Landscape trends and biodiversity dynamics of coffee agroforestry systems in the Western Ghats (India)

Garcia Claude A., Nanaya Konerira M., Rani Poornika, Chinnappa Karun, Raghuramulu Yenugula, Kushalappa Cheppudira G., Vaast Philippe. 2014. Landscape trends and biodiversity dynamics of coffee agroforestry systems in the Western Ghats (India). In : Abstracts of the 3rd World Congress of Agroforestry 'Trees for life: accelerating the impact of agroforestry' : abstracts. Wachira Mary Anne (ed.), Rabar Betty (ed.), Magaju Christine (ed.), Borah Gulshan (ed.). Nairobi : WCA [Nairobi], Résumé, 305. ISBN 92-9059-372-5 World Congress on Agroforestry, Delhi, Inde, 10 Février 2014/14 Février 2014.

Résumé : The district of Kodagu in India produces 2% of the world's coffee in complex agroforestry systems nested between rice fields and forests. The development of coffee was done at the expenses of the predominantly privately or family-owned forest, 30% of which was lost over the last 30 years. However, landscape level dynamics no longer happen at the forest/farm interface as all but the smallest forest fragments or the state-controlled forests have now been converted to coffee. Today, environmental change is happening within the plantations with market incentives and technological alternatives driving farmers to more intensive modes of production. The impact of this intensification on biodiversity is difficult to document with remote sensing alone and requires intensive field data collection. Here, we present an in-depth analysis of the structure and composition of the canopy cover of the coffee agroforestry systems of Kodagu. We sampled 515 blocks randomly distributed over 114 plantations. In each block, we sampled up to 50 canopy trees (30 cm minimum gbh) following a variable area transect method. Our 20 000 trees database highlights two trends in the management of the plantations. Farmers (i) have a wide range of management practices, adjusting tree density and cover to suit their production strategy, and (ii) change the composition of the canopy, replacing the biodiversity rich canopy cover sheltering coffee plants with Grevillea robusta, a fast growing timber species. While these trends were suggested by previous interviews with local stakeholders, this is the first time that they are shown and quantified at the landscape level. We demonstrate how individual choices made by farmers at plot level have an impact on the distribution of biodiversity at landscape level, suggesting that interactions across scales need to be taken into account to devise efficient management strategies to mainstream biodiversity conservation in production landscapes.

Classification Agris : F08 - Systèmes et modes de culture
K10 - Production forestière
P01 - Conservation de la nature et ressources foncières

Auteurs et affiliations

• Garcia Claude A., CIRAD-ES-UPR BSef (CHE) ORCID: 0000-0002-7351-0226
• Nanaya Konerira M., ETH (CHE)
• Rani Poornika, UAS (IND)
• Chinnappa Karun, UAS (IND)
• Raghuramulu Yenugula, Central Coffee Board (IND)
• Kushalappa Cheppudira G., UAHS (IND)
• Vaast Philippe, CIRAD-PERSYST-UMR Eco&Sols (KEN)

Source : Cirad - Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/574737/)

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