Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function: Top Down Control of Herbivory by Birds and Invertebrate Predators in the Coffee Agroecosystem

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

AWARD ABSTRACT DEB 9981526 Ivette Perfecto Perfecto will investigate the function of biological diversity in a coffee agroecosystem in southern Mexico. The research will focus on processes associated with the reduction of herbivory by vertebrate and invertebrate predators and their impact on coffee productivity. The main objectives are to: 1) quantify the impact of predation on the assemblage of arthropods in coffee plants by three groups of insectivores (birds, ants and spiders), 2) quantify the impact of this insectivory on cumulative herbivore damage, as well as plant reproductive output, 3) determine the change in abundance and diversity of different predators along a gradient of management intensity and relate this to different levels of impact of predators on arthropod populations and herbivore damage, 4) assess the seasonal variation of the impact of predators on herbivores of coffee along an intensification gradient, and 5) examine some of the major interactions among the 3 major groups of predators. The general hypotheses guiding this work are that top down control of agroecosystems can limit herbivory and that diversity & abundance of predators affect the degree of limitation.