Coffee Beans Are Good For Birds, Fancy Brew Or Not (sciencedaily.com) 32
Zorro shares a report from The New York Times (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source ): Birds are not as picky about their coffee as people are. Although coffee snobs prefer arabica beans to robusta, a new study in India found that growing coffee does not interfere with biodiversity -- no matter which bean the farmer chooses. In the Western Ghats region of India, a mountainous area parallel to the subcontinent's western coast, both arabica and robusta beans are grown as bushes under larger trees -- unlike in South America, where the coffee plants themselves grow as large as trees, said Krithi Karanth, who helped lead the study, published Friday in the journal Scientific Reports.
Arabica and robusta farms proved equally good for these creatures. "Some birds do better with arabica than robusta, but overall, they're both good for wildlife," she said. The difference is important, because data shows that more farmers in the area have been shifting to robusta in recent years, as prices rise for the variety, which is easier to grow. The researchers counted 106 species of birds on the coffee plantations, including at-risk species, such as the alexandrine parakeet, the breyheaded bulbul and the nilgiri woodpigeon. The findings show that farming is not incompatible with wildlife protection, said Jai Ranganathan, a conservation biologist and senior fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the research.
Arabica and robusta farms proved equally good for these creatures. "Some birds do better with arabica than robusta, but overall, they're both good for wildlife," she said. The difference is important, because data shows that more farmers in the area have been shifting to robusta in recent years, as prices rise for the variety, which is easier to grow. The researchers counted 106 species of birds on the coffee plantations, including at-risk species, such as the alexandrine parakeet, the breyheaded bulbul and the nilgiri woodpigeon. The findings show that farming is not incompatible with wildlife protection, said Jai Ranganathan, a conservation biologist and senior fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the research.
This story justifies rainforest destruction (Score:1)
Re: This story could lead to rainforest destructio (Score:1)
Why wouldn't they be? (Score:2)
So...we needed a study to prove that seeds are good for birds? I'm glad they figured this out. Now the birds can be a little less stressed about the dangers of eating coffee beans. But then, this might be offset by the caffeine jitters.
Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)
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What about ants? :P
Who gives a shit about the birds? (Score:3)
The coffee must flow!
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I'm surprised that Indian coffee farmers let birds chow down on their precious crops. I don't understand . . . a country with > one billion people, and they don't have any shotguns?
If I was an Indian coffee farmer, I'd arm the local urchins with Mossberg Youth shotguns, and send them out to patrol the coffee fields. In India, cows, monkeys, snakes, elephants and tigers are holy, so you can't go out and plink them, but you birds aren't holy, so can go out and blast as many as you like.
I don't think hu
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That's what Chairman Mao did in the 1950s. Turned out to be quite bad, when the insects the birds also feed on destroyed a lot of the crops, and it caused a famine in which 20–45 million people died of starvation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:1)
But which variety ... (Score:2)
Beans (Score:2)
A pinch of salt (Score:2)
I've walked through both coffee estates and natural or near natural forests in these mountains. The estates were essentially gardens or orchards. The natural forests were something else al
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I've walked through both coffee estates and natural or near natural forests in these mountains. The estates were essentially gardens or orchards. The natural forests were something else altogether.
And I've walked through a coffee plantation in Panama which was distinguishable from a natural forest in that country only by the amount of underbrush, which was decreased but still present. They call it "Shade-grown" coffee. If you want to minimize your environmental impact and still drink coffee, that's what to look for.
coffee farming good for the birds (Score:1)