oa Lauraceae 52 Yucca guatemalensis Espadillo Liliaceae 53 Byrsonima crassifolia Nancite Moco Malpighiaceae
91. eals Ranking on top was organic mentioned by all respondents followed by Rainforest Alliance 78 and Bird friendly 28 certifications Even though there was a clear disparity in the number of certification seals they knew I asked all of them whether yields change when coffee production goes from conventional to organic shade grown Fair trade Rainforest Alliance and Starbucks Most interviewees expressed that yields decrease when plantations convert to organic and to a lesser extend when converting to shade grown Fig 3 31 For the later a number of respondents expressed the opposite yields increase when production switches to shade grown especially over the lifespan of the coffee plant For Fair trade no change was the prevalent choice while there was no clear pattern in the opinions about Rainforest Alliance coffee Fig 3 31 As many interviewees though that production will increase as those who did not 118 know For Starbucks most respondents considered that yields increase Fig 3 31 Agronomists opinions on certification and yields were similar to those expressed by policy makers Fig 3 32 Coffee and protected areas Most policy makers and coffee experts agreed that there are coffee plantations established inside the boundaries of protected areas When asked to mention what specific protected areas have coffee plantations a total of 17 areas were mentioned an average of 3 per interviewee Reserva Natural Dat
92. ecialists I specifically used the word pollination when asking about what conditions favor pollination What are the environmental conditions that are the most favorable for the best pollination of coffee flowers The interview concluded with a question about their conception of an ideal coffee plantation I provided the choice of different certification regimens shade versus sun grown coffee and only coffee versus a diversified farm If they preferred a diversified farm then they were presented with an array of 17 possible products and services to choose from At the end the interviewee was given a chance to express their opinion on the survey or simply talk about coffee in general Survey for policy makers and experts This survey focused on policy issues with a section on the new coffee law La Gaceta 2001 and government response to price oscillations Sections on coffee certification and coffee and forests were very similar to those presented to agronomists see Appendix C On the issue of coffee and protected areas I added a specific question asking if they had knowledge of coffee plantations located within specific protected areas For this group of respondents only there was a section of questions asking their opinions about the desirability of expanding coffee growing areas as well as whether coffee should or should not be cultivated in certain departments or regions 97 The survey ended with a series of questions abo
93. ee plantations even in farms dominated by introduced Inga species Bandeira et al 2005 These coffee plantations are among the oldest in the country dating back to the end of the XIX century Therefore future research should look at recruitment and population dynamics of these tree species since there is evidence that natural succession and gap dynamics are severely 60 impaired in other agricultural systems using trees with a similar purpose Rolim amp Chiarello 2004 Bird diversity in Mombacho plantations is relatively low compare with similar farms in Southern Mexico and Guatemala Calvo amp Blake 1998 Greenberg et al 1997 Cruz Angon amp Greenberg 2005 Mombacho is an isolated volcano that has suffered at least three major collapses in historical times Sea et al in press The cloud forest in the highlands was never colonized by many of the frugivores Pharomachrus mocinno Aulacorhynchus prasinus Euphonia elegantissima Chlorophonia spp Chlorospingus opthalmicus Buarremon brunneinucha Ortalis spp nectarivores Diglossa spp and army ant followers that are so common in the nearby forest of Guanacaste and the Northern Nicaraguan highlands Today it is an island of forest surrounded by agriculture and cattle farms Not surprisingly birds at these coffee plantations are a subset of generalists from an avifauna dominated by generalist species The main differences observed between plantations were due to the resident
94. el caf 3 No tienen importancia Los insectos que no son plaga 1 Son beneficiosos para el 2 Son da inos para el caf 3 No tienen Importancia Qu otros animales aparte de las plagas son da inos para el cafetal En qu manera 193 9 4 Qu otros animales son beneficiosos para el cafetal En qu manera 10 Los cambios en la finca 10 1 En que invertiria sus ganancias si le pagaran un buen precio por su caf 1 Ampliar el cafetal 2 Aplicar mas insumos 3 No invertiria mas de lo normal en el caf 4 Comprar animales 5 Mejorar la infraestructura de la finca Reforestar con arboles ttiles XA A Otros cultivos ma z frijol etc 8 Otros gastos 10 2 Qu har a en su finca para ahorrar dinero si le pagan mal la cosecha 1 Quitar a el cafetal para sembrar algo que sea m s rendidor 2 Abandonar a una parte del cafetal 3 Vender a la finca 4 Le doy menos mantenimiento a todo el cafetal 5 No gasto en abono Vendo parte de la le a XA A Vendo algo de madera 8 Otro 194 11 Rendimiento y calidad 11 1 Ha logrado que le paguen mejor por su caf por ser de SI NO buena calidad Cu nto m s 11 2 A su juicio cu les son los cambios m s importantes que a usted le gustar a implementar en su finca para mejorar la calidad del gra
95. electr nico Tel fono oficina celular Edad Sexo Cargo 212 1 Datos Generales de la Entrevista 1 1 Fecha 1 2 Departamento 1 3 Municipio 1 4 Comunidad Comarca 1 5 Lugar de la entrevista 1 6 Hora de iniciar 1 7 Hora de terminar 2 Experiencia con caf 2 1 A os de trabajar con caf 2 2 A os de trabajar en su cargo 2 3 En que consiste su trabajo 3 Impacto de la Ley del caf 3 1 Cu l es el aspecto m s valioso de la actual Ley del Caf Cu l es el aspecto que considera menos til de la Ley del Caf 4 Impacto de la Consejo Nacional del Caf 4 1 Cu les han sido en su opini n los principales logros del Consejo 213 4 2 Qu cambios cree usted que son necesarios para que el Consejo sea m s efectiva 5 Politica hacia el sector durante ciclos con precios bajos 5 1 Existe alguna pol tica oficial del Gobierno cuando los precios internacionales del caf est n bajos 5 2 Existe alguna pol tica oficial del Gobierno cuando los precios internacionales del caf est n elevados 6 Certificaci n 6 1 Cu ntos tipos de certificaci n conoce Org nica Rainforest Alliance Amigable con las Aves Certificaci n Starbucks Certificaci n Comercio Justo Otra s 6 2 Cu nto cree que le cuesta a un productor c
96. endidor Abandonar una parte del cafetal Vender la finca Dar menos mantenimiento a todo el cafetal No gastar en abono Vender parte de la le a Vender algo de madera Otro 19 208 18 3 En su opinion qu suelen hacer los productores con la finca cuando los precios del caf est n bajos 18 4 En su opini n qu suelen hacer los productores con la finca cuando los precios del caf est n altos 18 5 Cree usted que el tama o de la finca afecta estas decisiones de cambio de uso relacionados con los precios del caf SI NO Por que 18 6 Cu l cree usted que es el precio justo que debe recibir un productor por un caf de buena calidad Rendimiento y calidad 19 1 A su juicio cuales son los cambios m s importantes que necesitan darse en la caficultura Nicarag ense para mejorar la calidad del grano 19 2 A sujuicio cu les son los cambios m s importantes que necesitan darse en la caficultura Nicarag ense para mejorar el rendimiento de los cafetales 19 3 Cu les son las condiciones ambientales que m s favorecen una buena polinizaci n de la flor del caf 19 4 C mo cree usted con sus conocimientos que puede ayudar a un cafetalero para que logre certificar de su finca 209 20 La finca ideal 20 1 C mo recomienda usted que se establezcan las nuevas parcelas Haciendo una socola
97. er et al 2001 The expenses of growing coffee organically plus the cost of certification are paid by the farmer In exchange the organic seal allows the farmer to get a premium price for the coffee usually about 10 to 20 higher than current market prices for non certified coffee Eventually this premium price is passed to a consumer willing to pay the difference for a variety of reasons In general organic products are perceived as healthier Gil et al 2000 tastier Fillion and Arazi 2002 and overall better for the environment the farmer and workers than conventional alternatives Ferraro et al 2005 However shade is not a requirement for organic certification Indeed the largest certified organic coffee plantation in Nicaragua has very few trees for shade JC Martinez Sanchez pers obs So the perception of the benefits of organic coffee for biodiversity conservation has been based on contrasting shade versus sun coffee plantations and not by actually comparing organic versus non organic farms 40 How can we assess the environmental benefits of organic coffee Are organic farms more species rich than neighbour conventional plantations Do they support a more abundant fauna or flora We have very little data on how much organic practices zero use of agrochemical inputs enhances biodiversity particularly in the already species rich shade coffee plantations By measuring the environmental benefits of organic coffee plantations
98. ertificar su finca 6 3 Cu l es el sobreprecio que puede obtener un productor si su caf est certificado 6 4 El sobreprecio que se paga por el caf certificado es justo 1 2 3 4 5 6 MUY JUSTO JUSTO MAS O MENOS INJUSTO MUY INJUSTO NO SABE 214 6 5 Por qu cree usted que algunos productores certifican su caf y otros no 6 6 Cree usted que el rendimiento de una finca cambia cuando 6 6 1 Se convierte a producci n org nica SUBE IGUAL BAJA NO SABE 6 6 2 Se convierte a caf de sombra SUBE IGUAL BAJA NOSABE 6 6 3 Se certifica con Comercio Justo SUBE IGUAL BAJA NOSABE 6 6 4 Se certifica con Rainforest Alliance SUBE IGUAL BAJA NOSABE 6 6 5 Se certifica con Starbucks SUBE IGUAL BAIA NO SABE 6 7 Qu deber an hacer las agencias certificadoras para conseguir que m s productores certifiquen su finca Abaratar los costos de certificaci n Brindar m s asistencia t cnica Visitar m s a menudo a los productores No cobrar por la certificaci n No deber an hacer nada diferente HDi nT Bl wl N Otra 7 Caf y reas protegidas 7 1 Cree usted que en la actualidad hay cafetales establecidos dentro de los l mites de reas protegidas SI NO 7 2 En qu reas protegidas cree usted que hay cafetales 215 7 3 El caf que se produce
99. es Toledo amp Moguel 1997 Moguel amp Toledo 1999 As a general rule when farms are managed to achieve optimal growth rates and yields the tree canopies tend to be less dense Also to maximize yields typical coffee cultivation includes considerable inputs of fertilizers pesticides and herbicides Gobbi 2000 Campanha et al 2004 Nestel 1995 Such cultivation practices can be costly both economically and ecologically and currently there is a push to grow coffee in more sustainable ways to minimize the impact of management on biodiversity associated with coffee plantations Rice amp Ward 1996 Rice amp McLean 1999 Organic cultivation practice is seen as an obvious improvement over the conventional practice of using synthetic chemicals to enhance yields Yet no study has yet considered the potential impacts and tradeoffs of management activities that alter vegetation structure that organic coffee farmers may use to substitute for the chemical controls previously used to maintain healthy coffee plants In this study I seek to understand whether and how organic cultivation may influence overstory vegetation in coffee plantations particularly as farmers seek to enhance yields while compensating for a lack of synthetic fertilizers or combating the impacts of fungal pathogens One means to compensate for the prohibition against using synthetic fertilizers is to rely more heavily on nitrogen fixing trees to mitigate for post harvest
100. f 2 199 p 0 027 DISCUSSION Our results show that bird diversity and abundance are not influenced by whether or not chemicals are used to control undesirable pests or weeds in shade coffee plantations Instead bird diversity and abundance appear to be directly related to the structure and composition of the tree canopy In this regard our results agree with the growing body of evidence that demonstrates the importance of shade trees in coffee plantations Perfecto amp Snelling 1995 Greenberg et al 1997 Calvo amp Blake 58 1998 Wunderle 1999 Johnson 2000 Carlo et al 2004 Gleffe et al 2006 Philpott et al 2006 Dietsch et al 2007 I did not measure the amount of chemical inputs and the timing of pesticide application that were used in our conventional farms so it is impossible to evaluate how typical are these plantations in that regard Nicaraguan farmers usually complain that chemical inputs cost here between 30 to 40 more than in neighbouring countries According to a commercial distributor of these products Nicaraguan coffee growers spent on average between 40 to 50 less per hectare in pesticides than farmers in Costa Rica or Guatemala do and distributors import lower volumes of these products but at a higher cost Nicaragua has the lowest wages in the region in fact many Nicaraguan workers travel to Costa Rica or El Salvador during the coffee harvest to earn better wages meaning that in many cases it p
101. f parks in protecting tropical biodiversity Science 291 125 128 Buller A H R 1934 Omphalia flavida a gemmiferous and luminous leaf spot fungus Pp 397 443 in Research on Fungi Vol 6 Longmans Green and Co London 513 p Calvo L and J Blake 1998 Bird diversity and abundance on two different shade coffee plantations in Guatemala Bird Conservation International 8 297 308 Campanha M M R H Silva Santos G B de Freitas H E Prieto Martinez S L Ribeiro Garcia amp F L Finger 2004 Growth and yield of coffee plants in agroforestry and monoculture systems in Minas Gerais Brazil Agroforestry Systems 63 75 82 Carlo T A J A Collazo and M J Groom 2004 Avian Foraging in Shaded Coffee Plantations Influence of Fruit Abundance Plant Species Composition and Conservation Implications Biotropica 36 602 614 Chamberlain D E J D Wilson and R J Fuller A comparison of bird populations on organic and conventional farm systems in Southern Britain Biological Conservation 88 307 320 Croonquist M J and R P Brooks 1991 Use of avian and mammalian guilds as indicators of cumulative impacts in riparian wetland areas Journal of Environmental Management 15 701 714 Cruz Ang n A and R Greenberg 2005 Are epiphytes important for birds in coffee plantations An experimental assessment Journal of Applied Ecology 42 150 159 Dietsch T V 2005 Eco Labeling in Latin America Providin
102. for tree richness and diversity were obtained in organic coffee plantations Table 1 3 but the differences with conventional farms were not statistically significant Paired T test Shannon index T 1 112 9 d f p 0 295 Simpson index T 1 2 9 d f p 0 261 Hill s No T 1 168 9 d f p 0 273 Hill s N T 1 165 9 d f p 0 274 Hill s N2 T 1 079 p 0 309 Further average diversity in organic plantations becomes more similar to conventional farms when I remove from the analysis two farms established less than 10 years ago one organic plantation grown under cloud forest with 26 mostly native tree species and a conventional farm established in an area of abandoned pastures and shrubs with 30 tree species but dominated by Inga oerstediana indicating that the means were strongly affected by the two more extreme plantations Conventional coffee plantations have significantly higher densities of coffee bushes than organic ones F 1 9 7 085 p 0 008 Furthermore differences between farm pairs are statistically significant too F 9 179 41 32 p lt 0 001 probably a reflection of 10 different coffee growing traditions within Northern Nicaragua The same heterogeneity is common in the distribution of coffee varieties with some farms having up to three different varieties in a single plot Caturra was the most prevalent coffee variety in all plantations Table 1 4 in both organic 74 and conventional 64 Together the co
103. g a scientific foundation for consumer confidence in market based conservations strategies 169 Pp 175 203 In A Romero amp S West Eds Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean Springer Dordrecht The Netherlands Dietsch T V I Perfecto and R Greenberg 2007 Avian foraging behavior in two different types of coffee agroecosystems in Chiapas Mexico Biotropica 39 232 240 Dietsch T V S M Philpott R A Rice R Greenberg and P Bichier 2004 Conservation policy in coffee Landscapes Science 303 625 Ferraro P J T Uchida and J M Conrad 2005 Price premiums for eco friendly commodities Are Green Markets the best way to project endangered ecosystems Environmental and Resource Economics 32 419 438 Fillion L and S Arazi 2002 Does organic food taste better A claim substantiation approach Nutrition and Food Science 32 153 157 Fishersworring V 2002 Norms for production processing and marketing of Bird Friendly coffee Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Washington D C Flores M A Bratescu J O Martinez J A Oviedo amp A Acosta 2002 Centroam rica El impacto de la caida de los precios del caf CEPAL M xico 81 p Gil J R A Gracia and M S nchez 2000 Market segmentation and willingness to pay for organic products in Spain International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 3 207 226 Gleffe J D J A Collazo M J Groom and
104. gned rank test Z 1 68 p 0 093 although organic farms tend to have twice as much area in forest 27 9 than their conventional counterparts 12 8 One of us JCMS interviewed the owners of 16 of the 20 farms surveyed A detailed analysis of the interview protocol and results is described elsewhere Chapter 3 When asked whether forest fragments may act as refuge for coffee pests only 2 responded affirmatively indicating that most farmers don t perceive a relation between coffee pests and the presence of forest T 4 30 d f 2 p 0 02 The responses of organic and conventional farmers were alike When asked whether forests fragments help their coffee plantation all the farmers responded positively including those that responded earlier that forest may act as a refuge for coffee pests T 4 30 d f 2 p 0 01 However a specific statement linking coffee production to the presence of nearby forest fragments Forest fragments increase coffee yields gave more mix results Eight farmers responded affirmatively 6 negatively and 2 didn t know In this case no clear differences emerged between organic and 15 conventional farmers or those with forest vs those who don t have any forest left in their farms Coffee Yields As reported by farm owners coffee yields ranged from a low 195 kg ha to more than 2210 kg ha Some of the farms exhibited 3 fold oscillations in annual yields probably a consequence of age and poo
105. hat these farms are not different in land use when farm size is considered Only owners of small conventional farms reported significantly more coffee under renovation than their organic equivalents Regardless of farm size converting to organic cultivation does not appear to have an effect on other land uses Coffee growers opinions of the role of forest fragments are similar The only aspect of farm management where these two groups may differ is in their use of agricultural waste with a significant number of conventional coffee growers improperly disposing of pulp and wastewater Only a minority of coffee growers takes advantage of nutritional capabilities of wastewater or coffee husks This is an area that deserves more attention The idea of simply filtering wastewater in sink holes is a recommended standard by all certification seals including organic Rainforest Alliance and Starbucks but they do 124 not offer specific guidelines to reuse wastewater in the coffee plantation More should be done to teach coffee growers the advantages of proper composting of farm waste and certification agencies should develop more strict protocols in this regard Needless to say I found an abundance of good role models in our farm visits Yield differences were very pronounced between years and this may be an indication that most farms are not properly fertilized either with chemical or organic products I did not include in our survey a set of que
106. he National Coffee Council CONACAFE according to Policy Makers Opinions expressed by policy makers and coffee experts were very descriptive in nature and here I summarize the main points raised by our interviewees The original questions were a what is the most valuable aspect of the current Coffee Law b What is the least useful aspect of the Coffee Law c What is the most important achievement of CONACAFE d What changes would you recommend to make CONACAFE more effective There is a strong level of skepticism among all interviewees about the usefulness of the Coffee Law but the creation of CONACAFE was mentioned as the most valuable contribution of the law so far Most elements of the law are not well known because they have not been implemented such as certain fiscal incentives for improving social conditions and environmental conservation Most interviewees mention more negative than positive aspects of both the Coffee Law and CONACAFE They complained about the lack of bylaws to make 116 CONACAFE operative and lack of a clear government policy towards the coffee sector A common complaint was that this is a fiscal law to collect more taxes from coffee growers instead of supporting them Policy makers also felt that the law limits participation of many sectors particularly small to medium size coffee growers The law was perceived as very bureaucratic and the elements to regulate coffee taxation have not been implemented
107. icantly different Kruskal Wallis test cycle 2004 05 Y 7 969 d f 2 P 0 019 n 72 cycle 108 2005 06 12 106 d f 2 P 0 002 n 72 cycle 2006 07 x 10 376 d f 2 P 0 006 Owners of larger farms consistently reported the highest yields while differences were less pronounced between medium and small size farms Fig 3 20 Yields in Organic vs conventional farms Conventional farms reported higher yields for three consecutive years Fig 3 21 although these differences were statistically significant only for 2005 06 Kruskal Wallis test Y 10 563 d f 1 P 0 001 n 72 and 2006 07 Kruskal Wallis test Y 4 178 d f 1 P 0 041 n 72 However yields reported for large farms were mostly responsible for these differences Small sized organic and conventional farms did not differ in their 3 year average yields and the same was true for medium size farms For large farms our sample was too small to perform this analysis Land use in organic vs conventional farms Our sample contained 43 certified organic farms and 40 conventional including 9 working with Starbucks I compared total area and different land uses as reported by their owners to explore potential differences among these two groups Conventional farms were on average more than twice the size of organic farms Mann Whitney U H 647 Z 1 942 p 0 052 Furthermore non organic farms have significantly more area planted with coffee H 630 5
108. in a boreal agricultural landscape with organic and conventional farms Biological Conservation 140 50 61 Pimentel D H Acquay M Biltonen P Rice M Silva J Nelson V Lipner S Giordano A Horowitz and M D Amore 1992 Environmental and economical costs of pesticide use BioScience 42 754 Pineda E C Moreno F Escobar and G Halffter 2005 Frog bat and dung beetle diversity in the cloud forest and coffee agroecosystems of Veracruz Mexico Conservation Biology 19 400 410 Ponte S 2002 Standards Trade and Equity Lessons from the Specialty Coffee industry CDR Working paper 02 13 Copenhagen Denmark Powell G V N amp R D Bjork 2003 Habitat linkages and the conservation of tropical biodiversity as indicated by seasonal migrations of Three Wattled Bellbirds Conservation Biology 18 500 509 Ralph C J G R Geupel P Pyle T E Martin D F DeSante and B Mil 1996 Manual de m todos de campo para el monitoreo de aves terrestres Gen Tech 175 Rep PSW GTR 159 Albany CA Pacific Southwest Research Station Forest Service U S Department of Agriculture 46 p Raman T R S 2006 Effects of habitat structure and adjacent habitats on birds in tropical rainforest fragments and shaded plantations in the Western Ghats India Biodiversity and Conservation 15 1577 1607 Rao D V amp J P Tewari 1988 Suppression of the Symptoms of American Leaf Spot of Coffee with Calcium Hydroxide
109. in the medium and large farms Fig 3 6 These farms were significantly different in proportion of the farm devoted to coffee under production Kruskal Wallis test y 23 706 d f 2 P lt 0 001 n 83 pasture 77 16 452 d f 2 P lt 0 001 n 83 and forest y 25 636 d f 2 P lt 0 001 n 83 Changes in coffee growing area Most coffee growers reported that they had more coffee planted now than 5 years ago 72 while 11 reported having less These results are similar among all farm sizes 100 Characterization of the tree layer Respondents believed trees were beneficial to the coffee plantation Furthermore when asked whether coffee production increased or decreased under a tree layer 94 coffee growers responded it increased Coffee growers preferred short lt 5 m 30 5 than tall gt 5 m 19 5 trees for shade although as many chose a canopy with a combination of both short and tall trees 32 Coffee growers varied considerably in what they gauged to be the optimal level of shade for their farms 20 to 80 shade cover Coffee growers with small land holdings preferred higher shade levels than those with medium and large farms and those with medium sized farms chose higher levels than those with the largest farms Fig 3 7 One way ANOVA F 5 48 d f 2 78 p 0 006 A similar analysis was performed comparing shade level preferences between organic and non organic coffee growers which showed that
110. ions 7 wet processing 43 other 16 soil analysis Higher yields 8 nothing increase plant 1 Use new varieties density 14 11 fumigation id apply more fertilizer 28 prunning 14 regulate shade 7 other renew plantations 5 9 Figure 3 28 Agronomists bean quality and yields Agronomists recommendations on management actions that improve bean quality and yields 159 forest patches 5 doesn t know shade trees ie 3 6 x _ right precipitation 11 other O 10 right humidity 10 bees 21 Agronomists plant nutrition i 10 self pollination 9 right humidity doesn t know Bn 13 other 20 right precipitation 13 forest patches 6 light bees 3 1 7 shade self pollination iti Policy makers 6 P ee a 3 Figure 3 29 Pollination and coffee Agronomist and policy maker s responses on what causes pollination of coffee flowers Pasture Corn Beans Pigs Ferns Vegetables Cattle Cacao Chickens Flowers Tilapia Ecoturism Timber trees Environmental services Fruit trees 160 Figure 3 30 Agronomists ideal coffee farm Agronomists recommendations of activities that would promote an ideal coffee farm Bars represent the number of times a particular activity was chosen D No change Increases 161 a 6 6 No change 6 17 Increases 28 Decreases 88 49 ORGANIC SHADE GROWN Doesn t se No change 11 17 De
111. ions erosion control and biodiversity conservation Perfecto et al 1996 Proponents of organic coffee production give priority to zero use of synthetic inputs rather than the presence of trees or other non traditional crops So far the use of trees for shading is not a requirement to obtain organic certification OCIA 2007 While most products grown under organic standards provided certain health benefits for the producer as well as the consumer of the product in the case of coffee only the producer or his her workers benefit by avoiding pesticide exposure since roasting the coffee beans effectively destroys any chemical resides that could reach 83 consumers The environmental benefits of organic production are evident when it is compared with non organic production methods under identical conditions However most organic farms tend to produce 20 25 lower yields and require more labor for manual weed control and multiple applications of organic fertilizers than their non organic counterparts Lyngbeek et al 2001 van der Vossen 2005 To compensate for lower yields and or higher production costs producers of shaded and organic coffee receive a basic premium over the conventional price in the international market when they are able to certify their coffee Perfecto et al 2005 Consumers are the driving force behind these initiatives since they are the ones that ultimately pay the price premium On the other hand producers may
112. ir si quiere participar o no en esta investigaci n Por favor lea este formulario detenidamente Usted puede hacer preguntas sobre el prop sito de esta investigaci n qu le vamos a pedir que haga los posibles riesgos y beneficios sus derechos como voluntario y cualquier otra cosa sobre la investigaci n o este formulario que no est clara Cuando todas sus preguntas hayan sido contestadas usted puede decidir si quiere o no participar en este estudio Este proceso se denomina consentimiento informado PROP SITO DEL ESTUDIO Nosotros queremos entender mejor los puntos de vista de los caficultores sobre los factores que afectan la rentabilidad de sus fincas as como la influencia de estas sobre la biodiversidad Estamos interesados en investigar los factores que influyen en los cafetaleros a la hora de decidir como cultivar su tierra tales como el uso de rboles de sombra el papel que juegan los fragmentos de bosque en la periferia de los cafetales y la viabilidad a largo plazo de sus cafetales Nos gustar a entrevistar a caficultores sobre sus experiencias en el cultivo del caf PROCEDIMIENTOS DEL ESTUDIO Si Usted decide participar en este estudio me gustar a entrevistarle sobre sus experiencias como productor de caf La entrevista dura entre 30 45 minutos y estar enfocada sobre la forma que usted maneja sus cafetales Por ejemplo yo le preguntar Qu hace con sus cafetales cuando se cae el precio del caf y
113. iraflor Moropotente Estel Nicaragua Mag Sc Thesis CATIE Turrialba Costa Rica 68 p 180 181 APPENDIX A ORIGINAL INTERVIEW TO COFFEE FARMERS IN NICARAGUA Entrevista para due os de cafetales en Nicaragua P gina de Cubierta para despegar y guardarla en un archivo aparte Nombre Correo electr nico Edad Sexo Nivel escolar Nombre de la finca Relaci n con la finca Due o Socio de cooperativa propietaria Mandador Administrador Si no es el due o nombre del due o Permiso del due o para que el Mandador o el Administrador sean entrevistados dado en la fecha 182 Datos Generales de la Entrevista 1 1 Fecha Departamento 1 2 Municipio 1 3 Comunidad Comarca 1 4 Lugar de la entrevista 1 5 Hora de iniciar 1 6 Hora de terminar 2 Caracter sticas de la Finca 2 1 Tama o de la finca 2 2 Area de caf 2 3 Bajo producci n 2 4 Bajo resiembra 2 5 En descanso 2 6 rea para otros cultivos 2 7 rea de potreros 2 8 Area de bosque 2 9 Tipo de caf 2 10 Desde cu ndo tiene la finca 2 11 Qu le hizo escoger este lugar para cultivar caf 3 Manejo del Caf 3 1 Tiene m s o menos caf que hace 5 a os MAS MENOS 183 3 2 Cu ndo fue la ltima vez que decidi ampliar el cafetal 3 3 Cu ndo fue la
114. ition of the shade tree layer or 3 prune the shade trees more radically Guharay et al 2000 Consequently I expect that organic coffee plantations especially those infested with certain fungal pathogens should display lower shade levels than conventional ones Additionally some studies found a significant negative correlation between infestation levels of the coffee leaf rust Hemileia vastatrix Berk amp Br and the number of shade strata Soto Pinto et al 2002 in Mexican coffee plantations suggesting that higher strata complexity may act as a barrier for fungal dispersal mainly via reducing wind speed Thus I predict that organic plantations should have a higher number of strata than conventional plantations I analyzed whether the conversion of traditional shade coffee plantations to organic production influences the structure and composition of the tree layer and the plantation itself I expect organic plantations to have lower amount of shade and more strata than traditional plantations I also expect that the density of nitrogen fixing trees will be higher in organic plantations as the growers cannot apply commercial fertilizers I do not expect other aspects of the vegetation for example the density of coffee trees to differ between the two plantation types STUDY AREA AND METHODS Study Sites Conventional and organic coffee plantations were selected as study sites in the Nicaraguan Highlands Figure 1 1 The s
115. ivos 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 8 8 Estar a mejor ampliarlo 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 8 9 Hace aumentar la cosecha 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 217 9 Iniciativas para mejorar la calidad del grano 9 1 A su juicio cu les son los cambios m s importantes que necesitan darse en la caficultura Nicarag ense para mejorar la calidad del grano 9 2 Cu les son las condiciones ambientales que m s favorecen una buena polinizaci n de la flor del caf 10 Iniciativas para mejorar el rendimiento por ha 10 1 A su juicio cu les son los cambios m s importantes que necesitan darse en la caficultura Nicarag ense para mejorar el rendimiento de los cafetales 11 Expansi n del rea cafetalera 11 1 Se necesita expandir el rea cafetalera 1 2 3 4 5 MUY DE ACUERDO DE ACUERDO NO SE EN DESACUERDO MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 11 2 Debe haber incentivos para ayudar a la expansi n del rea cafetalera 1 2 3 4 5 MUY DE ACUERDO DE ACUERDO NO SE EN DESACUERDO MUY EN DESACUERDO Por qu 218 11 3 Cu les son las regiones que tienen un mayor potencial para
116. landscape level coffee plantations dominate the 400 to 800 m altitudinal belt while higher elevations are covered by cloud forest Remaining patches of semi deciduous forest extend between coffee plantations in areas covered by deposits of basalt and other pyroclastic rocks Atwood 1984 All plantations had many shade trees ranging from rustic to polyculture in structure and composition Moguel amp Toledo 1999 although the structure and composition of the shade layer varied between plantations Three elements characterize the vegetation in these plantations the coffee plantation itself the tree layer shading the coffee plants and the landscape surrounding these farms Fig 2 2 While all coffee plantations in our study site are from a similar variety of highland arabica coffee Coffea arabica L they differ in use of chemical inputs age of coffee trees and plantation density Thus I measured these variables on each 0 2 ha 25 m radius plot as follow 1 Farming system Each farm was identified as certified organic referred hereafter as organic transition to organic transition and conventional 2 Coffee density estimated along four 24 m transects running in the cardinal directions centered within the 0 2 ha circle Coffee density was measured by counting all coffee stems lt 3cm touched by an observer s outstretched arms 46 or chest as he she walked the length of a transect Wunderle 1999 This measu
117. ld move beyond specific crop certification and look at farms as ecological units that require more than zero use of fertilizers to be environmentally friendly 130 FIGURES Anexo 3 a 540000 570000 00000 630000 650000 680000 z s gt gt LE t d N a j A x gt a oo qe 3 3 4 E e te me ieee Murra santa Maria Os Dipilto EI Jicaro HT Osuna Mozonte Ocotal 2 A LE Ej F otogalpa 3 Somoto _ De dl __Sratozguina San lucas pr Puebl Nuevo 3 ee Condega GlaBapanas SS 3 ii aa Be w z al j 4 Psar Jos de Csm 4 e y E ei a Es angisco del Norte 5 a E Pan Rb tag dehVorte CA 4 e L amp C oncordia a a g E a AS Achuapa EA 3 A A FN E pe 5 a Vinidad San Nicol s San Isidro N f EI Sauce PO e 3 4 ff As baco eS k A 3 4 3 r y E Santa Ro ae EJ MM te q d P 84 7 7 OSan Dionisio ES SA Rep blica de NICARAGUA de tone E El nak D ario Terrabgha E ty Ministerio Agropecuario y Forestal gs neart Direcci n General de Estrategias Territoriales Cultivo del caf en el Norte de Nicaragua 1900000 Ml Cabecera departamental ts a Cabecera municipal Coordenadas UTM Datum NAD26 Zona 16 e C mites departamentales Mapa obtenido en base a clasificaci n visual S mm cate con samora 09 652 74 na en pantalla sobre im genes Spot de 1996 1997 S M Caf zin somo gt 614759 na y datos de campo obtenidos con GP
118. led data on Nicaraguan birds Dr Martinez Sanchez began new research for his dissertation on the role of organic coffee plantations in biodiversity conservation This dissertation builds on his experience as an ornithologist and his knowledge of the interface between agricultural land and protected areas
119. like in organic farms The number of birds recorded in our point counts varied widely from as high as 40 birds to no birds at all in 12 of our point counts Conventional farms averaged almost 5 17 0 29 birds per plot and census while organic and transition farms averaged 4 19 0 20 and 4 03 0 26 respectively To reduce the bias of having too many missing values I combined the results of the five censuses before testing for differences between farming practices Nevertheless these differences were not statistically significant Effect test farming method F2 7 0 751 p 0 507 farm name farming method F7 190 10 05 p lt 001 To sort out the effect of resident and migratory birds I conducted separate tests for each group In both cases conventional farms scored higher but the results were more pronounced for the 54 migrants with an average of 1 44 0 18 birds per plot in conventional farms versus 0 83 0 09 in organic ones The low number of migrants prevented us from running a nested ANOVA I performed a one way ANOVA to test for differences between censuses conducted on different dates in farms under the same farming practices I excluded the 4 census from analysis of Neotropical migrants because they were absent at that time late July early August Farms showed significant differences in abundance of resident birds between censuses Effect test Organic F4 14 72 p lt 0 001 Transition F4 13 25 p lt 0 001 Convention
120. ltivo o en un potrero Falta de recursos No me interesa No tengo ganado No es apropiado Otro Cree que el bosque sirve de refugio para plagas SI INO C mo Cree que el bosque ayuda al cafetal C mo SI NO 6 7 6 7 1 190 El bosque que me queda en la finca Lo mantengo asi para mientras 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 6 7 2 Estar a mejor convertido en cafetal 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 6 7 3 Estar a mejor convertido en potrero 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 6 7 4 Estar a mejor convertido en otros cultivos 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 6 7 5 Estar a mejor ampliarlo 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO 6 7 6 Hace aumentar la cosecha 1 MUY DE ACUERDO 2 DE ACUERDO 3 NO SE 4 EN DESACUERDO 5 MUY EN DESACUERDO C mo 191 7 Beneficiado del caf SI NO 7 1 Proceso el caf en mi finca 7 2 Tipo de beneficio HUMEDO SEC
121. ly found Today s landscape is dominated by coffee plantations and pastures and cloud forests are relegated to the most rugged and wettest areas Field sites were selected according to the presence of certified organic plantations at elevations above 900 m and with minimum annual rainfall of 1500 mm I chose these parameters because farmers with plantations under these environmental conditions are the most likely to use antifungal chemicals or for those certified as organic to be likely to manipulate their canopy cover to place their coffee bushes under light shade cover I prepared a list of 50 potential farms to be visited that were of medium size and which shared similar varieties of Arabica coffee Coffea arabica L I selected 10 pairs one of each farm certified as organic the other a conventional farm growing coffee under shade Farm pairs were of similar sizes and located within a short distance of each other No other prior information was used in selecting the pairs All the plantations use trees for shade ranging from rustic to polyculture in structure and composition Moguel amp Toledo 1999 At the landscape level these plantations form part of a complex matrix of forest fragments in different successional stages pastures and coffee plantations Some of the largest forest fragments are located inside protected areas and adjacent to coffee farms Selected plantations vary in size from 10 to 100 ha and were located in four
122. manence of leaves Figure 3 22 Shade tree characteristics preferred by agronomists 152 doesn t r matter 2 Useful for timber mix 51 _ matter FA 8 Useful for firewood mix 52 yes S 21 Fruit tree no 9 70 Figure 3 22 cont Shade tree characteristics preferred by agronomists 153 COFFEE GROWERS n 83 gt Oo lt S S LL 20 40 60 80 Shade density AGRONOMISTS n 52 gt S S LL 20 40 60 80 Shade density Figure 3 23 Shade levels preferred by coffee growers and agronomists 154 gt Oo lt o 3 sg 2 LL forestin coffee farm Recommended by Agronomists n 52 55 4 a Ss 3 o 3 sg 2 LL 25 15 forestin coffee farm Recommended by Policy Makers n 20 Figure 3 24 Ideal proportion of forest fragments in coffee plantations Recommendations by agronomists and policy makers 155 Does t matter Single large track 3 2 Perifery Several small 16 i e dl 6 ravines 5 Steep slopes 15 Near water sources 33 Highlands 18 Lowlands 2 Figure 3 25 Agronomists preferred location of forest fragments 156 strongly strongly disagree agree 6 2 agree agree 8 strongly lig disagree r 23 disagree 84 disagree 75 Better convert forest to coffee plantation Better convert forest to pastures strongly agree disagree 8 15 neithe
123. n las caracter sticas m s importantes de la sombra para lograr el mejor rendimiento en su cafetal 6 7 1 6 7 2 Tipo de sombra 6 7 3 Forma de los rboles 6 7 4 Tama o de las hojas Altura de los rboles de sombra M s de 5 m de alto Menos de 5 m de alto Una combinaci n de rboles altos y bajos La altura de los rboles no importa Sombra rala Sombra densa Una mezcla de sombra densa y rala No importa si es densa o rala Copa estrecha y espigada Copa con forma de sombrilla Una mezcla de copas estrechas y anchas La forma de la copa no importa Peque as Grandes Una mezcla de hojas grandes y peque as No importa 6 7 5 Producci n de hojarasca 187 1 Arboles que boten muchas hojas 2 rboles que boten pocas hojas 3 Una mezcla de los dos tipos 4 No importa la cantidad de hojas que boten 6 7 6 Producci n de madera 6 7 7 Producci n de le a 6 7 8 Producci n de fruta 1 Importante que sean rboles maderables 2 No importa si son maderables o no 1 Importante que sirvan para le a 2 No importa si sirven o no 1 Importante que produzcan fruta 2 No importa si sirven o no Otros usos que le da a los rboles que tiene en su cafetal 6 7 9 Facilidad de poda rboles que se
124. n nearby pastures and thus represented a substantial improvement for biodiversity conservation Obviously the conversion of cloud forest should be discouraged while the reclamation of degraded pasture lands should be encouraged but none of the certification agencies or local organizations working in the coffee sector are paying attention to this issue Economic incentives should be paid for restoring degraded lands and not for degrading the last cloud forest fragments These findings along with our observations regarding the impacts of fungal infestation and forest cover lead us to believe that certification strategies that provide incentives for maintenance of a forested landscape mosaic may best support biodiversity and should be promoted even more strongly than organic standards 22 FIGURES HONDURAS COSTA RICA Figure 1 1 Map of Nicaragua with the general location of the study farms 23 Average Annual Relative Humidity lt 65 70 19 80 Figure 1 2 Location of selected plantations and relative humidity Organic farms infested open circles vs not infested solid circles with M citricolor conventional farms infested open triangles vs not infested solid triangles with M citricolor 24 Shade 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 WLM iti Organic Farms Conventional Farms LI Notinfested w M citricolor WE Notinfested w M citricolor Infested w M citricolor Infested w M citricolor
125. nagement Organic and conventional plantations did differ in other aspects Organic farms had older plantations more area covered with forest and possibly lower yields than conventional farms Age of coffee plants might in part be responsible for these lower yields Because replanting is costly most farmers pruned coffee trees several times over the lifespan of the plants Organic farmers may be using this technique more extensively to invest fewer resources in renovating their coffee plantations Given that organic farmers had lower yields than the conventional farmers such cost savings may be particularly necessary for these farmers The single most important factor affecting shade cover in organic and conventional farms was the presence of M citricolor Farms affected with M citricolor were all located in the eastern part of the study region were humidity is typically highest Fig 2 Under those circumstances some farmers appear to have reduced the number of shade trees to increase solar radiation reaching the coffee plants I were unable to 18 confirm whether this is a general trend because only 7 of the 20 farms visited were affected with the disease and there was a considerable variation in shade levels among organic coffee plantations Nevertheless if differences in shade levels between infested and non infested farms are an indication of farmers response to fungal infestation organic farms were more severely affected To
126. nd at the expense of forest areas and that water sources could be negatively affected Other respondents mentioned the importance of mountain forest for biodiversity conservation Certification and production Half of the farms I visited were certified as Fair trade and Organic Two farms were only certified as organic because they were too big to be fair trade certified Most of the largest farms 8 out of 10 were selling coffee to Starbucks and their owners called their farms certified because of the large number of requirements they need to fulfill to get preferential status with that company I asked certified coffee growers including those selling coffee to Starbucks to rate their satisfaction with the price premiums they received on a scale ranging from 99 66 fair more or less fair to unfair Our interviewees split their responses evenly among these three choices regardless of their farm size Yields quality and changes in farm management I asked three questions in this section a In your opinion what should be done in the Nicaraguan coffee sector to improve bean quality b In your opinion what should be done in Nicaragua to increase yields c What are the condition most 114 favorable to get coffee flowers well pollinated These were open questions and most agronomists provided more than one answer A large number of responses were to improve bean quality 86 or to increas
127. nflicts Our selection criteria did not pretend to be representative of the entire coffee sector in Nicaragua but it gives a sense of local opinions on the questions I asked Logistic constraints did not allow inclusion of groups such as small farmers unaffiliated with any cooperative with farms in regions without road access 91 All interviews were confidential as to the informant and the information provided Each interview was taped and notes taken but before analysis identifying information was removed Each interviewee was given a consent form approved by the Human Subjects Division at the University of Washington Grant 06 3751 E C 01 and given an opportunity to opt out of the interview All parties who granted an interview signed the consent form The interview was a survey with a combination of multiple choice and open questions Appendices A for farmers B for technicians and C for policy makers A minidisc recorder was used to record each interview while at the same time the interviewer JCMS took notes on a blank questionnaire A number of questions asked for responses on a Likert scale I limited the use of this format to 6 questions in the farmers survey 9 in the agronomists survey and 16 in the survey for policy makers I suspected that some farmers could feel more constrained in their responses if I used this format extensively in the survey especially for those not familiar with this format Conversely this sho
128. ng that forest patches act as refuge for coffee pests Specifically forests in humid regions were singled out as refuges for fungal agents such as American Leaf Spot The role of birds and insects Coffee growers perceive birds as either beneficial or non important for the coffee plantation Fig 3 14 I asked the same question for insects that were not pests and the results were similar The majority 66 of agronomists considered birds 105 beneficial and insects elicited an even more positive attitude with 75 of agronomist considering them beneficial while 25 considered them as non important Management of agricultural waste Coffee pulp is the most widely recycled agricultural waste used by coffee growers through composting or applying it directly to the coffee trees after letting it dry Fig 3 15 In contrast coffee husks are barely used because de husking is carried out in large beneficios far from coffee plantations Agronomists recommended converting pulp into compost and to a lesser extent to apply pulp directly around coffee plants Fig 3 16 In the case of coffee husks agronomists were split evenly in their preferences between composting using it as cattle folder processing husks into cooking bricks or disposing as waste with no further use Fig 3 16 Managing wastewater is a major problem for most farms Most coffee growers build basic sink holes where they discharge waste water although many ackno
129. ng the plantation types even after adjusting for the unequal sampling effort Fig 2 3 single factor ANOVA F2 9 0 422 p 0 667 There was considerable variation in vegetation among coffee plantations but farms did not cluster together according to farming method Fig 2 4 One tree species Inga oerstediana dominated all plantations accounting for half of the total trees Table 2 3 Shade levels range from 43 to 79 Table 2 4 and were differed significantly among individual farms Nested ANOVA F7 190 14 33 p lt 0 001 but did not differ by farming method Nested ANOVA F 7 217 p 0 81 Furthermore both organic and conventional farms exhibit similar ranges in shade levels Table 2 4 52 Coffee tree density was on average 10 higher in conventional plantations but this difference was produced by a single organic farm San Joaquin with an unusually low coffee tree density Otherwise there was no statistical difference among plantation types Effect test farming method F2 7 0 256 p 0 781 farm name farming method F7 190 10 05 p lt 0 001 A similar trend was observed for other vegetation variables such as number of shade trees canopy height and number of tree strata As a group conventional farms have more tree strata than organic counterparts an average of 3 21 m 0 09 layers in conventional versus 2 81 m 0 07 in organic They are also taller 14 42 m 0 43 than those in organic farms 12 69 m 0 3
130. no 11 3 A su juicio cu les son los cambios m s importantes que a usted le gustar a implementar en su finca para mejorar el rendimiento de los cafetales 11 4 Cu les son las condiciones que m s favorecen que las flores del cafeto se desarrollen en granos de calidad 12 Mirando hacia el futuro 12 1 Como le gustar a ver a su finca en unos 5 a os 1 Con nuevas reas de caf sembrado 2 Con m s rboles frutales 3 Con m s bosque 4 Sin caf con otro uso 5 Con los mismos cafetales pero m s rendidores 13 Las necesidades del caficultor 13 1 13 2 13 3 13 4 13 5 13 6 En lo econ mico En lo t cnico En lo social Recibe alg n tipo de apoyo del gobierno Recibe alg n tipo de apoyo de asociaciones de productores Ha recibido apoyo para financiar esta cosecha SI NO SI NO SI NO 195 Con qu tasa de inter s 13 7 Cual es el mayor reto que afronta el sector cafetalero 14 Comentario Final 196 La entrevista se completa con dos listas de arboles Una con las especies que ha plantado el caficultor y la otra con los rboles que el caficultor a prop sito ha dejado en pi en la finca Arboles que el caficultor ha dejado en pie Arboles que ha sembrado 1 mum O CO N O A WO N o CO N OD A WO N o _
131. ns eset O a EA E E E E E 1 TOTO UCLA LS ahead E Bett de a and chk es bs Beas 1 Study Area and Mes sd 5 Results oa Satied a ha A ieee eS eevee seeeec theese ec SS 9 DISCUSSION A e dai 15 DUE CS e di e a tat 22 Chapter 2 The role of organic cultivation on bird diversity and abundance in shade COMES plantations A ds 37 Tint ICON aa EA Conse Nees aa aaa n te 37 Study Area and Meios a habe ts 43 Res SS IS AI A A E 51 DiscUssiON A E EE AEA T lt tl ota 57 EQUI GS aa 66 A TREN 72 Chapter 3 The Role of Coffee Plantations in Biodiversity Conservation Attitudes and Perceptions from Nicaragua tt tddi idas 81 Introduction senie urin a a aaa a e aa ias 81 Study Area and Methods das 88 Result dio 98 DISCUSS E ARI te Bik it e eB els 120 E EA DEE RRE ro 130 ReTCLCH CES aria ada Dada ala ds 167 Appendix A Original interview to coffee farmers in Nicaragua oooccnccnccconcconcnnnos 181 Appendix B Original interview to AgronomMiStS ooocociococonnconccnnnnconncconoconcconncconccnnos 197 Appendix C Original interview to Policy Makers oooonoonnccnncnoccnoconocononcnnnnonannncnnoo 211 Appendix D Original consent form to interview coffee farmers ooonocnnnicnnnncnonnccos 221 Figure 1 1 Figure 1 2 Figure 1 3 Figure 1 4 Figure 1 5 Figure 2 1 Figure 2 2 Figure 2 3 Figure 2 4 Figure 2 5 Figure 2 6 Figure 3 1 Figure 3 2 Figure 3 3 Figure 3 4 Figure 3 5 Figure 3 6 Figure 3 7 Figure 3 8 Figure 3 9 Figure 3 10 Figure
132. nts in and around certified coffee plantations Some of the questions I sought to answer in surveys were l 2 How do coffee prices influence farmers land management decisions Is there a correlation between farm size and farmers perceptions regarding the use of trees for shade and willingness to preserve forest fragments Do farmers and agronomists share the same perceptions about the desirability and use of shade trees and the role of forest fragments Do farmers believe that current certification schemes are adequate to fulfill their needs Do they feel they are they fair Are farmer s advisors and technicians encouraging forest conversion to increase profits for the farmer 88 6 Why do farmers keep forest fragments in their farms What are the perceived benefits costs Are they kept regardless of coffee prices 7 What kind of shade trees do farmers prefer Are shade trees selected simply for utilitarian values or are aesthetic environmental or cultural factors involved 8 How do farmers perceive the role of non pest wildlife in their coffee plantation 9 How do organic and conventional farmers compare in their environmental perceptions including the use of or proper disposal of agricultural waste 10 Are yields different in organic and traditional farms 11 What is the relation between yields and farm size 12 How are protected areas perceived by agronomist and policy makers when coffee is cultivated insid
133. nventional plots had more coffee varieties than their organic counterpart a total of 8 for conventional vs 5 in organic farms Organic farms were significantly older than their conventional counterparts F 1 9 13 83 p lt 0 001 They also exhibit significant differences between farm pairs F 9 179 15 94 p lt 0 001 Some of the most obvious differences in coffee tree height were associated with the age of the plantation and the variety of coffee under cultivation Plantations over 50 years old had coffee bushes as large as 4 m in height and 20 cm in diameter at the base Coffee tree height was strongly predicted by the age of the plantation but only in organic farms Organic plantations Spearman s p 0 498 P lt 0 001 Conventional plantations Spearman s p 0 043 P 0 682 Contrary to our predictions there does not appear to be any reduction in shade levels in organic plantations compared with conventional plantations Table 1 5 Average shade cover ranged widely among the 20 coffee plantations from 9 to as high as 70 Figure 1 3 Organic plantations scored the highest and lowest values on this range However there was no statistically significant difference in the shade cover 11 between organic and conventional farms F 9 0 p 984 But differences were significant between farm pairs Fo 179 22 47 p lt 0 001 In conventional plantations there is a significant inverse correlation between coffee tree density
134. odiversity and Conservation 14 1225 1240 Beer J R R Muscheler D Kass amp E Somarriba 1998 Shade management in coffee and cacao plantations Agroforestry Systems 38 139 164 Bengtsson J J Ahnstr m and A C Weibull 2005 The effects of organic agriculture on biodiversity and abundance A meta analysis Journal of Applied Ecology 42 261 269 Bennett C P A and R A Godoy 1992 The quality of smallholder coffee in South Sumatra The production of low quality coffee as a response to world demand Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 28 85 99 Bentley J W E Boa and J Stonehouse 2004 Neighbor trees Shade intercropping and cacao in Ecuador Human Ecology 32 241 270 Bhagwat S A K J Willis H J B Birks and R J Whittaker 2008 Agroforestry A refuge for tropical biodiversity Trend in Ecology and Evolution 23 261 267 Boa E J Bentley J Stonehouse 2000 Cacao and Neighbour Trees in Ecuador How and Why Farmers Manage Trees for Shade and Other Purposes CABI final technical report U K 46 p 168 Bornemisza E 1982 Nitrogen cycling in coffee plantations Plant and Soil 67 241 246 Bray D B J L Plaza Sanchez and E Contreras Murphy 2002 Social dimensions of organic coffee production in Mexico Lessons from eco labeling initiatives Society and Natural Resources 15 429 446 Bruner A G R E Gullison R E Rice and G A B da Fonseca 2001 Effectiveness o
135. of birds netted in all farms accounting for more than half of total captures Table 2 7 I found more birds in conventional farms than in organic ones even though our sampling effort was half as great Nevertheless interfarm variation was by far more significant and our statistical analysis confirmed that total number of birds residents and migrant alike were not statistically different between farming methods Birds grouped by trophic guild show no differences either Table 2 8 summarizes these results 57 Bird habitat relationships Our regression model failed to predict overall bird abundance from all but one variable average canopy tree height t 1 967 d f 2 199 p 0 051 However when I analyzed residents and migrants separately the model predicting resident bird abundance included tree abundance t 2 464 d f 2 199 p 0 015 and shade level t 1 911 d f 2 199 p 0 057 while migrant abundance was predicted only by tree abundance t 1 978 d f 1 199 p 0 049 The regression model predicting bird richness included tree richness t 3 338 d f 2 199 p 0 001 and total leaf volumes t 3 691 d f 2 199 p lt 0 001 This is also the case for the model predicting resident bird richness tree richness t 3 426 d f 2 199 p 0 001 and total leaf volumes t 3 875 d f 2 199 p 0 001 but for migratory bird richness the regression model included only canopy tree height t 2 227 d
136. offee plantations using trees for shade Some comparisons are among plantations with different types of shade structure and composition Shade trees add one to several extra layers of vegetation complexity to this agricultural landscape In general the more complex the structure and composition of the shade layers the higher the number of bird species found in the plantation Moguel amp Toledo 1998 All these studies corroborate the widely established fact that habitat structural complexity and diversity provided in this case by a multi species tree layer is closely matched by a parallel diversity of other terrestrial taxa Orians 1969 Parallel to this interest in the environmental role of coffee plantations has been a growing demand for certified coffee that is coffee grown under a new set of rules intended to enhance the role of coffee plantations as biodiversity friendly areas Rice and Ward 1996 Perhaps the best known and more widely accepted of all 39 certification schemes is the organic seal Its core set of rules demands zero use of synthetic products when growing a particular crop In the case of coffee this implies that pests are controlled using native or introduced predators or parasites fungal infections are dealt with using naturally occurring rock additives and managing shading to control humidity levels and weeds are controlled using habitat enhancement techniques shading mulching etc or manually removal Stav
137. on Limon at Real Mimon Rutaceae 81 Citrus paradisi Toronja Rutaceae 82 Citrus reticulata Mandarina Rutaceae 83 Zanthoxylum caribaeum Cabalonga oes Rutaceae 84 Cupania cinerea Cacahuillo ae Sapindaceae 85 Sapindus saponaria Limoncillo Sapindaceae 86 Sapindus saponaria Pac n Jaboncilllo Sapindaceae 87 Chrysophyllum cainito Caimito Sapotaceae 88 Pouteria sapota Zapote Sapotaceae 89 do eS Zapotillo Sapotaceae 90 ae Peper ena Tempisque Sapotaceae 91 Simarouba amara Acetuno Aceituno Simaroubaceae 92 Acnistus arborescens G itite Solanaceae 93 Brugmansia suaveolens Huelenoche Solanaceae 94 Solanum wrightii Cuernavaca Solanaceae 95 Guazuma ulmifolia Gu cimo naring dg Sterculiaceae Table 1 2 continue 31 No Scientific Name Local Name Other names Family 96 Styrax argenteus Alamo Styracaceae 97 pe ae Majag e Majagua Tiliaceae 98 Luehea candida Molenillo paraa Tiliaceae 99 Trema micrantha Capul n Ulmaceae 100 Urera sp Chichicaste Urticaceae 101 Lippia myriocephala Mampas Verbenaceae 102 Caballo Blanco 103 Cafiamo 104 Mancharropa 105 Monton 32 Table 1 3 Tree diversity indexes in surveyed plantations Shannon H Simpson A Hill s No Hill s Ny Hill s N2 Farm Organic Non org Organic Non org Organic Non org Organic Non org Organic Non org air 7 1 756 2 023 0
138. or a combination of practices designed to mitigate environmental impacts of this crop Willie 2004 Sustainable Agriculture Network 2005a b In a parallel and sometimes complementary effort groups concerned with social issues and poverty alleviation developed a series of certification programs to pay farmers a minimum price for their coffee The Fairtrade Foundation 2002 Murray et al 2003 While environmental certification schemes have been developed without stipulation as to farm size or land tenure issues social standards have focused on supporting family run farms and cooperatives 82 Environmental and social certification programs pay premium prices for coffee grown under the rules and regulations of their respective seals Apart from this direct incentive certification allows farmers to find a preferential market niche for their product Ponte 2002 and secure long term contracts Growing coffee under shade has numerous advantages relative to sun grown coffee which can be grouped into social economic and agroecological benefits Social and economic benefits stem from a more diversified income from sales of fruits herbs and timber products Michon et al 1986 Siebert 2000 lower application of external inputs fertilizers herbicides and insecticides and longer production life of the coffee trees Beer et al 1998 Staver et al 2001 Siebert 2002 Agroecological benefits include pest control mitigation of climate fluctuat
139. oted that 53 out of 63 studies showed higher species richness in organic agricultural systems but these authors also acknowledged that many studies comparing organic and conventional farming systems were poorly designed and did not control for important variables both at the farm 1 e vegetation structure and composition and at the landscape level Bengston et al 2005 I know of no studies comparing organic and conventional farms in any tropical environment Bird diversity has been widely used to assess habitat quality Cronquist amp Brooks 1991 Hughes et al 2002 Gregory et al 2003 Mas amp Dietsch 2004 They are probably the best known taxon in tropical mountain forests and one of the most commonly studied in coffee plantations in the Neotropics Wunderle amp Latta 1996 Greenberg et al 1997 Calvo amp Blake 1998 Jones et al 2002 Komar 2006 Raman 2006 Dietsch et al 2007 Many species have specialized diets 1 e insectivores that can make them particularly vulnerable to changes in food resources Wunderle amp Latta 1998 Perfecto et al 2004 poisoning via direct food consumption Balcomb et al 1984 Mineau 2005 or bioaccumulation Hill amp Mendenhall 1980 Peakall amp Bart 1983 Pimentel et al 1992 For this reason I expect that populations of insectivores 42 and top predators in general should be depressed in coffee plantations using insecticides Granivore birds feeding on the seeds of ground weed
140. over while non infested plots score 64 and these differences are statistically significant Nested ANOVA Effect Test Infestation w M citricolor F 5 149 p lt 0 048 Farm name Infestation w M citricolor Fo 10 082 p lt 0 001 These differences remained even when the farm recently established within a cloud forest fragment was included in the analysis The role of Nitrogen fixing trees Nitrogen fixing trees from the Mimosaceae and Fabaceae families comprise an average of 56 of the shade trees in organic plantations and 69 in conventional farms but these differences were not statistically significant Paired T test T 1 038 d f 9 p 0 326 Nevertheless there was a considerably wider variation in the ratios of N fixing non fixing trees within conventional Mean 2 89 0 84 than within organic Mean 1 76 0 39 farms Forest fragments All farms infested with M citricolor 7 in total have embedded forest fragments and in some cases have more area covered with forest than with coffee Table 1 6 In 14 contrast the remaining non infested farms 13 have less forest no more than 34 of the farm area or no forest at all 8 farms Table 1 6 Farms affected by M citricolor have significantly more area covered with forest than those unaffected by the disease T 2 77 d f 7 32 p lt 0 026 I found no significant difference in the proportion of forest left between organic and conventional farms Wilcoxon si
141. ovide to both the nearby coffee plantations and to a certain extend the local communities In this region of Nicaragua organic farmers received a premium price for their coffee that ranged from 15 to 20 above the regular market price In some exceptional cases coffee roasters paid an additional 40 premium to farmers for protecting forest and setting aside part of the farm as a protected area While not all the farmers have enough land to set aside areas for conservation this is an interesting initiative that goes beyond the organic conventional debate and has important implications for preserving the last cloud forest fragments in the region In summary I found few differences between the overstory vegetation in organic and conventional farms and little evidence that organic farmers are manipulating their overstory more than conventional farmers In contrast I found that organic plantations have more area covered with forest fragments than conventional farms even though they are getting lower yield per ha of planted coffee However I did find differences among individual farms that provide a cautionary lesson One of the organic farms I visited that exhibited a dense tree canopy was covered with cloud forest as recently as 9 years ago In contrast I found a 6 year old conventional farm 21 established in an abandoned and highly degraded pasture While this latter farm was not very diverse it was structurally much more diverse tha
142. poden f cilmente No importa la facilidad con que se poden 6 7 10 Permanencia de las hojas 1 Arboles que mantienen las hojas todo el a o 2 rboles que botan la hoja en el verano 3 No importa que los rboles mantengan o boten sus hojas 188 6 7 11 Origen de los arboles 1 Que sean de la zona 2 Traidos de afuera 3 No importa de donde sean 6 7 12 El producto de los rboles de la finca Lo utiliza para autoconsumo Se lo vende a los vecinos Lo saca a vender al mercado 6 8 Indique los nombres de las cinco especies de rboles m s importantes para su finca y el por qu Especie Le a Madera Postes Fruta Sombra Otro ao e N gt Manejo de los fragmentos de bosque 6 1 Por qu mantiene esa parte de la finca con bosque 1 Por gusto quiero conservarlo as 2 No tengo dinero para ponerla a producir 3 No me sirve para sembrar nada 4 Otro 6 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6 6 189 Qu provecho le saca No le saco nada Protege el cafetal Me da lefia y madera Me gusta tenerlo asi Otro Por qu no lo ha convertido en un cafetal Falta de recursos No me interesa Quiero dejarlo asi No es apropiado Otro Por qu no lo ha convertido en otro cu
143. port and encouragement throughout a very long doctoral journey DEDICATION To Loretta for everything vi CHAPTER 1 DOES ORGANIC CERTIFICATION INFLUENCE TREE COVER COMPOSITION IN COFFEE PLANTATIONS INTRODUCTION Many believe that coffee grown under shaded conditions and organically cultivated without the use of synthetic chemical inputs is the most environmentally sound approach to coffee production Bray et al 2002 Dietsch 2005 Much has been written to describe the benefits of shade grown cultivation for biodiversity as well as for development of high quality coffee Perfecto amp Snelling 1995 Perfecto et al 1996 Greenberg et al 1997 Calvo amp Blake 1998 Wunderle 1999 Johnson 2000 Rojas et al 2001 Carlo et al 2004 Pineda et al 2005 Gleffe et al 2006 Philpott et al 2006 Dietsch et al 2007 However very little attention has been paid to the role of organic production in fostering biodiversity conservation Beyond the benefits of eliminating the use of synthetic chemicals on coffee farms no one has considered the biodiversity impacts of management practices used in organic coffee production Most highland coffee Coffea arabica L is grown under a layer of trees that provide shade and ground cover and in most cases fix nitrogen Harrer 1963 Bornemisza 1982 Rice 1999 The composition and structure of this shade tree layer ranges from a dense and diverse canopy to a few scattered nitrogen fixing tre
144. r 2 o Better convert forest to other crops disagree 75 strongly agree strongly 4 agree agree E a disagree 2 disagree 17 32 neither 8 neither 6 agree 73 Better to expand forest area Forest increases coffee yields Figure 3 26 Agronomists and the role and best use of forest fragments Agronomists agreement to statements regarding proposed best uses of forest fragments in coffee farms Responses ranked on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree 157 strongly disagree 10 agree 15 strongly disagree 30 neither 5 disagree 70 disagree 70 Better to convert forest strongly Better to convert forest to pastures to coffee plantation disagree 5 agree 15 Better convert forest to other crops strongly disagree disagree agree 80 10 5 disagree 30 neither 15 agree 50 neither agree 20 g 70 Forest increases coffee yields Better to expand forest area Figure 3 27 Policy makers and forest conversion in coffee farms Policy makers agreement to statements regarding proposed best uses of forest fragments in coffee farms Responses ranked on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree 158 Better bean quality nothing training 1 5 Use new varieties dry processing J 9 5 ES roads apply more 2 fertilizer 12 renew plantat
145. r nutrition of coffee plants or inadequate pruning practices This variation affected organic and conventional farms alike but organic farms had yields that were on average 23 lower than conventional ones Table 1 7 Nevertheless this difference was not statistically significant T test T 1 335 13 d f p 0 205 DISCUSSION Does organic certification influence tree cover composition in Nicaraguan coffee plantations I don t think so Shade levels and tree composition diversity and abundance were similar among the plantations I surveyed although levels of these variables varied more widely within organic farms Contrary to our predictions organic farms do not make a greater use of nitrogen fixing trees than conventional farms even though conventional farmers must rely on farm trees to a greater extent to incorporate nutrients into the soil Bornemisza 1982 16 One reason that organic and conventional farmers may have similar tree diversity density and shade levels may be that the incentives to use shade trees are substantial for both groups Nitrogen fixing trees should reduce fertilizer costs among conventional farmers as well as compensate for the lack of such fertilizers among organic farmers Further trees and other tree like plants such as plantains and bananas serve multiple roles beyond shading coffee plants For small farmers especially shade trees can provide a complementary income and represent economic security
146. re was standardized beforehand for all observers Coffee height measured by recording the height of the four tallest coffee trees along each of the 4 transects The tree layer was characterized by the following variables l Total number of species of canopy trees in the circle excluding bananas and plantains Canopy tree height Overstory trees excluding coffee were measured for maximum height with a 7 meter pole or a clinometer for high trees Bananas and plantains were excluded because they were rarely used within the plantation Total leaf volume I used tree height to separate trees into 4 strata lt 10 m 10 20 m 20 30 m gt 30 m and weight tree density at each strata to estimate total leaf volume lt 10 m density x 1 10 20 m density x 2 20 30 m density x 3 gt 30 m density x 4 Philpott et al 2007 Percent canopy cover measured by looking straight to the overstory through an ocular tube 50 mm in diameter and recording the presence or absence of foliage within the tube s visual field To meet the criteria for foliage presence at least 25 of the tube sighting area had to be covered by foliage Possible values were 0 25 50 75 or 100 Twelve observations were 47 recorded on each cardinal direction starting at 1 m from the center plot and at 2 m intervals The observations were averaged to obtain an average canopy cover for each plot Two general landscape variables completed the profile of each
147. repetitions over the same time period In every netting pulse between 15 and 19 nets 12 m long 30 mm mesh size were used simultaneously over a 2 day period Mist netting sites were more than 0 5 km apart Nets were placed in areas of varying coffee densities and routinely set to a maximum of 2 5 m height to obtain as complete a sample of birds as possible Variables recorded were species sex and age when possible Table 2 2 summarized the dates for both point counts and mist net sampling The primary diet of each species was classified into five categories small arthropods SA large arthropods small reptiles and birds LARB fruits and large seeds FLS small seeds SS and nectar N To account for species feeding on more than one food type I weighted each category from 1 occasional in the diet 2 regular food or 3 exclusive food This allowed me to split diets into two 1 and 2 or 1 5 and 1 5 or three trophic categories 1 1 1 or assigned a single one 3 I analyzed potential differences in bird trophic guilds among farming methods in two ways First I 49 compared at the species level and subsequently use their relative abundance to weight their contribution to one or more trophic guilds Assignment of diet and habitat preferences was based on information from the literature Stiles amp Skutch 1989 and our own knowledge Statistical Analysis I carried out a series of preliminary tests to confirm that farms wer
148. reported having more coffee than 5 years ago regardless of farm size and farming method I suggest taking these results with caution because a number of coffee growers reported having more coffee if they have coffee under renovation I did find however that high coffee prices are a strong incentive to establish new coffee plantations and our own observations and information provided in informal talks support this One of the policy makers I interviewed suggested that high coffee prices paid to winners of recent Cup of Excellence contests was the driving force behind new coffee plantations in the Municipality of Dipilto Nueva Segovia In addition high coffee prices represent a challenge for cooperatives selling certified coffee because coffee growers find it more attractive to sell their coffee directly in the local market than through their cooperatives There is no evidence that lower coffee prices are driving coffee growers to either cut trees from remnant forest or from the shade layer in the plantation Dietsch et al 127 2004 Coffee growers declared that first they will give less overall maintenance to the plantation and stop buying inputs and eventually will abandon the farm before selling it or changing to other crops Coffee growers I interviewed have owned their farms for an average of 25 years and they are probably among the most stable landholders in the country considering the dramatic events in recent Nicaraguan history
149. robably costs less to pay laborers to manually cut weeds or apply compost as fertilizer than buying herbicides and fertilizers It remains to be seen if our results are applicable to other coffee growing regions such as the Northern highlands of Nicaragua where high humidity levels forces farmers to maintain more open tree canopies and to use more chemical inputs 59 Another element to consider is the instability of these farming practices when they are at the mercy of the market forces Two of the conventional farms I surveyed are now being certified by Rainforest Alliance as sustainable coffee a seal that does not completely ban pesticide and fertilizer use in agriculture but helps farmers to optimize their use while at the same time pays attention to other environmental issues like management of forest patches and shade tree diversity On the other hand three of the organic farms I studied were sold and are being subdivided to build vacation residences a change in land use that could have by far a more detrimental effect on biodiversity conservation than any amount of pesticide use Coffee plantations in Mombacho show remarkable differences in canopy tree structure and composition but these differences are not associated with farming practice It is interesting to note that even plantations own by the same individual and under the same technical management can be rather different Tree richness is remarkably high in these coff
150. rs recommendations on management actions to improve bean quality and yields 164 other 4 same More forest 6 1 More fruit trees 2 higher yields 50 More coffee 37 Figure 3 34 Farm changes 5 years from now Coffee grower expectations for how they will change their farms over the coming 5 years 165 Table 3 1 List of Protected areas with coffee plantations in Nicaragua Total extension of coffee plantations in Nicaragua is estimated in 116242 32 ha after Valerio 2000 Con Sin Area Protegida sombra sombra Total Nacional Cerro Apante 760 56 760 56 4 91 0 65 Cerro Cumaica Cerro Alegre 362 84 362 84 2 34 0 31 Cerro Datanl El Diablo 986 40 211 40 1197 80 7 74 1 03 Cerro Arenal 156 28 156 28 1 01 0 13 Cerro Kilamb 266 81 266 81 1 72 0 23 Cerro Kuskaw s 1761 78 1761 78 11 38 1 52 Cerro Mombachito La Vieja 120 12 120 12 0 78 0 10 Cerro Mus n 141 17 141 17 0 91 0 12 Cerro Pancas n 114 99 114 99 0 74 0 10 Cerro Quiabuc 46 33 46 33 0 30 0 04 Cerro Tisey Estanzuela 9 79 9 79 0 06 0 01 Complejo Volc n San Crist bal 870 03 870 03 5 62 0 75 Cordillera Diplito Jalapa 288 80 288 80 1 87 0 25 Chocoyero El Brujo 24 38 24 38 0 16 0 02 Cerro Fr o La Cumplida 1125 21 455 05 1580 26 10 21 1 36 Fila Masig e 50 26 50 26 0 32 0 04 Guabule 1084 56 578 13 1662 69 10 74 1 43 Macizo de Pe as Bl
151. ructure and composition of the canopy tree layer or the presence of forest fragments within these farms Studies in Puerto Rico shade coffee plantations found similar levels of reproductive activity and productivity between birds nesting in shade coffee plantations and secondary forest Gleffe et al 2006 Forest fragments in coffee plantations may play a more crucial role in preserving bird species than organic agriculture especially when they are protecting 63 critical habitat such as stream banks arroyos or water holes Warkentin et al 1995 Abundance and diversity of resident and migratory birds were not explained by the same vegetation attributes This may be related to differences in food and habitat requirements A tall canopy may be important for some species but for many nectar feeders the presence of Inga spp with their year round supply of nectar may be far more important That may explain why tree abundance is a better predictor of bird abundance for resident species than tree height or tree species richness These results also highlight how variable individual coffee plantations are even when they are located close to each other or managed by the same owner The variance among farms presents a serious challenge for certification programs that have to set objective rules applicable worldwide especially when birds are the flagship taxa Smithsonian s Bird friendly coffee Audubon s Shade Grown coffee and American
152. s Figure 3 11 Coffee growers opinions on converting forest fragments Forest in the farm should be converted into coffee plantations Strongly Strongly Agree Disagree 6 15 Forest in the farm should be converted into other crops 141 Strongly Strongly Disagree Agree 10 2 Agree Forest in the farm should be converted into pastures Strongly Agree Strongly 2 Disagree l 12 Agree 4 Figure 3 12 Coffee growers agreement with statements about forest conversion Responses were measured on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree 142 Strongly Agree 8 Disagree Neither 23 Agree nor Disagree 2 Forest in the farm should be expanded Disagree 32 Neither Agree nor Disagree 6 Forest increase coffee yields Figure 3 13 Coffee growers agreement with statements about forest expansion Responses were measured on a 5 point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree 143 Pest 1 Benecificial 46 Non important 53 Pest 7 Coffee growers on birds Non P important Benecificial 52 41 Pest 2 Non important Coffee growers on insects 32 Non Benecificial important 75 25 Benecificial 66 Agronomists on birds Agronomists on insects Figure 3 14 Perceptions of coffee growers and agronomists on birds and insects 144 No use apply 6 directly to coffee
153. s based on Bray Curtis similarity index Labels correspond to farming method acronyms CONV conventional TRANS transition and ORG for organic followed by the farm name TABLES Table 2 1 Use of chemical inputs in coffee plantation of Mombacho Nicaragua HERBICIDES FUNGICIDES INSECTICIDES FERTILIZER CONVENTIONAL El Progreso Gramoxone Anvil Decis Urea 18 5 15 NPK Cutirre Gramoxone Anvil Decis Urea 18 5 15 NPK Miravalle Gramoxone Cobre Sandoz Lorsban 15 5 15 NPK p Gramoxone Round up Oxicloruro de Cobre Alto Santa Cecilia A None Urea 18 5 15 NPK 2 4 D kamex 100SL Anvil TRANSITION La Luz Manual cutting Cooper None Urea 15 5 15 N P K Round up manual since me Santa Ana Champion Cobre Sandoz None Urea 1993 ORGANIC El Carmelo Manual cutting Cooper None Compost from coffee pulp Cobre Sandoz solution with Compost from coffee Sta Teresa Manual cutting yee none Gliricidia sepium leaves pulp chicken manure San Joaquin Manual cutting none none Compost from coffee pulp El Crater Manual cutting goats Cooper none Compost from coffee pulp Paraquat Glyphosate Ciproconazole Hexaconazole Deltamethrin Pyrethroid 56 CuO 1 SO4Mn 1 SO4Zn 177 Cooper oxide Chlorpyrifos organophosphate TL Table 2 2 Summary of sampling dates 1997 1998 1998 1998 1999 Coffee Farming plantation Method Mi
154. s established by the Organic Crop Improvement Association OCIA International under a project implemented by the Cooperative League of the United States of America CLUSA Even though these farms had been certified organic within the last 3 years they have been organic de facto for much longer as a consequence of the economic hardships of the Contra War 1980 1990 and subsequent changes in land tenure Conventional farms use a common set of inputs to control insect pests weeds and in some cases fungal infections Table 2 1 summarized the main agrochemical inputs use in these plantations based on data provided by farm managers through informal interviews carried out at the beginning of the study I made no further attempt to characterize the chemicals used in these farms As a general rule herbicides and insecticides were applied twice a year mainly to control infestation of coffee berry borer Hypothenemus hampei Ferr Coleoptera Curculionidae and fungicides three to four times a year depending of the degree of infestation with coffee leaf rust Hemileia vastatrix Berk and Br Basidiomycota Pucciniales Fertilizer was applied twice per year in the form of N P K mixture or regular urea CO NH2 2 at 46 Most applications of pesticides and fertilizer were during the rainy season June through November Coffee in Mombacho is harvested from December to late February 45 Selected plantations ranged in size from 21 to 300 ha At the
155. s may be disproportionably affected in plantations that regularly use herbicides Santillo et al 1989 I are not aware of any study on the impact of agrochemicals on nectar feeding birds but since most nectar feeders consume a considerable amount of small insects for their protein requirements they could be affected similarly to insectivorous birds The same sorts of predictions are not so evident for fungicides The direct or indirect toxicity of fungicides for birds has not been clearly established either for synthetic products or the mineral base compounds e g Bodeaux mixture a solution of cooper based salts used in organic farms OCIA 2007 This study compares bird diversity and abundance between organic and conventional shade coffee plantations Firstly I analyze for differences in the structure and composition of the canopy tree layer since this could be a confounding factor in our analysis I compare entire bird communities as well as specific trophic guilds and resident versus migratory species I predict that insectivorous birds should be disproportionably affected because insecticides should significantly reduced prey availability and they may also suffer detrimental effects of bioaccumulation Reduction on insect prey could also affect nectarivorous birds because insects play an 43 important role in their diets Birds feeding on small seeds produced by ground weeds should be affected in farms using herbicides Birds using th
156. s of decision makers were conducted in Managua following the same techniques used to interview farmers on their farms Prior to beginning the survey I explained my institutional affiliation with the University of Washington to our interviewee and also that I were not affiliated with 93 any coffee trader the Nicaraguan government or any certification agency Each interview lasted between 45 and 120 minutes and usually ended with a friendly talk about coffee or other aspects of the research When requested a copy of the questionnaire was provided to the subject Survey design for farmers The survey was designed in 14 sections each with a dominant theme The general types of questions are described here and the entire survey is available in Appendix A The first section recorded general information on farm location farm size and the extension of different land uses within the farm Farmers were asked to report the type and extent of trees in the coffee plantation and their perceived benefits or costs of having trees within the plantation I also asked about desirable characteristics for shade trees ranging from the shape and size origin and complementary uses Farmers were asked only to choose between having shade trees with an additional use timber production firewood or fruit each explore one at a time not having that use or having a combination of trees with and without that specific use I also asked respondents to name
157. s visually assigned to one or more of the following height classes Understory lt 5 m Intermediate between 5 and 10 m canopy 10 and lt 20 m and emergent 20 m The presence of a single tree within a strata class mean that the entire plot scored for that level Values ranged from a single strata present to 4 maximum number of strata present 6 Coffee density measured by recording the distance from a selected coffee tree to each of its nearest neighbour coffee trees one on each side of the same planting row and one on each adjacent row Three observations were recorded on each transect N S W W starting at the closest coffee tree 5 m from the center plot and at approximately 8 m intervals thereafter 7 Percent canopy cover measured by looking straight to the overstory through an ocular tube 50 mm in diameter and recording the presence or absence of foliage within the visual field Canopy cover was simplified by counting cover in four categories 0 25 50 75 or 100 Six observations were recorded on each transect N S E W starting at 1 m from the center plot and at 4 m interval Average canopy cover for each plot is the average of the observations 8 Average coffee yields based on estimates provided by the plantation manager over the last 3 years 9 Presence of fungal infestation with M citricolor 28 Table 1 2 Tree species recorded in coffee plantations
158. sponses Fig 3 8 Surprisingly domestic varieties were only mentioned twice Citrus trees in general were a low priority I did not attempt to estimate the total number of species mentioned by coffee growers because of potential problems matching a variety of local names with scientific names Agronomists choices of trees mirrored those of coffee growers Inga spp were the most popular trees as first second and third choices Fig 3 9 Agronomists 103 mentioned citrus trees more often than coffee growers but with a similar low priority Wild avocados were also chosen a number of times while bananas and plantains were barely mentioned Fig 3 9 Role of forest fragments A majority of coffee growers 63 particularly those with medium and large farms held significant patches of forest on their lands These coffee growers plus an additional 14 that do not have any forest left in their properties indicated that it was useful to leave some forest areas on the farm To be sure that this was not confused with the use of shade trees I intentionally used the word monta a that in Nicaraguan Spanish means forest Several explanations were given mainly related to conservation of water sources biodiversity conservation and microclimate preservation Fig 3 10 All but two coffee growers that held significant area of forest on their property responded that they chose to have these areas as forest rather than leaving it as
159. st Netting pulses La Luz Transition Nov 4 5 April 22 24 Sept 17 18 Dec16 17 March 16 17 Carmelo Organic Dec 11 12 March 24 25 Sept 8 9 Nov 26 27 March 5 6 Santa Ana Transition Dec 30 31 March 17 18 Sept 1 2 Dec 1 2 Feb 20 21 Santa Teresa Organic Dec 18 19 March 19 20 Sept 10 11 Dec 3 4 April 14 15 Cutirre Conventional Nov 6 7 March 31 April 1 Aug 30 31 Nov 24 25 March3 4 San Joaquin Organic Dec 4 5 April 7 8 Sept 22 23 Dec 18 19 March 18 19 El Cr ter Organic Nov 24 25 April 2 3 Aug 18 19 Dec 22 23 Feb 16 17 Miravalle Conventional Nov 13 14 March 12 13 Aug 25 26 Dec 10 11 Feb 18 19 Point Count La Luz Transition Oct 25 26 Nov 4 Feb 26 27 July 24 Nov 17 March 16 17 April 14 Carmelo Organic Nov 2 Feb 28 July 28 Nov 17 March 27 28 Santa Ana Transition Oct 27 28 Feb 25 26 July 23 Nov 12 March 25 Santa Teresa Organic Oct 30 Feb 26 July 28 Nov 18 March 26 Miravalle Conventional Oct 27 Feb 25 July 22 Nov 10 March 23 El Crater Organic Nov 1 March 1 Aug 5 Nov 19 March 30 Progreso Conventional Oct 28 29 Feb 25 July 22 Nov 13 March 31 Cutirre Conventional Oct 31 Feb 28 March 1 Aug 4 Nov 21 March 27 San Joaquin Organic Nov 20 Feb 27 July 30 Nov 11 March 24 Santa Cecilia Conventional Nov 21 Feb 27 July 29 Nov 10 March 23 EL 74 Table 2 3 Ranking of the ten most recorded trees Vegetation plots at Mombacho coffee plantations grouped by farming practice
160. stern Brazil Biodiversity and Conservation 13 2679 2694 Romero Alvarado Y L Soto Pinto L Garcia Barrios J F Barrera Gaytan 2002 Coffee yields and soil nutrients under the shade of Inga sp vs multiple species in Chiapas Mexico Agroforestry Systems 54 215 224 Roubik D W 2002 The value of bees to the coffee harvest Nature 417 708 Salazar C E 1999 Calidad de Coffea arabica bajo sombra de Erythrina poeppigiana a diferentes elevaciones en Costa Rica Tesis M Sc CATIE Turrialba Costa Rica 82 p Santillo D P Brown and D Leslie 1989 Responses of songbirds to glyphosate induced habitat changes on clearcuts Journal of Wildlife Management 53 64 TL Sea T B van Wick de Vries M Pilato In press Emplacement mechanisms of contrasting debris avalanches at Volc n Mombacho Nicaragua provided by structural and facies analysis Bulletin of Volcanology Segura H R J F Barrera H Morales and A Nazar 2004 Farmer perceptions knowledge and management of coffee pests and diseases and their natural enemies in Chiapas Mexico Journal of Economic Entomology 97 1491 1499 Siebert S F 2000 Survival and growth of rattan intercropped with coffee and cacao in the agroforests of Indonesia Agroforestry Systems 50 95 102 Siebert S F 2002 From shade to sun grown perennial crops in Sulawesi Indonesia implications for biodiversity conservation and soil fertility Biodiversity and Conserva
161. stical analyses I use a randomized block ANOVA to compare vegetation variables between organic and conventional farms This is a mix effect model where farms pairs are treated as a random effect farming method organic vs conventional is a fixed effect and canopy cover coffee tree density number of vegetation strata tree abundance and Musaceae abundance are dependent variables Variables measured at the farm level annual coffee yields percentage of forest fragments and tree diversity were analyzed using Wilcoxon signed rank test for variables with non normal distributions or paired T test for variables with normal distributions I used a nested ANOVA model to control for the variability at farm level thereafter named Farm Name in the analysis to compare shade levels between farms infested with Mycena citricolor and non infested farms Tree diversity was estimated using several indexes Shannon Simpson and Hill s and results were compared using a two tailed paired T test or its non parametric equivalent Wilcoxon signed rank test I used Spearman s rank correlation analysis to explore relations between coffee plantation variables and tree canopy structure and between plantation age and the size and density of the coffee trees RESULTS Coffee stand structure and species richness I identified 121 tree species in the 20 farms visited Table 1 2 and all but 20 individuals were identified to species Highest average values
162. stions about use of fertilizers but it was part of the informal conversation when I engaged coffee growers in an analysis of yields for the last 3 years Finding an organic coffee grower that could fertilize all his coffee plants on a regular basis was exceptional Only one farmer bought and transported chicken manure from distant farms for fertilizer Most farms with cattle did not take advantage of cow manure because they have free range cattle and collecting their manure was impractical One conventional coffee grower used bat guano as fertilizer and his reported yields were among the highest and most stable Only large coffee growers pay for soil analysis to have reliable information on the right fertilizer to use Organic coffee growers did not use soil analysis because they mostly relied on using fertilizer they produced via compost bocashi or Iumbrihumus worm compost 125 Larger farms reported higher yields This is not surprising since owners of these farms probably spend more per ha of planted coffee in inputs and labor I did not find significant differences in yields between organic and conventional farms of comparable size Apparently many coffee growers were still suffering the consequences of the recent crisis in coffee prices and this may also explain the wide range in yields reported Our sample size also prevented us from conducting a more robust analysis of differences among farm subgroups Coffee growers are not
163. t they favorite place was near water holes and streams to protect water sources Highland areas were also considered important as well as steep slopes Fig 3 25 Note that these responses are not mutually exclusive and most interviewees mentioned more than one location The next sets of questions were presented as statements to rate on a Likert scale These were Is it better to convert forest fragments into coffee plantations Is it better to convert forest fragments into pastures and Is it better to convert forest fragments into other crops Most agronomists disagree with converting forest fragments to coffee plantations pastures or other crops Fig 3 26 Responses of policy makers were quite similar to those of agronomist in this set of questions and most of them disagree with the notion of replacing forest fragment with coffee plantations pastures or other crops Fig 3 27 Two additional statements followed during the interview It will be better to expand the area covered with forest and presence of forest increases coffee yields In the first case most agronomists agreed On the statement linking forests and coffee yields the results were more divided but still the majority of agronomist agreed Fig 3 26 Policy makers agreed that these forest fragments should be expanded although 112 only 50 agreed with the statement that forest fragments help to increase coffee yields Fig 3 27
164. t will you do to save money when coffee sells at a low price Three responses ranked the highest with most coffee growers stating that they would give overall less maintenance to the coffee plantation while many fewer indicated that they would do 107 nothing different and a smaller group stated that they would abandon the plantation altogether Fig 3 17 Yields quality and pollination To improve the quality of their coffee coffee growers indicated that improving wet processing facilities would be most useful followed by applying more fertilizer and renewing old plantations Fig 3 18 To improve their yields coffee growers preferred to use more fertilizer and renew plantations Fig 3 18 In this context I asked as an open question What makes coffee flowers turn into good quality beans I wanted to measure the level of awareness of the role of bees in coffee pollination I received 119 responses with the most common response being apply enough fertilizer followed by receive the right amount of rainfall and timely fumigation Bees as pollination agents were only mentioned once Fig 3 19 I compared reported annual coffee yields from 3 harvest cycles 2004 05 2005 06 and 2006 07 and found significant differences between years Friedman s test Y 12 116 d f 2 P 0 002 n 72 Owners of small medium and large farms reported annual yields on 3 consecutive harvest cycles that were signif
165. tion 11 1889 1902 SMBC 2000 Shade Management Criteria for Bird Friendly coffee Taken from www nationalzoo si edu ConservationAndScience MigratoryBirds Coffee crit eria cfm Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Washington D C SMBC 2002 Norms for Production Processing and Marketing of Bird Friendly Coffee Taken from 177 www nationalzoo si edu ConservationAndScience MigratoryBirds Coffee Cer tification Norms English_1 pdf Soto Pinto L I Perfecto J Castillo Hernandez and J Caballero Nieto 2000 Shade effect on coffee production at the northern Tzeltal zone of the state of Chiapas Mexico Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment 80 61 69 Soto Pinto L I Perfecto amp J Caballero Nieto 2002 Shade over coffee Its effects on berry borer leaf rust and spontaneous herbs in Chiapas Mexico Agroforestry Systems 55 37 45 Staver C F Guharay D Monterroso and R G Muschler 2001 Designing pest suppressive multistrata perennial crop systems Shade grown coffee in Central America Agroforestry Systems 53 151 170 Stevens W D C Ulloa Ulloa O Pool and O M Montiel eds 2001 Flora de Nicaragua Monographs in Systematic Botany 85 3 vols 2666 p Stiles F G and A F Skutch 1989 A guide to the birds of Costa Rica Cornell University Press Ithaca New York Sustainable Agriculture Network 2005a Sustainable Agriculture Standard Rainforest Alliance San Jos Costa Rica
166. tions to our policy makers to have a better understanding of future trends in the coffee sector Most of them disagreed 75 with the idea of expanding coffee cultivation or giving incentives to expand coffee production 75 Nevertheless there was no clear agreement on whether there was a tendency to increase coffee plantation area nationwide Although policy makers expressed the sense that nationwide there is a trend toward producing more shade grown coffee 75 no one expressed an expectation that production of sun coffee would increase Most policy makers were of the opinion that there is a national trend toward increasing organic production 65 improving coffee quality and increasing yields 120 When policy makers were asked about specific regions with the greatest potential to expand coffee cultivation and those where it is not profitable to grow coffee 50 responded with names and locations of specific regions Areas with potential to expand coffee cultivation were all located in the highlands in departments such Jinotega Matagalpa and Nueva Segovia The argument was expressed that these are the best areas to grow highland coffee also know SHG Strictly High Grown and SHB Strictly Hard Bean in the specialty coffee sector Conversely areas mentioned were it is not profitable to grow coffee were all situated at less than 800 m above sea level in the Pacific Region The coffee variety considered in all cases is highland arabica
167. tudy was conducted between March and May 2007 Nicaragua provides a convenient location to test our hypotheses because of the prevalent use of shade trees in both organic and conventional coffee plantations Official figures indicate that 96 of the coffee is cultivated under some kind of shade Magfor 2003 The number of farms that produce organic coffee is still small less than 2 but their numbers have been increasing steadily in the last decade The Northern Highlands account for 80 of the area under coffee cultivation and more than 90 of the production in Nicaragua IICA 2004 Historically coffee plantations have been established in an altitudinal belt between 800 and 1800 m in areas that once were covered with cloud forest The western part of this region known as Las Segovias has remarkably diverse vegetation soils and climate Pure stands of highland pine forest Pinus maximinoi H E Moore and Pinus tecunumanii Eguiluz amp J P Perry dominate mountain ridges and areas with sandy soils in the north and western parts Stevens et al 2001 At lower elevations mixed pine Pinus spp oak Quercus spp forest alternate with pure oak formations except in valleys where a rain shadow less than 500 mm yr favors more xeric vegetation dominated by acacias Acacia pennatula Cham amp Schltdl In the past cloud forest covered most of the central and eastern part where organic rich soils and wetter climate 2000 mm yr are common
168. uit trees Trees that can be used for firewood are favored mainly because many fix nitrogen e g Inga spp Even though coffee growers preferred trees that can be pruned easily I suspect that very few small and medium coffee growers actually regulate shade in their plantations and that could also explain why small farms reported higher shade levels Local trees were preferred over introduced species and their list of five favorite trees confirmed that Guaba Extranjera probably Inga paterno and Bucaro Erythrina poeppigiana were the only non local trees mentioned by coffee growers A number of Guaba species Inga spp dominated their choice of shade trees Interestingly 122 several species of non domestic avocados Ocotea spp among others were preferred over fruit trees The main reason given to keep them as shade was to attract birds I tallied Bananas Musa spp as trees because for many coffee growers they play a similar role to trees Nevertheless they were not chosen as a good shade species for most coffee growers although there is also the possibility that some coffee growers did not mention them because they are not trees Agronomist s choices and opinions about shade trees and levels of shade were very similar to those of coffee growers They tended to choose more fruit oranges and timber trees with highly price timber for shade such as Cedro Real Cedrella odorata Granadillo Dalbergia cubilquitzensis Laurel Cor
169. uld not be an issue for agronomists and policy makers who are probably more used to being interviewed and thus I made greater use of this format in surveys customized for them 92 The primary survey for farmers Appendix A was modified slightly to interview technicians and extensionists that provide technical advice and training to farmers Appendix B This survey group included coffee certifiers and field technicians working in agricultural projects related to coffee to get a better understanding of the similarities and differences between their ideas and those of the farmers on the role of shade trees and forest fragments in the management of coffee plantations By comparing responses of the technicians and farmers similarities between the groups were explored to give insights into future national trends in the coffee sector A third survey was administered to decision makers and government officials in charge of the coffee sector Appendix C These include managers of certification agencies coffee grower associations and officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Magfor and the Ministry of Industry These decision makers are responsible for policy design and implementation oversight of certification schemes and coordination with donor agencies that provide the resources needed to implement these policies Accordingly this survey incorporated a number of specific questions for this group alone Most of these interview
170. ut their predictions for future changes in the coffee sector expansion of coffee areas changes in yields and quality changes in coffee cultivation etc Statistical analysis Respondents were aggregated by type of respondent coffee grower technician policy maker and by size of farm but no identifying information was included in any analyses Because coffee growers with different sized farms might have different views and respond to different pressures I grouped coffee grower responses into those holding three size classes of farms representing small lt 10 ha medium 10 100 ha and large gt 100 ha land holding coffee growers I used basic descriptive statistics to present our results I compared the attitudes of coffee growers and technicians using single factor ANOVA When our data distribution violated parametric assumptions I used square root transformations or ran non parametric tests Mann Whitney U Friedman s or Kruskal Wallis sign test I explored relationships between variables using linear logistic regression The level of significance to commit a type I error was set at 0 05 for all our tests Means are provided with standard error 98 RESULTS Profiles of interviewees I interviewed 83 coffee growers 52 agronomists and agricultural technicians and 20 experts and policy makers Their coffee plantations are in San Juan del Rio Coco and Quibuto Department of Madriz 31 Dipilto and Jalapa Dep of
171. versity Press London 127 p Hecht S B S S Saatchi 2007 Globalization and forest resurgence Changes in forest cover in El Salvador BioScience 57 663 672 Hill E F and V H Mendenhall 1980 Secondary poisoning of barn owls with famphur an organophosphate insecticide Journal of Wildlife Management 44 676 681 Hughes J B C D Gretchen and P R Ehrlich 2002 Conservation of tropical forest birds in countryside habitats Ecology Letters 5 121 129 IFOAM 1996 IFOAM basic standards for organic agriculture and processing and guidelines for coffee cocoa and tea Evaluation of inputs IICA 2004 Cadena Agroindustrial del Caf en Nicaragua IICA Nicaragua 77 p James F and S Rathbun 1981 Rarefaction relative abundance and diversity of avian communities Auk 98 785 800 171 Jim nez Avila E amp A D Golberg 1982 Estudios Ecol gicos del Agroecosistema cafetalero III Efecto de diferentes estructuras vegetales sobre el balance hidrico del cafetal Pp 39 54 In E Jim nez Avila amp A Gomez Pompa Eds Estudios Ecol gicos en el Agroecosistema Cafetalero Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bi ticos Xalapa Veracruz M xico Johnson M D 2000 Effects of shade tree species and crop structure on the winter arthropod and bird communities in a Jamaican shade coffee plantation Biotropica 32 133 145 Jones J P Ramoni Perazzi E H Carruthers and R J Robertson 20
172. wledge that the size of these filters can only handle a fraction of the waste water they produce Fig 3 15 Only a minority of coffee growers reused waste water as fertilizer and still a significant number either discharge it directly to a nearby stream or let it run freely off the farm Fig 3 16 106 Organic and non organic coffee growers differed somewhat in their management of agricultural waste All coffee growers who acknowledged discarding wastewater into streams or letting it run freely own conventional non organic farms however none of the organic coffee growers carried out such practices In total one in four conventional coffee growers follow these practices In addition the majority of coffee growers using coffee pulp as fertilizers were organic coffee growers whereas four of the five coffee growers that indicated that they do not use coffee pulp as fertilizer have non organic farms Changes in farm management Coffee prices oscillate dramatically worldwide and I wanted to know how those price oscillations affected farm management I presented an open question allowing multiple choices per respondent How will you invest your money if you receive a good price for your coffee Coffee growers stated that they would choose to improve infrastructure usually the wet processing facilities or to establish new plantations Fig 3 17 An opposite scenario was presented one very well known by all coffee growers Wha
173. y farmers As coffee is the most important agricultural commodity in many developing countries governments devote considerable energy and resources to promote its cultivation Experts and policy advisors play a crucial role shaping national policies for the coffee sector and their opinion influence how international agencies and national governments allocate resources to promote sound practices Because of that their opinions may foresee trends in the coffee sector One of the tools frequently used to assess agricultural trends in land use and public perception are surveys In agriculture they have been use to assess the acceptability of agricultural technology transfer government policies and market trends In the coffee sector surveys have been used to understand farmers perceptions of pests Segura et al 2004 knowledge of shade trees Albertin amp Nair 2004 Grossman 87 2003 Bentley et al 2004 and strategies for coffee production of small scale farmers Westphal 2002 Information gathered by surveys can be used to assess how perceptions among coffee growers technicians and policy makers may influence current and future agricultural practices in coffee plantations and the conservation of remaining forest fragments In this case I are particularly interested in evaluating the impact of the specialty coffee industry organic shade grown fair trade and high quality coffee on the conservation of forest fragme
174. y conducted in Nicaragua among coffee growers agronomists and policy makers in the coffee sector Both organic and conventional farmers are well aware of the environmental benefits of growing coffee under shade and preserving forest fragments Medium to large farm owners maintain as much area under coffee cultivation as they have forest Small farm owners prefer denser shade levels than medium and large farm owners but the preference for shade grown cultivation was almost unanimous Agronomists and policy makers supported forest fragment preservation and growing coffee under shade At the same time they favored certifying coffee grown inside protected areas as a tool to control pesticide use and expansion of coffee plantations This presents an important challenge for certification agencies that in theory do not endorse coffee grown within protected areas Results indicate that priority be given to encourage farmers to grow coffee under diverse shade Strict organic standards should not be a prerequisite to certify coffee as bird friendly Additional attention should be given to the landscape setting in particular the maintenance of forested patches This approach is critical in areas where coffee is grown adjacent to the last fragments of cloud forests in the highlands of Central America TABLE OF CONTENTS page A OT 11 TAStOP TALES 7 RA E A AN DAS iv Chapter 1 Does Organic Certification Influence Tree Cover Composition in Coffee Plantatio
175. year Fungal infestation was mainly concentrated in plots where the hybrid coffee variety known as Catimor a cross between leaf rust resistant Timor and Caturra coffee had been planted although other varieties were also affected Shade levels were not different between organic and conventional farms infested with M citricolor Nested ANOVA Effect Test Infestation w M citricolor F 0 004 p 0 952 Farm name Infestation w M citricolor Fs3 33 31 p lt 0 001 When comparing farms infested with M citricolor vs non infested farms regardless of farming method I found that farms that were not infested with M citricolor had significantly higher shade levels Nested ANOVA Effect Test Infestation w M citricolor F 6 021 p 0 022 Farm name Infestation w M citricolor F2 7 534 p lt 0 001 As a whole farms infested with M citricolor had an average shade level of 38 while non infested farms averaged 62 Some differences emerge when the analysis was performed within farming method In conventional farms infested plots averaged 40 shade cover versus 60 in non 13 infested plots although these differences are not statistically significant when I control for variation at the farm level Nested ANOVA Effect Test Infestation w M citricolor F 1 299 p lt 0 276 Farm name Infestation w M citricolor Fio 6 362 p lt 0 001 However within organic farms infested plots average 37 shade c
176. ythrina f poeppigiana Musaceae Erythrina Inga spp poeppigiana t d 1 choice 2 choice Inga spp Other d s 3 choice Erythrina oeppigiana Citrus trees di Wild avocados Musaceae th Timber trees th 4 choice Inga spp 5 choice Musaceae Other Erythrina poeppigiana Timber trees Citrus trees Musaceae Wild avocados Wild avocados Timber trees Citrus trees Figure 3 8 Best 5 trees in coffee plantation according to coffee growers 138 Other choice 7 2 choice Citrus trees Timber trees Musaceae Wild avocados Erythrina poeppigiana Timber trees Inga spp Musaceae Inga spp Erythrina Other Inga spp Other fruit trees 3 choice Erythrina poeppigiana Citrus trees Inga spp Wild avocados Timber trees Musaceae 4 choice Inga spp Other fruit trees Erythrina poeppigiana Citrus trees Timber trees Wild avocados Citrus trees Musaceae 5 choice Wild avocados Timber trees Figure 3 9 Best 5 trees in coffee plantation according to agronomists 139 Aesthetics 3 J plant coffee Pleasure 5 5 Firewood amp Timber extraction 5 Microclimate 16 Figure 3 10 Reasons given by coffee growers to keep forest fragments 140 Lack of Resources 6 want to preserve it 48 Not Appropriate 6 Forest into coffee plantations Not Appropriate 6 Forest into pasture

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