Effects of Inga densiflora on the microclimate of coffee (Coffea arabica L.) and overall biomass under optimal growing conditions in Costa Rica
Effects ofInga densifloraon the microclimate of coffee(Coffea arabicaL.) and overall biomass under optimalgrowing conditions in Costa RicaPablo SilesÆJean-Michel HarmandÆPhilippe VaastReceived: 9 February 2009 / Accepted: 10 June 2009 / Published online: 28 June 2009ÓSpringer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009AbstractThe advantages of associating shade treesin coffee agroforestry systems (AFS) are generallythought to be restricted mostly to poor soil and sub-optimal ecological conditions for coffee cultivationwhereas their role in optimal conditions remainscontroversial. Thus, the objective of this study was toinvestigate, under the optimal coffee cultivation con-ditions of the Central Valley of Costa Rica, the impactofInga densiflora, a very common shade tree in CentralAmerica, on the microclimate, yield and vegetativedevelopment of shaded coffee in comparison to coffeemonoculture (MC). Maximum temperature of shadedcoffee leaves was reduced by up to 5°C relative tocoffee leaf temperature in MC. The minimum airtemperature at night was 0.5°C higher in AFS than airtemperature in MC demonstrating the buffering effectsof shade trees. As judged by the lower relativeextractable water (REW) in the deep soil layers duringthe dry season, water use in AFS was higher than inMC. Nevertheless, competition for water betweencoffee and associated trees was assumed to be limitedas REW in the 0–150 cm soil layer was always higherthan 0.3 in shaded coffee compared to 0.4 in mono-culture. Coffee production was quite similar in bothsystems during the establishment of shade trees,however a yield decrease of 30% was observed inAFS compared to MC with a decrease in radiationtransmittance to less than 40% during the latter years inthe absence of an adequate shade tree pruning. As aresult of the high contribution (60%) of shade trees tooverall biomass, permanent aerial biomass accumula-tion in AFS amounted to two times the biomassaccumulated in MC after 7 years. Thus provided anadequate pruning,Inga-shaded plantations appearedmore advantageous than MC in optimal conditions,especially considering the fact that coffee AFSprovides high quality coffee, farmers’ revenue diver-sification and environmental benefits.
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Agroforest Syst
2010
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| Subjects: | INGA DENSIFLORA, COFFEA ARABICA, ARBOLES DE SOMBRA, FACTORES AMBIENTALES, TEMPERATURA, RENDIMIENTO, CRECIMIENTO, ESTIMACION, BIOMASA AEREA, MICROCLIMA, ECUACIONES ALOMETRICAS, AGROFORESTERIA, |
| Online Access: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10457-009-9241-y |
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