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Coffee Beans Are Good For Birds, Fancy Brew Or Not (sciencedaily.com)
Zorro shares a report from The New York Times (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source ): Birds are not as picky about their coffee as people are. Although coffee snobs prefer arabica beans to robusta, a new study in India found that growing coffee does not interfere with biodiversity -- no matter which bean the farmer chooses. In the Western Ghats region of India, a mountainous area parallel to the subcontinent's western coast, both arabica and robusta beans are grown as bushes under larger trees -- unlike in South America, where the coffee plants themselves grow as large as trees, said Krithi Karanth, who helped lead the study, published Friday in the journal Scientific Reports.
Arabica and robusta farms proved equally good for these creatures. "Some birds do better with arabica than robusta, but overall, they're both good for wildlife," she said. The difference is important, because data shows that more farmers in the area have been shifting to robusta in recent years, as prices rise for the variety, which is easier to grow. The researchers counted 106 species of birds on the coffee plantations, including at-risk species, such as the alexandrine parakeet, the breyheaded bulbul and the nilgiri woodpigeon. The findings show that farming is not incompatible with wildlife protection, said Jai Ranganathan, a conservation biologist and senior fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the research.
Arabica and robusta farms proved equally good for these creatures. "Some birds do better with arabica than robusta, but overall, they're both good for wildlife," she said. The difference is important, because data shows that more farmers in the area have been shifting to robusta in recent years, as prices rise for the variety, which is easier to grow. The researchers counted 106 species of birds on the coffee plantations, including at-risk species, such as the alexandrine parakeet, the breyheaded bulbul and the nilgiri woodpigeon. The findings show that farming is not incompatible with wildlife protection, said Jai Ranganathan, a conservation biologist and senior fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the research.
So nothing really changes by changing the type of coffee bean plant - beans are beans. News for avians, stuff that matters.
Beau drinks Sanka.
Arabica is for sissies.
Just a trend.
So...we needed a study to prove that seeds are good for birds? I'm glad they figured this out. Now the birds can be a little less stressed about the dangers of eating coffee beans. But then, this might be offset by the caffeine jitters.
Hi kykes, today we will learn about our new master race (according to Soros).
N1GGERS
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Coming up - n1gger moon landing.
News for birds!
The coffee must flow!
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Have gnu, will travel.
It becomes increasingly clear to you that coffee beans are vile abominations and must be subjected to disciplinary action. One would rightly mandate that each coffee bean be butchered, and its corpse roasted and ground into dust.
Coffee PLANTS are good for birds. My birds like millet spray, I spray them and they like it.
This wreaks of industry-sponsored science that will be used to justify taking land from nature in the name of improving the economy.
Fixed the heading.
I've walked through both coffee estates and natural or near natural forests in these mountains. The estates were essentially gardens or orchards. The natural forests were something else altogether.
The article was updated. This is an example of bio-diverse farming, as opposed to monocropping. There are many positive benefits to bio-diversity. Some call it ethical farming, but it's also natural sensible farming; bio-diverse communities are more resistant to diseases and pollutants. (and come on, birds don't eat coffee, they live in the bushes and the trees.) Furthermore shade-grown coffee is easier to harvest because the plants are shorter, and probably tastes better as this is how the plants naturally evolved.
Over two hundred species of birds. Think about it. They don't all eat the same thing. Lots of them eat insects. They are what the farmers there use instead of pesticide. The more birds, the better.
While it may be Industrial PR, it is good news as farming and nature can co-exist when toxic treatments aren't dumped on the crops& soil. This bit is positive for human consumers of coffee as well..if you like robusta, anyway.
The hipsters will be loving this xD.
Do we drink coffee beans? Hell NO!