Eduardo Somarriba

Cocoa cultivation is labeled as a driver of both deforestation and reforestation, yet the extent of the phenomena varies at farm and landscape level and as a response to national and local contexts. In this study, we documented the main pathways and contexts behind cocoa cultivation in two sites with different histories of cocoa cultivation. We combined official statistics, land-use trajectory, satellite imagery, and the Q-analysis to explore the discourses of country experts in Nicaragua and Peru. The Q-statements were based on an analysis of a set of legal, institutional, social, and technical guidelines that the cocoa cultivation/sector influences or is influenced by. Based on the responses of national experts to 31 statements we found four discourses linking cocoa cultivation and reforestation and deforestation in each country-case study. The enabling and limiting conditions driving tree cover change were a combination of landscape configuration, governance, management/commercia...

An estimated 3.41 million hectares of cocoa and 8.08 million hectares of coffee are cultivated under shade trees i.e. in agroforestry systems. Shade canopies are usually characterized in terms of tree density (N, trees ha-1), tree basal area (G, m2 ha-1) and percent canopy cover (%C). This article shows that these variables have cross-compensation effects that reduce their capacity to inform on the shading conditions in the understory. Density and basal area are not directly related to canopy cover (and hence to shading) and need additional assumptions about both tree size and species-specific allometric relationships between stem diameter and crown diameter. This article explores the compensatory effects between these variables and uses simulations with the software ShadeMotion (www.shademotion.net) to show how 24 different, simple, even-sized, mono-layered, Cordia alliodora shade canopies with constant N, G and %C display significantly different shade levels and temporal patterns ...

En este estudio de linea de base del Proyecto Cacao Centroamerica (PCC) se entrevistaron y evaluaron las fincas de 1500 familias cacaoteras en seis paises de la region (Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belice), a razon de 250 familias por pais. El estudio abarco ocho grandes temas: 1) la caracterizacion biofisica y politica de los territorios cacaoteros; 2) el analisis del marco legal, institucional y politico a nivel local y nacional que afectaba al sector cacao donde actuaria el PCC; 3) el inventario y valoracion del rol de los gobiernos e instituciones de educacion superior en el sector cacao a nivel nacional; 4) la participacion de los municipios en el sector cacaotero y ambiental en los territorios de intervencion; 5) las condiciones de vida de las comunidades cacaoteras y la ensenanza del manejo sostenible de cacao en los centros de estudio locales; 6) las caracteristicas y condicion de las cadenas productivas del cacao en cada zona cacaotera y pais; 7) el e...

The outbreak of frosty ( Moniliophthora roreri ) and black pod ( Phytophthora palmivora ) in Central American cacao agroforests throughout the 1980s led to the breeding of Theobroma cacao clones resistant to these diseases. However, while clonal disease resistance has been well-documented, clonal adaptability to contrasting pedoclimates remains less understood. Plant functional responses to environmental constraints can be assessed by evaluating intraspecific trait variation (ITV), but trait-based approaches have rarely been implemented in genotype assessments. The objective of our study was to determine cacao clone ITV in contrasting environments. Here, we used bivariate, multivariate, and functional trait space analyses to quantify ITV in nine leaf functional traits, among six disease-resistant cacao clones, growing in two clonal gardens with distinct environmental characteristics (a “mild dry season” with near-optimal cacao growing conditions and a “harsh dry season” site with sub-optimal conditions). All leaf traits varied among the six clones, though trait differences among clones differed depending on the site: physiological trait differences among clones were larger at the “mild dry season” site, chemical trait differences were wider at the “harsh dry season” site, and morphological trait differences among clones were similar at both sites. Multivariate and hypervolume trait space analyses revealed greater site influence on trait values of the least productive clones, while the most productive clones were characterized by higher specific leaf area, independent of the site. To our knowledge, our paper is among the first to show evidence that functional traits provide new insights into genotype × environment interactions and clonal selection in agroforestry systems and support in favor of applying functional trait-based research to plant breeding paradigms.

... El proyecto agroforesíal CAT1E-GTZ-DGF-INRENARE inició operaciones en 1986 y una de sus ... de siembra, raleos), mi-nimizando el uso de herbicidas; 2) evitar sistemas de cultivo intensivos para ... С 1996 Ca-cao bajo sombra de maderables en Ojo de Agua, Clian-gtiinoäa. ...

This dataset was moved to: https://doi.org/10.34725/DVN/LO7G0AThe current data sets were generated as part of the master thesis entitled "Trees on farms contribution to rural families livelihoods in two municipalities of Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape" as part of the CATIE master program in Agroforestry and Sustainable Agriculture 2014-2016 . The study was carried out in two municipalities of the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape. Tree census and semi structure interviews were carried out in 45 farms of La Dalia and 45 farms of Waslala municipalities. In each farm, five productive land uses were considered: cocoa plantation, coffee plantation, pastures, basic grains and home gardens. All trees ≥ of 10 cm of diameter at breast height (dbh) were censed (but fruit trees with ≥5 cm of dbh), and their common and scientific names, dap, commercial height, and the diameter at the commercial height were recorded. For trees with more than one stem the quadratic mean diame...

This research was carried out in 36 farms of Central American Cocoa Project located in cocoa agroforestry systems in Talamánca (Costa Rica). The purpose was to determine the abundance of cocoa pollinators and to find the associated factors with vegetation, landscape and natural enemies affecting those populations. Samples of litter in the cacao crops were put in boxes traps; immature stages of flies were grown and carry into solution of sucrose 20%. Insects collected in alcohol 70% were taken to laboratory where the abundance was determined; were identified the flies of the genera Atrichopogon, Dasihelea and Forcipomyia (Ceratopogonidae). Higher averages of the percentage of pollinators in opposition to the diptera for communities (7.8%) than for forests (5.6%). It was found direct positive relationships and influences between pollinators and the moisture content of litter, dry weight of cocoa, Musa sp, Erithryna sp and the 3 unidentified specie, trees abundance of Eugenia stipitata...

... Se determinó la frecuencia re-lativa, abundancia relativa, dominancia relativa (área ba-sal) e Índice de Valor de Importancia (IVI) de cada espe-cie en cada hábitat y se agruparon los árboles en cuatro clases de altura: 1) 0 - 10 m; 2) 10 - 20 m; 3) 20 - 30 m; y 4)≥30 m ...

... Eduardo Somarriba1 ... INTERACCIONES Imaginemos una hilera de poró de cerca (Erythrina berteroana) en un potrero de grama (Cynodon dactylon) en una zona tropical húmeda (Figura 1). El régimen de lluvias hace suponer que no hay competen-cia por agua del suelo ...

Chapter 9 Biodiversitv Conservation in Neotropical Coffee (Coffea arabica) Plantations Eduardo Somarriba, Celia A. Harvey, Mario Samper, Francois Anthony, Jorge Gonzalez, Charles Staver, and Robert A. Rice The unprecedented high rate of destruction of natural forests and ...

La agroforsteria es una forma de uso de la tierra que puede incrementar la productividad, diversificar la produccion y mejorar la sostenibilidad ecologica. Estos beneficios se alcanzan cuando las recomendaciones agroforestales responden a las condiciones particulares de la finca, de cada sistema de produccion y de cada productor. La metodologia de Diagnostico y Diseno agroforestal (D&D) es una herramienta valiosa para interpretar y manejar los sistemas agroforestales de una finca.

Abstract. In order to explore the importance of indigenous agroforestry systems for biodiversity conservation, we compared the abundance, species richness and diversity of dung beetles and terrestrial mammals across a gradient of different land use types from agricultural monocultures (plantains) to agroforestry systems (cocoa and banana) and forests in the BriBri and Cabécar indigenous reserves in Talamanca, Costa Rica. A total of 132,460 dung beetles of 52 species and 913 tracks of 27 terrestrial mammal species were registered. Dung beetle species richness and diversity were greatest in the forests, intermediate in the agroforestry systems and lowest in the plantain monocultures, while dung beetle abundance was greatest in the plantain monocultures. The number of mammal tracks per plot was significantly higher in forests than in plantain monocultures, whereas mammal species richness was higher in forests than in either cocoa agro-forestry systems or plantain monocultures. Species...

Addressing the global challenges of climate change, food security, and poverty alleviation requires enhancing the adaptive capacity and mitigation potential of agricultural landscapes across the tropics. However, adaptation and mitigation activities tend to be approached separately due to a variety of technical, political, financial, and socioeconomic constraints. Here, we demonstrate that many tropical agricultural systems can provide both mitigation and adaptation benefits if they are designed and managed appropriately and if the larger landscape context is considered. Many of the activities needed for adaptation and mitigation in tropical agricultural landscapes are the same needed for sustainable agriculture more generally, but thinking at the landscape scale opens a new dimension for achieving synergies. Intentional integration of adaptation and mitigation activities in agricultural landscapes offers significant benefits that go beyond the scope of climate change to food securi...

En la comunidad de Watsi, Pueblo indigena Bri-Bri, suroeste de Costa Rica, Canton de Talamanca, Provincia de Limon, localizada a 9° 37' 26,3" N y 82° 52' 53,1" W, con una altura entre 70 y 180 msnm, se evaluo la abundancia de los generos Forcipomyia, Atrichopogon, Dasyhelea (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) insectos polinizadores de cacao y sus principales enemigos naturales Dermapteras, Chillopodos y Formicidos; se analizo la hojarasca de: Banano Musa AAA, laurel Cordia alliodora, mamon chino Nephelium lappaceum, guaba Inga sp, pejivalle Bactris gasipaes, aguacate Persea americana, manzana de agua Syzygium malaccense especies utilizadas como sombrio y cacao Theobroma cacao sin sombra como tratamiento control. Se tomaron muestras de hojarasca de cada especie, se contaron las larvas y se criaron adultos en trampas de emergencia bajo condiciones controladas de humedad, las variables evaluadas fueron numero de individuos de Ceratopogonidos, enemigos naturales, porcentaje de ...

The fruit and timber tree species in 162 cacao plantations belonging to members of cocoa Cooperatives and Associations in Alto Beni, Bolivia, were recorded using two contrasting methodologies: workshops with farmers and field surveys. We identified the fruit and timber species preferred by farmers and the land uses in which they would plant them. The number of species and their density, the number of individuals by species and the type of plantations preferred by farmers were compared between types of organizations, land uses and research methods. The farmers listed 43 fruit species and 45 timber species to establish on 895 ha of agricultural fields. Fruit and timber tree richness and density were similar between farm types and research methods. The farmers requested 123,757 trees, which represented approximately 291 fruit and 363 timber trees per farm. The trees would be planted in different systems: cacao, line plantations, pure plantations and citrus fields. The farmers of Alto B...