https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/10796 Thu, 14 May 2026 07:17:52 GMT 2026-05-14T07:17:52Z https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14339 Environmental-economic benefits and trade-offs on sustainably certified coffee farms Casanoves, Fernando; Haggar, Jeremy; Soto, Gabriela; De Melo Virginio, Elias Coffee with diverse shade trees is recognized as conserving greater biodiversity than more intensive production methods. Sustainable certification has been proposed as an incentive to conserve shade grown coffee. With 40% of global coffee production certified as sustainable, evidence is needed to demonstrate whether certification supports the environmental benefits of shade coffee. Environmental and economic data were taken from 278 coffee farms in Nicaragua divided between non-certified and five different sustainable certifications. Farms were propensity-score matched by altitude, area of coffee and farmer education to ensure comparability between non-certified and certified farms. Farms under all certifications had better environmental characteristics than non-certified for some indicators, but none were better for all indicators. Certified farms generally received better prices than non-certified farms. Farms with different certifications had different investment strategies; C.A.F.E. Practice farms had high investment and high return strategies, while Utz and Organic farms had low investment, low productivity strategies. Tree diversity was inversely related to productivity, price and net revenue in general, but not for certified farms that received higher prices. Certification differentiates farms with better environmental characteristics and management, provides some economic benefits to most farmers, and may contribute to mitigating environment/economic trade-offs. Tue, 01 Aug 2017 00:00:00 GMT https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14339 2017-08-01T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14338 Functional biogeography of oceanic islands and the scaling of functional diversity in the Azores Casanoves, Fernando Analyses of species-diversity patterns of remote islands have been crucial to the development of biogeographic theory, yet little is known about corresponding patterns in functional traits on islands and how, for example, they may be affected by the introduction of exotic species. We collated trait data for spiders and beetles and used a functional diversity index (FRic) to test for nonrandomness in the contribution of endemic, other native (also combined as indigenous), and exotic species to functional-trait space across the nine islands of the Azores. In general, for both taxa and for each distributional category, functional diversity increases with species richness, which, in turn scales with island area. Null simulations support the hypothesis that each distributional group contributes to functional diversity in proportion to their species richness. Exotic spiders have added novel trait space to a greater degree than have exotic beetles, likely indicating greater impact of the reduction of immigration filters and/or differential historical losses of indigenous species. Analyses of species occurring in native-forest remnants provide limited indications of the operation of habitat filtering of exotics for three islands, but only for beetles. Although the general linear (not saturating) pattern of trait-space increase with richness of exotics suggests an ongoing process of functional enrichment and accommodation, further work is urgently needed to determine how estimates of extinction debt of indigenous species should be adjusted in the light of these findings. Tue, 23 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMT https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14338 2014-09-23T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14337 Functional implications of trait-environment linkages in plant communities Casanoves, Fernando; Cabido, Marcelo; Diaz, Sandra In this chapter, three fundamental concepts in community ecology are dealt with: assembly rules, trait-environment linkages, and plant functional types. Although all of them have received considerable attention in the literature, they have been rarely discussed in an integrated way. The detection of general rules underlying observed patterns has been a major aim of community ecology as it grows into an integrated, predictive science (Keddy, 1989; Drake, 1990; Barbault & Stearns, 1991; Grime, 1993). The interest in identifying consistent and predictable associations between plant traits, types of plants, and environmental conditions is an integral part of this search for generalization. These aspects have received renewed interest in the last few years. In the face of the challenges of massive loss of biodiversity and global climate change, accurate predictions are not anymore simply desirable for the sake of'good science'. They have become an urgent need. This chapter is aimed at presenting an approach in which plant traits are used to construct functional types and to identify consistent trait-environment linkages. On this basis, present fundamental community/ecosystem processes can be predicted, as well as their likely shifts under changing climatic conditions. Conceptual issues are first analyzed and empirical studies in the literature summarized concerning assembly rules (in a broad sense), traitenvironment linkages, and functional types. As an illustration of the approach, an example of the operation of environmental conditions as filters/assembly rules on a regional pool of plant traits along a steep climatic gradient is pre-sented. Fri, 01 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14337 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14336 Patterns of animal diversity in different forms of tree cover in agricultural landscapes Casanoves, Fernando As tropical regions are converted to agriculture, conservation of biodiversity will depend not only on the maintenance of protected forest areas, but also on the scope for conservation within the agricultural matrix in which they are embedded. Tree cover typically retained in agricultural landscapes in the neotropics may provide resources and habitats for animals, but little is known about the extent to which it contributes to conservation of animal species. Here, we explore the animal diversity associated with different forms of tree cover for birds, bats, butterflies, and dung beetles in a pastoral landscape in Nicaragua. We measured species richness and abundance of these four animal taxa in riparian and secondary forest, forest fallows, live fences, and pastures with high and low tree cover. We recorded over 20 000 individuals of 189 species including 14 endangered bird species. Mean abundance and species richness of birds and bats, but not dung beetles or butterflies, were significantly different among forms of tree cover. Species richness of bats and birds was positively correlated with tree species richness. While the greatest numbers of bird species were associated with riparian and secondary forest, forest fallows, and pastures with .15% tree cover, the greatest numbers of bat species were found in live fences and riparian forest. Species assemblages of all animal taxa were different among tree cover types, so that maintaining a diversity of forms of tree cover led to conservation of more animal species in the landscape as a whole. Overall, the findings indicate that retaining tree cover within agricultural landscapes can help conserve animal diversity, but that conservation efforts need to target forms of tree cover that conserve the taxa that are of interest locally. Preventing the degradation of remaining forest fragments is a priority, but encouraging farmers to maintain tree cover in pastures and along boundaries may also make an important contribution to animal conservation Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT https://repositorio.catie.ac.cr/handle/11554/14336 2006-10-01T00:00:00Z