Vincent de Leijster

88 Chapter 5 supply. Our findings will broaden our understanding of the behavior of ecosystem services through time, and provide evidence of the potential benefits of agroforestry management to restore tropical (agro)ecosystem services. 5.2 Methods 5.2.1 Study area Colombia is the world’s third producer of coffee (FAOSTAT, 2020), and within Colombia the majority of the coffee is produced in the departments of Risaralda, Quindío, Caldas, and Valle de Cauca, which together are identified as the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia (200.000 ha; Figure 5-1). This ‘Coffee Cultural Landscape’ has been recognized by the UNESCO for its tradition of coffee growing in small plots in difficult mountain conditions (Paisaje Cultural Cafetero, 2020; UNESCO, 2020), but the region has also important natural value due to its high biodiversity. Colombia is also one of the 17 megadiverse countries and is expected to be inhabited by 10% of the species globally (Arbeláez-Cortés, 2013). Currently, the department of Risaralda has 47,000 ha of coffee plantations (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarollo Rural, 2018; Figure 5-1b). In 1970s, the coffee sector of the Coffee Cultural Landscape transformed as traditional shaded farms transitioned to input intensive, unshaded coffee plantations with a new rust-resistant coffee variety ‘Colombia’ (Avelino et al., 2015; Guhl, 2002). More recently, several reforestation projects have been executed in this region aiming to restore carbon stocks and biodiversity (Collazos Quintana, 2004; FNC, 2011). Therefore, this region has a history of unshaded coffee cultivation and newly established agroforestry systems, which makes it a good case study for our objectives. The coffee producing region in the northwestern part of Risaralda (approx. 20.000 ha; Paisaje Cultural Cafetero, 2020), where the data of this study was collected, is typically characterized by steep slopes (15-50% inclination) and elevation between 1000-2000 m. The dominant soil type is Andosols. The mean annual precipitation in this region varies between approximately 1600-2400 mm, with average temperature of 19 ˚C (minimum 15 ˚C, maximum 25 ˚C), and it receives around 1500 hours of sun per year (Jaramillo, 2018). The coffee varieties cultivated in this region are ‘Castillo rosario’, ‘Colombia’, ‘Castillo naranjal’, ‘Catimore’ and ‘Caturra’ (in order of most abundant to less abundant), and plantations are often a mixture of these varieties. More than half of the coffee plantations in this region can be categorized as unshaded monoculture coffee plantations, but also shaded polycultures, commercial polycultures and traditional polycultures can be found in lower densities (personal observation; categories described by Moguel and Toledo, 1999).