Revista de Biología Tropical
versión On-line ISSN 0034-7744versión impresa ISSN 0034-7744
Resumen
HEDSTROM, Ingemar; DENZEL, Andrew y OWENS, Gareth. Orchid bees as bio-indicators for organic coffee farms in Costa Rica: Does farm size affect their abundance?. Rev. biol. trop [online]. 2006, vol.54, n.3, pp.965-969. ISSN 0034-7744.
The potential of Euglossini bees, especially Euglossa, as biological indicators of organic vs non-organic 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. Rev. Biol. Trop. 54 (3): 965-969. Epub 2006 Sept. 29.
Palabras clave : Euglossine; Euglossa; orchid bees; bio-indicator; organic agriculture; Costa Rica.