Birds do better in 'agroforests' than on farms
Tuesday, August 7, 2012 - 14:30
in Biology & Nature
Compared with open farmland, wooded "shade" plantations that produce coffee and chocolate promote greater bird diversity, although a new study says forests remain the best habitat for tropical birds. The findings suggest that as open farmland replaces forests and "agroforests" -- where crops are grown under trees – reduced number of bird species and shifts in the populations of various types of birds may hurt "ecosystem services" that birds provide to people, such as eating insect pests, spreading seeds and pollinating crops.