Effects of coffee management intensity on composition, structure, and regeneration status of ethiopian moist evergreen afromontane forests.

The effect of arabica coffee management intensity on composition, structure, and regeneration of moist evergreen Afromontane forests was studied in three traditional coffee-management systems of southwest Ethiopia: semiplantation coffee, semiforest coffee, and forest coffee. Vegetation and environmental data were collected in 84 plots from forests varying in intensity of coffee management. After controlling for environmental variation (altitude, aspect, slope, soil nutrient availability, and soil depth), differences in woody species composition, forest structure, and regeneration potential among management systems were compared using one way analysis of variance. The study showed that intensification of forest coffee cultivation to maximize coffee production negatively affects diversity and structure of Ethiopian moist evergreen Afromontane forests. Intensification of coffee productivity starts with the conversion of forest coffee to semiforest coffee, which has significant negative effects on tree seedling abundance. Further intensification leads to the conversion of semiforest to semiplantation coffee, causing significant diversity losses and the collapse of forest structure (decrease of stem density, basal area, crown closure, crown cover, and dominant tree height). Our study underlines the need for shade certification schemes to include variables other than canopy cover and that the loss of species diversity in intensively managed coffee systems may jeopardize the sustainability of coffee production itself through the decrease of ecosystem resilience and disruption of ecosystem services related to coffee yield, such as pollination and pest control.

Contrasting coffee leaf rust epidemics between forest coffee and semi-forest coffee agroforestry systems in SW-Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Arabica coffee is produced in different agroforestry systems which differ in forest management intensity. In forest coffee systems (FC), coffee shrubs grow naturally in the understory of Afromontane forests with little human intervention, whereas in semi-forest coffee systems (SFC) thinning of the canopy and removal of the understory is applied. Coffee leaf rust (CLR) disease is a growing concern for coffee agroforestry, but to what extent infection pressure is affected by management intensity is poorly known. Here we assessed CLR infection through time across FC and SFC systems in SW-Ethiopia. CLR infection was significantly higher for SFC, with a gradual reduction of this difference during the beginning of dry season (November) through main rainy season of (July). Our findings also demonstrated that CLR infections were significantly lower in the FC system as compared to SFC system in both years 2015/16 and 2020/21. The higher CLR infection was partly explained by lower crown cover and higher human impact. We expect that reduced wind speed and droplet penetration under closed canopies and reduced human-facilitated spore dispersal are the dominating mechanisms behind lower CLR infection in FC systems, yet lower coffee density in FC may also play a role. Overall, our results indicate that although higher management intensity still generally results in higher total yields per hectare, proportionally larger losses due to CLR infection can be expected. Therefore, introducing more coffee genetic diversity, screening resistant coffee varieties and increasing canopy cover in the SFC will mitigate the CLR disease pressure and guarantee the sustainability of higher yields of the system in the future. Also, lower yields in the FC will be rewarded through providing price premiums so that farmers instantly get a higher price for their lower yield, guaranteeing livelihoods.

Genetic variation and risks of introgression in the wild Coffea arabica gene pool in south-western Ethiopian montane rainforests.

The montane rainforests of SW Ethiopia are the primary centre of diversity of Coffea arabica and the origin of all Arabica coffee cultivated worldwide. This wild gene pool is potentially threatened by forest fragmentation and degradation, and by introgressive hybridization with locally improved coffee varieties. We genotyped 703 coffee shrubs from unmanaged and managed coffee populations, using 24 microsatellite loci. Additionally, we genotyped 90 individuals representing 23 Ethiopian cultivars resistant to coffee berry disease (CBD). We determined population genetic diversity, genetic structure, and admixture of cultivar alleles in the in situ gene pool. We found strong genetic differentiation between managed and unmanaged coffee populations, but without significant differences in within-population genetic diversity. The widespread planting of coffee seedlings including CBD-resistant cultivars most likely offsets losses of genetic variation attributable to genetic drift and inbreeding. Mixing cultivars with original coffee genotypes, however, leaves ample opportunity for hybridization and replacement of the original coffee gene pool, which already shows signs of admixture. In situ conservation of the wild gene pool of C. arabica must therefore focus on limiting coffee production in the remaining wild populations, as intensification threatens the genetic integrity of the gene pool by exposing wild genotypes to cultivars.