although the comparisons of biodiversity in sun-grown coffee systems (which
typically have high agrochemical inputs) with shade-grown coffee (with lower
agrochemical inputs) tend to support this idea. It is similarly likely that the
regular and drastic pollarding of shade trees could reduce the plantation’s abil-
ity to support animals.
Finally, the abundance and diversity of fauna in coffee plantations are
likely to be influenced by the overall landscape in which the coffee plantation
is located, particularly the patch size and frequency of forests; the presence of
live fences, windbreaks, dispersed trees, and other remnant vegetation (see
Chapter 11, this volume); the connectivity of the coffee plantation to nearby
forests; and the overall degree of disturbance and degradation in the landscape.
Many of the animals visiting or using coffee plantations probably move
throughout the landscape and depend, at least in part, on resources and habi-
tats outside the coffee plantation (Wunderle and Latta 2000). Consequently,
the abundance and distribution of other habitats in the landscape and their
proximity to the coffee plantations are important. For example, traditional
coffee fields adjacent to a tropical forest had a total of 184 bird species,
whereas a similar coffee plantation isolated from forest remnants had only 82
species (Martinez and Peters 1996), suggesting the importance of forest habi-
tat to the persistence of many bird species. Where shaded coffee plantations
abut natural forests, they may also buffer the natural forests from outside
influences and thereby increase the habitat area for some wildlife species. At
the same time, the presence of trees in coffee plantations may help increase the
overall landscape connectivity, thereby facilitating animal movement to and
from isolated forest patches in the coffee farming matrix. Additional research
is needed to elucidate the role of shaded coffee plantations in conserving bio-
diversity at the landscape scale.
Improving Biodiversity Conservation in Coffee
Plantations
The role of coffee agroforestry systems in conserving biodiversity can be
enhanced by designing and managing the landscape in which the coffee plan-
tation occurs and by increasing the floristic and structural diversity of the
shade canopy. Shaded coffee plantations that have a diverse and structurally
complex tree component have a high potential to retain biodiversity and may
play critical roles in regional conservation efforts. For instance, coffee planta-
tions that are certified as bird-friendly must
•Maintain a minimum of 10 tree species in the shade layer (preferably native
and evergreen species) and a shade cover of at least 40 percent throughout
the year, preferably integrating a mixture of tree species and creating several
strata
- Biodiversity Conservation in Neotropical Coffee Plantations 217