Ecological and Economic Services Provided by Birds on Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Farms

Kellermann, Jherime L.; Johnson, Matthew D.; Stercho, Amy M.; Hackett, Steven C.

doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00968.x

Cited by 183 publications

(202 citation statements)

References 49 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…If this higher production can offset yield lost on land protected for biodiversity, then sun coffee paired with preserved forest fragments may constitute land sparing. Despite a strong pattern suggesting that shade coffee supports greater biodiversity than sun monocultures (Armbrecht and Perfecto 2003, Philpott and Armbrecht 2006, Raman 2006, Kellermann et al 2008, Philpott et al 2012, there is no clear consensus regarding the effects of land sharing versus land sparing management strategies on biodiversity, in part because few studies have examined the differences explicitly (but see Phalan et al 2011 andChandler et al 2013). In addition, surrounding habitats can play a role, with adjacent forest being found to exert a stronger influence on bird populations than farm attributes such as the presence of shade trees (Bátary et al 2011).…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The inclusion of shade trees could prompt a numerical response in both birds and ants foraging in coffee (Kellermann et al 2008, Van Bael et al 2008, Philpott et al 2009), reflecting the tendency of predators to aggregate in areas of high prey density (Godfray and Pacala 1992). Alternatively, higher pest removal with increasing shade cover may be due to a functional response, whereby birds are more likely to detect and consume large and profitable prey like caterpillars when they can search for them from above.…”

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the few studies examining direct effects, pest control was positively associated with measures of vegetation complexity Armbrecht 2006, Armbrecht andGallego 2007), had no relationship with measures of vegetation (Kellermann et al 2008, Philpott et al 2009 or was actually negatively correlated with vegetation complexity, potentially due to higher ambient levels of pests in sun coffee (Johnson et al 2010). Coffee berry borer abundance did decrease with greater levels of forest cover on farms in Costa Rica (Karp et al 2013) and a simulation model based on data from Jamaican coffee farms found that the presence of forest patches decreased coffee berry borer infestations, but only until up to a certain amount of forested area (Railsback and Johnson 2014).…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Birds are highly mobile and, with over 50% of all species primarily insectivorous, are ideal providers of pest control services (Wenny et al 2011). Birds have been shown to decrease insects in a variety of systems (Bock et al 1992, Mols and Visser 2002, Kellermann et al 2008, Jedlicka et al 2011, Karp et al 2013. Furthermore, studies have shown that birds not only reduce pest populations, but that plants respond with higher levels of productivity (Whelan et al 2008, Mooney et al 2010.…”

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies examining avian control of coffee pests in other regions of the world have focused on coffee berry borer, as it is one of the most prevalent and destructive pests of coffee (Kellermann et al 2008, Karp et al 2013). However, low infestation rates of coffee berry borer in the study region rendered this line of inquiry impractical.…”

Section: Sentinel Pest Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying pest control services by birds and ants in Kenyan coffee farms

Milligan

Johnson

Garfinkel

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

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QUANTIFYING PEST CONTROL SERVICES BY BIRDS AND ANTS IN KENYAN COFFEE FARMS Megan MilliganEcosystem services, such as pest control and pollination, are critical benefits of biodiversity necessary for agricultural production. Predators, including insectivorous birds and ants, can provide important biological controls in agroecosystems, boosting crop yield and helping to offset the need for expensive inputs such as pesticides. With agricultural demand projected to increase in the future, two broad management strategies, termed land sparing and land sharing, have been proposed to conserve biodiversity while still meeting increased agricultural demand. Understanding the related impacts of habitat and landscape characteristics on the delivery of ecosystem services can better inform managers seeking to promote these benefits of biodiversity. In order to better understand these relationships, I conducted a sentinel pest experiment to investigate predation levels in response to a novel pest on coffee farms in central Kenya. The frequency of predation decreased significantly with increasing distance from adjacent forest fragments and was correlated with bird species richness. Predation was also significantly higher on shade compared to sun coffee farms. The mechanism through which the bird and ant communities are effecting pest removal is less clear, but encouraging particular preferential predators could positively influence pest control. In conclusion, a land sharing approach, via both the integration of shade trees and the conservation of small ii forest fragments within a farm, can support increased levels of pest control services provided by both birds and ants in Kenyan coffee farms.iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: List Of Tablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Sentinel Pest Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantifying pest control services by birds and ants in Kenyan coffee farms

Milligan

Johnson

Garfinkel

et al. 2016

Biological Conservation

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A model of coffee berry borer population growth and susceptibility to control by birds

Muccio,

Crone,

Reed

2024

Population Ecology

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Insectivorous birds can provide ecological and economic services by decreasing pest populations in agricultural systems, but the magnitude of effect is often debated. We modeled the capacity for birds to suppress pest population growth using a common tropical coffee pest, the coffee berry borer (CBB) (Hypothenemus hampei) as a study system. Previous field experiments show that birds play a role in suppressing CBB infestations through predation, but the degree to which birds can suppress population growth enough to control infestations is unknown since CBB are only vulnerable to predators when gravid females disperse. Using previously published data on CBB life‐stage survivability, we constructed a female‐only, daily time‐step, deterministic Leslie matrix and projected CBB population growth for a single breeding season. Our goal was to assess the plausibility of CBB suppression by birds as a function of avian energy requirements, reported avian densities on coffee farms, prey composition of avian diets, estimated a caloric value of CBB, and the initial starting population size. Our model showed CBB population growth became exponential (λdaily = 1.042) and that at low, but not medium or high population sizes, were birds able to reduce population growth by 50%. In general, birds exert predation pressure on insect populations, but the ability to control infestations is complex, and is likely dependent on the initial CBB population size.

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