How does landscape context influence pollination by wild bees in coffee landscapes?
Spencer, Leslie C.
2021
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Animal-mediated pollination is a crucial ecosystem service in almost all terrestrial ecosystems, including agroecosystems. Across the globe, particularly in the tropical forest biome, tension lies between biodiversity conservation and agricultural expansion because these regions hold globally significant biodiversity. Agricultural intensification poses a threat to wildlife, pollinators in particular. ... read moreI focus on coffee in Costa Rica as my case study system because 1) coffee yields can be significantly impacted by bee pollinators and 2) the high-quality coffee grown in Costa Rica is critically important to their culture and economy. Coffee is an incredibly valuable agricultural commodity grown in the tropics that supports millions of small farmers’ livelihoods. Also, Costa Rican coffee is farmed along a spectrum of management strategies – from shady, low-input agroforests, to sunny chemically-intensive monocultures – which impact pollinator communities and the services they provide to the crop. This diversity in management strategies provides a living laboratory in which the context-dependence of pollination services can be investigated. Since bees increase coffee yield significantly, it provides an incentive to understand how to best manage for pollinator-friendly coffee farms. I use spatial modeling software to create maps that help us understand how we can best predict the location of pollinator-friendly coffee farms.
Advisor: Colin Oriansread less - ID:
- 0k225r32b
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