Robert Rice

Smithsonian Institution · Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) is cultivated throughout the tropics and is essential to local economies. Globally, most Arabica coffee is farmed in high-density monocultures despite evidence that agroforestry systems with shade trees can increase resiliency of coffee productivity and associated livelihoods. Open questions remain, however, on how A...

Coffea arabica is a highly traded commodity worldwide, and its plantations are habitat to a wide range of organisms. Coffee farmers are shifting away from traditional shade coffee farms in favor of sun-intensive, higher yield farms, which can impact local biodiversity. Using plant-associated microorganisms in biofertilizers, particularly fungi coll...

Studies in coffee agroecosystems often focus on the conservation and environmental benefits of this managed novel habitat, but rarely examine the socioeconomic benefit of the shade tree products themselves to coffee farmers. An examination of Blue Mountain coffee farmers along an elevation gradient within the Yallahs River watershed saw several tre...

Land converted to coffee agriculture occupies >5 million hectares of what was once prime overwintering natural habitat in the American Neotropics for migrating birds. When tree canopy is retained or restored (i.e., shade-grown), coffee farms can serve as habitat refuge for wildlife. Yet few studies have examined whether canopy tree identity impacts...

Coffee producers face a host of challenges linked to climate change, a situation especially evident in much of Latin America. Recent publications and the results of an informal survey presented here confirm that growers now confront rising temperatures, distorted rain patterns, and increased problems with pests and disease – all of which threaten p...

Biodiversity-friendly coffee certifications offer a viable way to protect wildlife habitat while providing a financial incentive to farmers. Most studies related to these certifications focus on avian habitat requirements and it is not known whether these standards also apply to other wildlife, such as mammals, that inhabit the coffee landscapes. W...

The Neotropical region harbors the world's most diverse terrestrial plant communities. A key component of this diversity is a range of plant– animal interactions involving frugivory, nectarivory, and insectivory. Millions of Neotropical hectares subjected to human land-use systems contain trees that are either planted by land managers or retained f...

Sustained pollinator services within coffee farms depend substantially on a diverse bee community. While studies have been conducted to understand the impacts of forest proximity and farm level management on pollinators, few have examined the interaction between these two spatial scales. We surveyed pollinator communities within 18 sites on a large...

Hemileia vastatrix caused a severe epidemic in Central America in 2012-13. The gradual development of that epidemic on nearly a continental scale suggests that dispersal at different scales played a significant role. Shade has been proposed as a way of reducing uredospore dispersal. The effect of shade (two strata: Erythrina poeppigiana below and C...

Certified tropical agricultural products promoting ‘environmentally friendly’ farming practices form a growing part of mainstream markets and international sustainable development investments. Certified sustainable coffee accounts for more than 9 per cent of international coffee sales and is projected to increase to 18 per cent by 2015. Although de...

Recent years have shown an impressive and growing concern about sustainable production of food, fiber and oil crops. As more crops become incorporated into the sustainability realm, which often involves a certification of prescribed production methods/conditions, lessons can be learned from sectors with extant sustainability initiatives. For biofue...

Voluntary sustainability standards and certification offer a promising mechanism to mitigate the severe negative impacts of agricultural expansion and intensification on tropical biodiversity. From a conservation standpoint, certification of tropical agroforestry crops, especially coffee and cocoa, is of particular interest given the potentially hi...

In the past three decades, coffee cultivation has gained widespread attention for its crucial role in supporting local and global biodiversity. In this synthetic Overview, we present newly gathered data that summarize how global patterns in coffee distribution and shade vegetation have changed and discuss implications for biodiversity, ecosystem se...

In the United States, government-mandated growth in the production of crops dedicated to biofuel (agrofuels) is predicted to increase the demands on existing agricultural lands, potentially threatening the persistence of populations of grassland birds they support. We review recently published literature and datasets to (1) examine the ability of a...

Increased production of bioenergy crops in North America is projected to exacerbate already heavy demands upon existing agricultural landscapes with potential to impact biodiversity negatively. Grassland specialist birds are an imperilled avifauna for which perennial-based, next-generation agroenergy feedstocks may provide suitable habitat. We take...

Agroforestry systems often receive attention and support in the literature for what is perceived as the benefits from multiple products associated with the trees that create the “forest” component of the setting. A comparison of small coffee growers’ use of fruits derived from the coffee agroforestry holding in Guatemala and Peru reveals that signi...

Cultivation, processing, and consumption of coffee are dynamic processes that connect coffee farmers and agro-ecosystems with coffee drinkers spanning the globe. As a cash crop, coffee cultivation gained popularity in the Old and then the New world, and flourished under colonial regimes of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Coffee production pat...

Compared to the environmental and conservation value as refuges for biodiversity, less is known about the social and economic value of shaded coffee systems. The agroforestry system can serve as a source of non-coffee products for diverse purposes. This study focuses on the role of shade trees in smallholder coffee farms, examining the wood product...

Agroecology and conservation must overlap to protect biodiversity and farmer livelihoods. Coffee agroecosystems with complex shade canopies protect biodiversity. Yet, few have examined biodiversity in coffee agroecosystems in Asia relative to the Americas and many question whether coffee agroecosystems can play a similar role for conservation. We e...

Coffee agroecosystems are critical to the success of conservation efforts in Latin America because of their ecological and economic importance. Coffee certification programs may offer one way to protect biodiversity and maintain farmer livelihoods. Established coffee certification programs fall into three distinct, but not mutually exclusive catego...

In the highlands of Chiapas, southern Mexico, soil texture and soil chemical properties were measured in 70 agricultural fields covering a range of slope positions and managements. Fields represented four corn cropping systems: long fallow, short fallow, pasture–cultivation rotation, and annual continuous cultivation, in addition to fallow at rest...

In their Policy Forum “Caffeine and Conservation” (25 April, p. [587][1]), T. G. O'Brien and M. F. Kinnaird outline how coffee-price crashes act against tropical wildlife conservation. They argue that reducing coffee production will improve prices and livelihoods for farmers and that by

The unprecedented high rate of" destruction of natural forests and other natural ecosystem has led scentists to focus on biodiversity conservation in managed landscapes and agroecosystems. Agroforestry Systems renowned for their high tree specis richness and complex vegetation structure, stand out as promising biodiversity conservation tool.

The coffee industry rests upon the production of a global commodity that has grown two-fold in volume and 3.5 times in value since the 1960s, generating in the process billions of annual export dollars. This article discusses coffee's history as a global commodity, and its environmental and social implications. Occupying some 10 million hectares gl...

Social relations associated with conventional agricultural exports find their origins in long term associations based on business, family, and class alliances. Working outside these boundaries presents a host of challenges, especially where small producers with little economic or political power are concerned. Yet, in many developing countries, alt...

Cacao (Theobroma cacao) is a crop of the humid lowland tropics produced largely by small-scale producers and often on farms with a canopy of shade trees. Where a diverse shaded canopy is used, cacao farms support higher levels of biological diversity than most other tropical crops. A host of viral and fungal diseases, loss of soil fertility, and nu...

This article examines recent transformations of the coffee landscape of northern Latin America through the optic of “place as process.” As coffee became the most important regional export crop, its “place” evolved. Coffee lands in northern Latin America now embrace 3.1 million hectares, often contiguous across international borders. Like many agric...

Thís article cxamines,recent transformations of the coffee landscape of north- ern Latin Ame rica through the optic of "place as process." As coffee became,the most impur- tant regional export crop, its "place" evolved. Coffee lands in northern Latin America now embrace 3.1 million hectares, often contiguous across international borders. Like many...

The role of coffee in the land usepatterns and decisions of eastern Chiapas looms as akey ingredient in the social and political relationsof this conflicted area. Data from the municipios of Ocosingo, Altamirano, and Las Margaritas – threedistricts generally associated with the January 1994uprising – reveal similarities and distinctdifferences in l...

Gold mining is inextricably woven in Nicaragua's economic and geographic history. In the following article Robert A Rice analyses this tradition and the efforts of the present government to increase gold production in the midst of a social experiment which goes against the long standing relations between Central and North America.

Without Abstract

The coffee industry rests upon the production of a global commodity that has grown two-fold in volume and 3.5 times in value since the 1960s, generating in the process billions of annual export dollars. This article discusses coffee's history as a global commodity, and its environmental and social implications. Occupying some 10 million hectares gl...