Tree biodiversity in farmer cooperatives of a shade coffee landscape in western El Salvador

Conservation of tropical biodiversity in agricultural landscapes has become more important as the area covered by natural ecosystems decreases. We analyzed the effects of local livelihoods, cooperative types, and selected biophysical variables (elevation, slope, percent shade, distance to the forest, coffee density, and coffee age) on tree biodiversity in shade coffee cooperatives of El Salvador. Tree inventories from 51 quadrats in coffee cooperatives included 2743 individuals from 46 families and 123 identified tree species. Species richness and tree diameters differed among some cooperatives, with greater richness associated with greater stem density; other biophysical variables had little impact on diversity. The amount of shade in the coffee plantations differed among cooperatives, particularly in the wet season. Of the tree species reported in a recent study of a neighboring forest and in the cooperatives (N = 227 species combined), 16% were present at both sites. The three coffee plantations shared 35% of total species reported from all cooperatives.