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Full-Text Articles in Community Health

Shade Coffee: Update On A Disappearing Refuge For Biodiversity, Shalene Jha, Christopher M. Bacon, Stacy M. Philpott, V. Ernesto Méndez, Peter Läderach, Robert A. Rice Jan 2014

Shade Coffee: Update On A Disappearing Refuge For Biodiversity, Shalene Jha, Christopher M. Bacon, Stacy M. Philpott, V. Ernesto Méndez, Peter Läderach, Robert A. Rice

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

In the past three decades, coffee cultivation has gained widespread attention for its crucial role in supporting local and global biodiversity. In this synthetic Overview, we present newly gathered data that summarize how global patterns in coffee distribution and shade vegetation have changed and discuss implications for biodiversity, ecosystem services, and livelihoods. Although overall cultivated coffee area has decreased by 8% since 1990, coffee production and agricultural intensification have increased in many places and shifted globally, with production expanding in Asia while contracting in Africa. Ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, climate regulation, and nutrient sequestration are generally greater …


Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek Jan 2014

Whales As Marine Ecosystem Engineers, Joe Roman, James A. Estes, Lyne Morissette, Craig Smith, Daniel Costa, James Mccarthy, J. B. Nation, Stephen Nicol, Andrew Pershing, Victor Smetacek

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Baleen and sperm whales, known collectively as the great whales, include the largest animals in the history of life on Earth. With high metabolic demands and large populations, whales probably had a strong influence on marine ecosystems before the advent of industrial whaling: as consumers of fish and invertebrates; as prey to other large-bodied predators; as reservoirs of and vertical and horizontal vectors for nutrients; and as detrital sources of energy and habitat in the deep sea. The decline in great whale numbers, estimated to be at least 66% and perhaps as high as 90%, has likely altered the structure …


Impacts Of Projected Climate Change Over The Lake Champlain Basin In Vermont, Justin Guilbert, Brian Beckage, Jonathan M. Winter, Radley M. Horton, Timothy Perkins, Arne Bomblies Jan 2014

Impacts Of Projected Climate Change Over The Lake Champlain Basin In Vermont, Justin Guilbert, Brian Beckage, Jonathan M. Winter, Radley M. Horton, Timothy Perkins, Arne Bomblies

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

The Lake Champlain basin is a critical ecological and socioeconomic resource of the northeastern United States and southern Quebec, Canada. While general circulation models (GCMs) provide an overview of climate change in the region, they lack the spatial and temporal resolution necessary to fully anticipate the effects of rising global temperatures associated with increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Observed trends in precipitation and temperature were assessed across the Lake Champlain basin to bridge the gap between global climate change and local impacts. Future shifts in precipitation and temperature were evaluated as well as derived indices, including maple syrup production, days above …