title: Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: does farm size affect their abundance?
abstract: The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs nonorganic coffee farms was studied in Atenas and San Isidro, Alajuela, Costa Rica using 1.8-cineole as lure. Observations were made for three days at each of four farms and complemented with data from a year of observations. Orchid bees were in greater abundance in the organic farms (t-Student test). However, lower abundances suggest that an organic farm may be negatively affected by the proximity of non-organic farms, depending on its size and distance. Orchid bees may be indicators of organic coffee farms.
authors.affiliation: Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, 725 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA. ingemar.hedstrom@skutan.smf.se
authors.forename: Ingemar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hedström
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Denzel
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Owens
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000502:physiology*; D003069:Coffee / Q000502:physiology*; D003364:Costa Rica; D018556:Crops, Agricultural; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011156:Population Density; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D003069:Coffee