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Bird diversity and abundance on two different shade coffee plantations in Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Lorena Calvo  and
John Blake
Lorena Calvo
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-St Louis, Department of Biology, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., St Louis, MO 63121, U.S.A..
John Blake
Affiliation:
University of Missouri-St Louis, Department of Biology, 8001 Natural Bridge Rd., St Louis, MO 63121, U.S.A., email: [email protected].
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Summary

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Many studies have examined differences in bird communities between shade and sun coffee plantations but less is known about how different management practices within shade coffee plantations affect bird populations. This study compares diversity and abundance of resident and migrant birds in two shade coffee plantations located in Palajunoj, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, that differ in their farming practices (e.g. pruning schedules and fertilizer regimes) and, consequently, in vegetation structure. One plantation represents a traditional, polyculture shade system whereas the second represents a more modernized, monoculture shade system. Both plantations supported many resident and migrant birds. Bird abundance and diversity were significantly greater during both wet and dry seasons on the traditional farm, due largely to the vegetation structure resulting from the different management practices. All plantations typically classified as ‘shade coffee’ are not equivalent, much of their conservation value coming from the more diverse and structurally complex traditional polycultures rather than from the newer, monocultural systems. Coffee production techniques that affect the structural and floristic diversity of the vegetation (e.g. pruning, application of chemicals) have important consequences for birds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 8 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 297 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1998

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