Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 21, 2026
14:29
The Hawaii Protocol for Scientific Monitoring of Coffee Berry Borer: a Model for Coffee Agroecosystems Worldwide
Published on: March 19, 2018
Local and Landscape Constraints on Coffee Leafhopper (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) Diversity
Chatura Vaidya1, Magdalena Cruz1, Ryan Kuesel1
1Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, 830 N University St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (chatura@umich.edu).
Journal of Insect Science (Online)
|March 30, 2017
Summary
Agricultural intensification impacts ecosystems. Simplified coffee landscapes increase leafhopper abundance and diversity, suggesting higher pest pressure and disease risk in these simplified agricultural areas.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Entomology
- Agricultural Science
Background:
- Agricultural intensification causes ecological shifts, affecting pest populations at local and landscape scales.
- Understanding these impacts is crucial for managing crop pests and diseases in agricultural systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how local and landscape agricultural factors influence leafhopper communities in Mexican coffee plantations.
- To identify key drivers of leafhopper abundance and diversity in coffee agroecosystems.
Main Methods:
- Leafhopper diversity was sampled across 38 sites in 9 coffee plantations in Chiapas, Mexico.
- Local factors (coffee density, shade, tree species) and landscape factors (shade management, elevation) were analyzed for their effects on leafhoppers.
Main Results:
- Local management factors did not significantly explain leafhopper abundance or richness.
- Landscape-level shade management and elevation were significant factors influencing leafhopper communities.
- Increased low-shade coffee in the landscape (1,000-m radius) correlated with higher leafhopper abundance.
- Leafhopper Shannon's diversity increased with coffee density.
Conclusions:
- Simplified agricultural landscapes, characterized by lower shade, support greater leafhopper abundance and diversity.
- These findings indicate a higher potential for pest outbreaks and disease transmission by leafhoppers in simplified coffee farming systems.
- Management strategies should consider landscape structure to mitigate pest pressure in coffee agroecosystems.
Related Concept Videos
00:53Migration
Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
00:54Distribution and Dispersion
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with their environment and with one another. An important aspect of ecology is understanding where species are found and how individuals are distributed within those areas. The geographic range of a species refers to the total area where its members are located, while dispersion describes the pattern of spacing of individuals within that range.Geographic Range and Dispersion PatternsWithin a species’ geographic range, individuals may be distributed...
01:21Frequency-dependent Selection
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.Positive Frequency-Dependent SelectionIn positive...
02:02Ecological Niches
All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.Multiple species cannot occupy the exact same niche within their habitat. If the niches of two or more species overlap to a large extent, the competitive exclusion principle dictates that one species will outcompete the other, forcing it to...
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
02:40Pollination and Flower Structure
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.