Woody species diversity and vegetation structure in managed and abandoned shade coffee ...

54 Pages·2008·2.13 MB·English

Woody species diversity and vegetation structure
in managed and abandoned shade coffee systems in
coastal Oaxaca, Mexico
Laura Asteggiano
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Woody species diversity and
vegetation structure in managed
and abandoned shade coffee systems
in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico
Master thesis
Department of Noragric
University of Life sciences
Supervisors
Dr. Stein Ragnar Moe
Laura Asteggiano
Mariel Aguilar-Støen
II
The Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Noragric, is
the international gateway for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB). Eight
departments, associated research institutions and the Norwegian College of Veterinary
Medicine in Oslo. Established in 1986, Noragric’s contribution to international
development lies in the interface between research, education (Bachelor, Master and
PhD programmes) and assignments.
The Noragric Master theses are the final theses submitted by students in order to fulfil
the requirements under the Noragric Master programme “Management of Natural
Resources and Sustainable Agriculture” (MNRSA), “Development Studies” and other
Master programmes.
The findings in this thesis do not necessarily reflect the views of Noragric. Extracts
from this publication may only be reproduced after prior consultation with the author
and on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation
contact Noragric.
© Asteggiano Laura, May 2008
[email protected]
Noragric
Department of International Environment and Development Studies
P.O. Box 5003
N-1432 Ås
Norway
Tel.: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Internet: http://www.umb.no/noragric
III
Declaration
I, Laura Asteggiano, declare that this thesis is a result of my research investigations and
findings. Sources of information other than my own have been acknowledged and a
reference list has been appended. This work has not been previously submitted to any
other university for award of any type of academic degree.
Signature………………………………..
Date…………………………………
IV
Acknowledgments
I want to express my gratitude to my advisors Dr. Stein Moe and Mariel Aguilar-
Støen, who patiently guided me during the whole research process. I also want to thank
my local advisors Dr. Beatriz Aguilar-Rendón and Dr. Sara Lucia Camargo-Ricalde for
their guidance and support while I was in Mexico as well as for providing me all the
equipment I needed to accomplish the vegetation analysis. I thank the Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) for use of MEXU herbarium and the
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana of Itzapalapa (UAM-I) for use of UAMIZ
herbarium. A special thanks goes to Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas, Rafael Torres
Colín and Jorge Santana for their help in plant identification. I am very grateful to Dr.
Mario Sousa and Clara H. Ramos for having revised my specimens of Leguminosae and
Asteraceae, respectively. Dr. Francisco Lorea and Claudia Gallardo Hernández revised
my specimens of Rubiaceae and Lauraceae and provided important corrections.
I want to thank the community of Candelaria Loxicha and the coffee farmers
because without their contribution this study could not have been realized. Don Adrián
Lionso and Don Fernando Ambrosio were indeed two great field assistants. Thanks
also to the authorities of Candelaria Loxicha, which from time to time drove me up to
the coffee farms in the morning. They definitely reduced the total amount of hours I
had to walk uphill during the whole fieldwork. I want to thank greatly Doña Lupita,
Don Mario Cruz Peralta and my good friend Olga Suárez for having made me feel at
home the whole time of my stay in Candelaria.
Finally, I want to express my deepest gratitude to my parents and to my brothers
because they greatly supported me during this year and, even if from far, they were
always present and willing to listen to my worries and uncertainties.
This study was partly financed by the department of Noragric.
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VI
ERRATUM
The author regrets that on page 3-4 some sources were inadvertently not referred the
correct way and apologizes for any inconvenience that this mistake may have caused.
The paragraph in which corrections took place is here reported.
Unfortunately, the decrease in world coffee prices that occurred in the 1990s
together with the reduction of domestic public support to the agricultural sector around
the same time resulted in a difficult situation for coffee producers (Ponte 2002, Eakin et
al. 2006, Aguilar-Støen et al. forthcoming). At the international level, the coffee market
was restructured, ending the quota system that had prevailed until 1989, and the
subsequent oversupply made coffee prices drop dramatically (Ponte 2002). In the same
years, the state enterprise Mexican Coffee Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Café -
INMECAFE) was dismantled, in part due to changes in the regulation of the
international coffee market and in part due to the restructuring of domestic policies in
Mexico (Aguilar-Støen et al. forthcoming). From 1958 to 1989 INMECAFE was
responsible for providing technical assistance, credit and inputs (i.e. seeds, fertilizers
and pesticides) to small coffee producers in Mexico. INMECAFE also offered a secure
market and stable prices to small coffee producers. After its dismantling, the credit
functions, technical assistance and other inputs it had provided were only partly taken
over by other institutions (Aguilar-Støen et al. forthcoming).
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Table of contents
Declaration………………………………………………………….……………IV
Acknowledgements………………………………………………….…………...V
List of tables……………………………………………………………..………..X
List of figures……………………………………………………………………..X
Abstract……………………………………………………………….…………..1
1. Introduction………………………………………………………….…………3
2. Study site…………………………………………………………….…………5
3. Methods……………………………………………………………….………..7
3.1 Site selection………….………………………………………………...7
3.2 Data collection……………….………………………………………...8
3.3 Data analysis………………………………….………………………..9
3.3.1 Vegetation structure…………………………………………...9
3.3.2 Species richness and diversity………………………………...10
3.3.3 Floristic and physiognomic structure heterogeneity………….10
4. Results…………………………………………………………………………11
4.1 Vegetation structure…………………………………………..……….11
4.2 Species richness and diversity………………………………….……...13
4.3 Species composition…………………………………………...………14
4.4 Floristic and physiognomic structure heterogeneity….……………….18
4.5 Useful species’ diversity….……………………………………………19
5. Discussion……………………….…………………………………………….22
6. Conclusion………………………..……………………………………………24
7. References………………………..……………………………………………25
Appendix
Appendix 1. Botanical, ethnobotanical and ecological data for the species
recorded in cultivated and abandoned shade coffee systems in Candelaria
Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico..............................................................................31
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