weed complexes in coffee plantations included some 17 species of Poaceae, 7
Cyperaceae, and 42 other broadleaf species (Garcia 1988). In Puriscal, Costa
Rica, 84 species were recorded in the weed complex in four small coffee plan-
tations (Mora-Delgado and Acosta 2001).
Although the management of ground cover as habitat for beneficial
organisms has been successfully included in pest management strategies in
citrus and nut tree plantations (Bugg and Waddington 1994), most coffee
pests are highly specific to the coffee plant itself or to other tree species
(Staver et al. 2001), so the potential for direct interactions with ground
cover species is reduced. Plant parasitic nematodes of coffee such as the
root-knot nematode Meloidogynemay have alternative hosts in the ground
cover layer.
Farther up the food web, parasitoids of the coffee berry borer (Hypothen-
emus hampei) feed on flower nectar for survival while they search for berry
borer larvae, suggesting that the ground cover could be managed to promote
flowering during critical periods of the parasitoid life cycle. A dipterous
larva has been identified that feeds on rust spores on the weed species Alter-
nanthera pubifloraand also on coffee rust spores (C. Staver, pers. obs.,
2002). These are indicative of other interactions that may occur but remain
to be studied.
Ve rtebrates in Coffee Ecosystems
A significant amount of research has been devoted to studying the fauna in
coffee plantations; indeed, coffee agroecosystems probably are the best studied
of all agroforestry systems in terms of their biodiversity. A wide variety of ani-
mals use or visit shaded coffee plantations, including birds, bats and other
mammals, insects, and reptiles. Many of the animals that use shaded coffee
plantations depend heavily on the tree component and other flora as food
resources, nesting, mating, and foraging sites, shelter, or habitat; the monospe-
cific coffee layer itself, with its low structural complexity, provides few
resources and is of only limited habitat value for a few species (Perfecto et al.
1996). In addition to the trees themselves, the occasionally diverse communi-
ties of epiphytes on tree trunks and branches may offer a wide variety of
microhabitats for both plants and animals.
A subset of mammal species may take refuge in coffee plantations, although
many of these species depend on other habitats for their survival. For example,
studies in Mexico reported a total of 24 large mammal species, including three
types of cats (Gallina et al. 1996), in shaded coffee systems. In Costa Rica, 15
mammal species were found in a shaded coffee plantation (J. Gonzalez, unpub-
lished data, 2000). The mammals recorded in shaded coffee plantations include
agoutis (Dasyprocta punctata), anteaters (Tamandua mexicana), bats (various
species), coatis (Nasua narica), coyotes (Canis latrans), howler monkeys
- Biodiversity Conservation in Neotropical Coffee Plantations 211