Eco-Friendly Coffee Farming

Letters from: Laura Tangley accurately details the need for U.S. consumers to think about how their coffee is produced and the importance of “certified eco-friendly” coffee to the conservation of migratory songbirds (“The case of the missing migrants,” (Research News, [22 Nov., p. 1299][1]). However, we would like to make clear that our ECO-O.K. Coffee Certification Program requires that coffee be grown beneath a diverse canopy of native tree species. ECO-O.K. certifies either organic farms or those that use integrated pest management. When a producer must use agrochemicals to save his or her crop, our standards strictly control the transport, storage, and use of the chemicals, thus reducing threats to the environment and human health. While forested organic coffee farms offer perhaps the best example of bird-friendly production, they occupy only a tiny percentage of coffee-growing lands. The Rainforest Alliance wants to promote large numbers of forested coffee farms in order to have maximum conservation impact. By pursuing this strategy, we believe that we can stop and perhaps even reverse the trend toward damaging, “full-sun” coffee fields. # {#article-title-2} Tangley's commentary concerning the mounting deleterious impact of changing methods of shade usage, or lack thereof, in coffee plantations on migratory bird populations calls attention to my previously published data sets on cicada populations thriving in some Costa Rican coffee plantations ([1][2], [2][3]). Costa Rican coffee plantations, in my experience, support several genera and species of cicadas of varying body size, behaviors, and seasonal emergence patterns. Furthermore, a large percentage of the total cicada fauna of Costa Rica (a total of about 30 species) thrives in those coffee habitats in which various legume trees—especially of the genera Inga , Erythrina , and Pithecollobium —are used as shade cover ([1][2]). Repeated surveys of emerging cicadas in these coffee habitats reveal a discernibly patchy spatial distribution, as indicated by the locations of final molt-cast nymphal skins clustered near these shade trees rather than evenly distributed across the coffee bushes. Cicada nymphs drench sap subterraneously from tree roots for several years before maturing and emerging from the soil for the molt to the winged adult stage. In some instances, the densities of cicada-cast skins in coffee habitats can be considerably higher than in comparable areas of adjacent wet or moist forest habitats. Such data suggest a larger biomass of adult cicadas being present in coffee plantations with legume and other tree shade cover, very likely providing an ample food supply for insectivorous birds. What is especially notable about these patterns is the high numbers of cicadas emerging in Costa Rica's premier coffee-growing zone within the pronounced tropical dry season, a period corresponding to the winter season of the northern hemisphere. Therefore, dry-season cicadas undoubtedly comprise a portion of the diet for migratory bird species inhabiting these areas temporarily as well. 1. 1.[↵][4] 1. A. M. Young , Am. Midl. Nat. 103, 155 (1980); [OpenUrl][5][CrossRef][6][Web of Science][7] J. N.Y. Entomol. Soc. 89, 123 (1981). [OpenUrl][8] 2. 2.[↵][9] 1. A. M. Young , Milw. Publ. Mus. Contrib. Biol. Geol. 40, 1 (1981). [OpenUrl][10] [1]: /lookup/volpage/275/1299 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1. in text" [5]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DAm.%2BMidl.%2BNat.%26rft.volume%253D103%26rft.spage%253D155%26rft.atitle%253DAM%2BMIDL%2BNAT%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.2307%252F2425049%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [6]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.2307/2425049&link_type=DOI [7]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=A1980JD72100017&link_type=ISI [8]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DJ.%2BN.Y.%2BEntomol.%2BSoc.%26rft.volume%253D89%26rft.spage%253D123%26rft.atitle%253DJ%2BNY%2BENTOMOL%2BSOC%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [9]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2. in text" [10]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DMilw.%2BPubl.%2BMus.%2BContrib.%2BBiol.%2BGeol.%26rft.volume%253D40%26rft.spage%253D1%26rft.atitle%253DMILW%2BPUBL%2BMUS%2BCONTRIB%2BBIOL%2BGEOL%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx