Yale School of Forestry Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies& Environmental Studies

Management practices, Management practices, Productivity and Biodiversity in Productivity and Biodiversity in Coffee Agroforestry Systems in Coffee Agroforestry Systems in

Costa RicaCosta Rica

Esteban Rossi, August 2009. Esteban Rossi, August 2009. Tropical Resources instituteTropical Resources institute

Yale School of Forestry Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies& Environmental Studies

Agroforestry -The future of global land Agroforestry -The future of global land useuse

Sustainable agroforestry?Sustainable agroforestry?

A working definition of sustainable forestry: A working definition of sustainable forestry: ““Sustainable forestry ensures that each ecosystem Sustainable forestry ensures that each ecosystem provides provides its fair share of valuesits fair share of values, neither depriving itself , neither depriving itself or other times and places of the ability to provide or other times and places of the ability to provide values”values” (Oliver, 2003) (Oliver, 2003)

Different people – different valuesDifferent people – different values

www.hsbc.com

Can we manage for multiple values?Can we manage for multiple values?Forests exist in different structures and different Forests exist in different structures and different structures provide different values and provide structures provide different values and provide habitat for different species. The challenge lies in habitat for different species. The challenge lies in finding the finding the fair share of valuesfair share of values, for the ecosystem., for the ecosystem. (Oliver, 2003)(Oliver, 2003)

UNDERSTORY

SAVANNA OPEN

DENSECOMPLEX

NEW SCIENTIFIC PARADIGM:Forests are dynamic. They change with growth and

disturbances. They contain many structures.

(Oliver and O’Hara 2004)

Coffee agroforestry research: Catie, Costa Rica

• Coffee Experimental agroforestry system • Objectives: Increase productivity and quality.• Reduce the need for chemical inputs and reduce

costs.• Describe the long term dynamics of the system.• Establish the guidelines for “sustainable” coffee

production in Costa Rica (Haggar, 2005).

Agroforestry systemmanagement

practices 1. Inputs2. Shade

Coffee beanproductivity &sustainability

AFS biodiversity:flora, fauna,

soil biota?

AF experiment -Incomplete factorial design

Shade tree species:

Chloroleucon euryciclum Erythrina poeppigiana Terminalia amazonia

3 levels: No shade, 1sp & 2spp.

Two kinds of inputs:

Chemical (conventional) Organic

Shade tree species Input type Management Intensity

Erythrina poeppigiana Chemical (conventional) High & Medium

Organic Medium & Low

Terminalia amazonia Chemical High & Medium

Organic Medium & Low

Chloroleucon eurycyclum Chemical Medium intensity

Organic Medium intensity

T. amazonia + C. eurycyclum Chemical Medium intensity

Organic Medium intensity

T. amazonia + E. poeppigiana Chemical Medium intensity

Organic Medium intensity

C. eurycyclum + E. poeppigiana Chemical High & Medium

Organic Medium & Low

Full sun (no shade) Chemical High & Medium

Methods

1. Understory herb diversity surveys: 4m x 4m subplots with 3 replicates per treatment.

Understory herb species richness and abundance.

2. Tree DBH

3.Tree height.

4. Coffee yield data.

Methods

ResultsCommon herb species and number of occurrences. 4 x 4 m sampling plots.

# Family Species Freq

1 Caryophillaceae Drymaria cordata 30

2 Poaceae Paspalum conjugatum 30

3 Rubiaceae Coffea arabica (sapl) 30

4 Apiaceae Spananthe paniculata 27

5 Poaceae Digitatia sanguinalis 27

6 Poaceae Paspalum conjugatum 27

7 Apiaceae Hydrocotyle umbellata 26

8 Rubiaceae Borreria laevis 26

9 Cyperaceae Cyperus tenuis 24

10 Euphorbiaceae Phyllantus niruri 24

11 Cyperaceae Cyperus luzulae 23

12 Cyperaceae Cyperus tenuis 23

13 Leg-Mimosaceae Mimosa pudica 22

14 Cyperaceae Dichromena ciliata 21

15 Leg-Fabaceae Erythrina poeppigiana (sapl) 21

16 Asteraceae Pseudoelephantopus spicatus 20

Taxonomic summary

# Families 27

# Genera >50

# Species 58

Most abundant families

Cyperaceae 8 spp

Poaceae 6 spp

Most abundant genera:

Cyperus

Herb diversity and coffee productivity along the management intensification gradient (2007)

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Historical mean yields of the Coffee AFS grouped for management practices for 2002-2007.Organic treatments: thick lines. Chemical treatments: thin lines.

Coffee productivity and biodiversity grouped by shade type

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Medium intensity management, a good compromise?

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• Organic low T. amazonia collapsed (2009).• Chloroleucon eurycyclum alone and in most

combinations has potential for coffee AFS. • Medium intensity management with different

shade tree species is promising for Coffee AFS in Costa Rica.

• It is possible to manage coffee agroforestry systems for agricultural productivity and biodiversity conservation but…

Lessons and Questions…

Steffan-Dewenter, et al, 2007. PNAS. 104:4973-4978.

Aberdare National Park, Kenya, 2004. Naughton-Treves et al, (2005).

…but “The Devil is in the details”Coffee Agroforestry systemshave the potential to provide multiple values but the details have to be properly understood.

Associated Biodiversity

Associated Biodiversity

Acknowledgements

Montagnini, F., De Melo E. & Elizondo, B. provided help, comments and discussion. This work was supported by the Tropical Resources Institute. Yale F&ES.

Basal area in two-species plots

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Ta Ep CeEp EpTa Ep Ta CeTa Ce CeEp Ep FS EpTa Ta Ce CeTa CeEp Ta CeEp FS Ep

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c-chemical medium

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20Mean coffee yieldMg /ha

Management intensity and shade type

Herb richness

Herb diversity and coffee productivity along the management intensification gradient (2007)

a-organiclow

Hypotheses, mechanisms & procedures in Biodiversity

experiments using synthetic communities

Loreau et al, 2001. Science.

Biodiversity experiments in temperate grasslands

Experimental findings: Minnesota & EU

Hector et al, 1999. Science. Tilman et al, 2006. Nature.

Historical perspective“It has been experimentally proved that if a plot of ground be sown with several distinct genera of grasses, a greater number of plants and a greater weight of dry herbage can thus be raised”. Darwin C, The

Origin of species. (Hector & Hooper, 2002)

The first ecological experiment. Woburn Abbey, UK. 1817.

(Vandermeer, 1989. The ecology of intercropping)

Findings After extensive debate it has been shown that:

• There is a positive, but complex, relation between diversity and productivity. Species composition is also important.

• The combined effects of composition and location can confound the interpretation of results.

• Increased traits- functional diversity groups also influences productivity.

• Community age effects: early dynamics sampling effects, late dynamics niche complementarity.

• Other variables (biotic & abiotic) correlate and affect productivity i.e., water, temperature, soil fertility