Coffee Agroecology
A New Approach to Understanding Agricultural Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development
By Ivette Perfecto, John H. Vandermeer
To Be Published March 15th 2014 by Routledge – 256 pages
Description
Based on principles of the conservation and optimization of biodiversity and of equity and sustainability, this book focuses on the ecology of the coffee agroecosystem as a model for a sustainable agricultural ecosystem. It draws on the authors' own research conducted over the last 20 years as well as incorporating the vast literature that has been generated on coffee agroecosystems from around the world.
The book uses an integrated approach that weaves together various lines of research to understand the ecology of a very diverse tropical agroforestry system. Key concepts explored include biodiversity patterns, metapopulation dynamics and ecological networks. These are all set in a socioeconomic and political framework which relates them to the realities of farmers' livelihoods.
The authors provide a novel synthesis that will generate new understanding and can be applied to other examples of sustainable agriculture and food production. This synthesis also explains the ecosystem services provided by the approach, including the economic, fair trade and political aspects surrounding this all-important global commodity.
Contents
1. Wake Up and Smell the Coffee
2. A Biodiverse Cup of Coffee: Coffee Agroforests as Repositories of Tropical Biodiversity
3. The Coffee Matrix
4. Space Matters! Spatial Ecology in Coffee Farms
5. Trophic and Trait-Mediated Cascades in the Coffee Agroecosystem
6. Interactions across Spatial Scales
7. Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
8. Coffee, the Agroecological Landscape, and Farmers’ Livelihoods
9. Syndromes of Coffee Production: Embracing Sustainability
Author Bio
Ivette Perfecto is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, USA.
John Vandermeer is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, USA.
Name: Coffee Agroecology: A New Approach to Understanding Agricultural Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Sustainable Development (Paperback) – Routledge
Description: By Ivette Perfecto, John H. Vandermeer. Based on principles of the conservation and optimization of biodiversity and of equity and sustainability, this book focuses on the ecology of the coffee agroecosystem as a model for a sustainable agricultural ecosystem. It draws on the authors'...
Categories: Biodiversity & Conservation, Agriculture and Food, Biodiversity, Agriculture, Sustainable Development, Conservation - Environment Studies, Environmental Management, Landscape and Sustainability, Landscape Conservation, Maintenance and Management