Through the eye of a butterfly: Assessing biodiversity impacts of cashew expansion in West Africa

Vasconcelos, Sasha; Rodrigues, Patrícia; Palma, Luís; Mendes, Luis F.; Palminha, Agostinho; Catarino, L.; Beja, Pedro

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2015.08.032

Cited by 29 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The dataset from a sample of 21 villages was collected through fieldwork from January to May 2013. The selection of villages for field survey was based on three main features, as performed in a former Sustainability 2017, 9, 1666 6 of 14 study [18], namely: (1) medium-sized (100-500 inhabitants) villages; (2) presenting sufficient coverage of cashew orchards to allow three sampling plots in each village at a minimum distance of 500 m from each plot; and (3) ease of access due to logistic issues on fieldwork. In each village, the survey was conducted by fieldwork in three fixed-radius (20 m) circular plots of cashew plantations, selected within the range of 1 km from the village center.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cashew as a High Agricultural Commodity in West Africa: Insights towards Sustainable Production in Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In Sub-Saharan Africa, the West African region has highly diverse agro-climatic conditions, which grant the potential for a remarkable agricultural production of a great diversity of crops. Since the 1980s, the production volumes of most crops have grown vigorously for both domestic and export markets. Traditional food crops-such as rice, groundnuts and sorghum-have been replaced by cash crops, namely cashew. Among the main cashew production areas, West Africa is the most recent and dynamic in the world, accounting for 45% of the worldwide production of cashew nuts in 2015. In consequence, cashew cultivation has acquired an important position in West African smallholder farming, providing positive economic and social effects. In this paper, we provide an overview of the cashew production system in the West African region, using Guinea-Bissau as a case study. In particular, we present some viewpoints concerning the impact of cashew production and discuss how the strong dependence on a single cash crop can compromise the local livelihoods and food security. Finally, some insights are given towards the sustainable production of cashew in the face of the recent risks affecting the agricultural sector in West Africa.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cashew as a High Agricultural Commodity in West Africa: Insights towards Sustainable Production in Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2017

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“…In Western Africa, cashew forest plantations have been linked to a reduction in butterfly species richness (Vasconcelos et al . ) as have annual cultures, though Cameroonian agroforests can support species richness equal to natural forest (Bobo et al . ).…”

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“…Studies in Indonesia and South America have found that agricultural landscapes support reduced butterfly species richness when compared to tropical forest, but that agroforestry systems support higher numbers of species than annual cropland and pasture (Schulze et al 2004, Barlow et al 2007, Francesconi et al 2013. In Western Africa, cashew forest plantations have been linked to a reduction in butterfly species richness (Vasconcelos et al 2015) as have annual cultures, though Cameroonian agroforests can support species richness equal to natural forest (Bobo et al 2006). The conservation value of agricultural systems can also vary in accordance with landscape context and tends to decrease with isolation from natural forest (Horner-Devine et al 2003, Schulze et al 2004, Munyuli 2013).…”

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Diversity and composition of tropical butterflies along an Afromontane agricultural gradient in the Jimma Highlands, Ethiopia

et al. 2017

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Afromontane landscapes are typically characterized by a mosaic of smallholder farms and the biodiversity impacts of these practices will vary in accordance to local management and landscape context. Here, we assess how tropical butterfly diversity is maintained across an agricultural landscape in the Jimma Highlands of Ethiopia. We used transect surveys to sample understory butterfly communities within degraded natural forest, semi‐managed coffee forest (SMCF), exotic timber plantations, open woodland, croplands and pasture. Surveys were conducted in 29 one‐hectare plots and repeated five times between January and June 2013. We found that natural forest supports higher butterfly diversity than all agricultural plots (measured with Hill's numbers). SMCF and timber plantations retain relatively high abundance and diversity, but these metrics drop off sharply in open woodland, cropland and pasture. SMCF and timber plantations share the majority of their species with natural forest and support an equivalent abundance of forest‐dependent species, with no increase in widespread species. There was some incongruence in the responses of families and sub‐families, notably that Lycaenidae are strongly associated with open woodland and pasture. Adult butterflies clearly utilize forested agricultural practices such as SMCF and timber plantations, but species diversity declines steeply with distance from natural forest suggesting that earlier life‐stages may depend on host plants and/or microclimatic conditions that are lost under agricultural management. From a management perspective, the protection of natural forest remains a priority for tropical butterfly conservation, but understanding functioning of the wider landscape mosaic is important as SMCF and timber plantations may act as habitat corridors that facilitate movement between forest fragments.

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“…Cashew plantations often have a layer of understory bushy growth, which is periodically weeded out to make cashew nut harvesting easier. There is a crucial need to examine the role of cashew plantations as supplementary habitat, since the crop is grown in highly biodiverse regions across the world with unquantified impacts on vertebrate species (Phalan et al, 2011;Vasconcelos et al, 2015). Cashew crop is native to Brazil (Johnson, 1973) but is now widely cultivated in 33 countries across the tropics (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mammals Make Use of Cashew Plantations in a Mixed Forest–Cashew Landscape

Rege

Punjabi

Jathanna

et al. 2020

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Heterogeneous landscapes harboring mosaics of natural habitat and agriculture are increasingly gaining conservation focus in the tropics. While research on cash crops such as coffee, rubber, and oil palm has led to an understanding of their role as supplementary habitats, such has remained limited in cashew plantations despite it being a cash crop of global significance. We conducted a study to understand the occurrence of terrestrial mammal species in a mixed forest–cashew landscape in the northern Western Ghats, India. During January to April 2016, we used trail cameras to sample a total area of 25 km2 divided into 100 grid cells of 0.25 km2 each. We deployed six trail cameras for a 24 h period in each grid cell and obtained photo-captures of 11 species in forests, of which nine were detected in cashew plantations, but most species showed low capture rates. For three of these species—Indian crested porcupine, sambar, and wild pig—we modeled habitat use as a function of site-specific attributes. Wild pig showed a higher probability of use of cashew than forest, while porcupine and sambar did not show any pronounced differences between the two land uses. The probability of habitat use by sambar and porcupine was positively influenced by undergrowth but not for the wild pig. Wild pig habitat use was positively related to increased proximity of human settlements and increasing distance to forests, but the pattern was unreliable for sambar and porcupine. Our preliminary study demonstrates that a subset of terrestrial mammals in the forest makes use of cashew plantations and highlights the need for further research in forest–cashew landscapes to assess conservation opportunities.

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Through the eye of a butterfly: Assessing biodiversity impacts of cashew expansion in West Africa

Cited by 29 publications

References 38 publications

Cashew as a High Agricultural Commodity in West Africa: Insights towards Sustainable Production in Guinea-Bissau

Cashew as a High Agricultural Commodity in West Africa: Insights towards Sustainable Production in Guinea-Bissau

Diversity and composition of tropical butterflies along an Afromontane agricultural gradient in the Jimma Highlands, Ethiopia

Mammals Make Use of Cashew Plantations in a Mixed Forest–Cashew Landscape

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