Boreux, Virginie

Curriculum Vitae

PhD Project

An ecosystem services approach to coffee production in a sacred landscape mosaic

Agricultural productivity is dependent on a range of services provided by natural ecosystems. These include pollination, pest control and soil conservation. These ecosystem services can be used as economic arguments for the conservation and management of forests in agricultural landscapes. Habitat conversion and invasive species continue to degrade natural landscapes and the services they provide, although native shade trees and habitat edges may still make substantial contribution to service provision.

On the other hand conventional farming practices, including application of pesticides and fertilisers, and the replacement of native shade trees with fast growing exotics bring undoubted economic benefits to farmers. So where is the optimal balance between economic and conservation outcomes, and what role can ecosystem service concepts have?

I am exploring this by examining the role of the landscape matrix on crop productivity and the opportunity costs of conserving remaining natural habitat patches in a coffee agro-ecosystem in Kodagu, southern India.

Publications

Boreux, V., Born, J. & Lawes, M.J. (2009) Sharing ecological knowledge: Opportunities and barriers to uptake. Biotropica 41(5): 532-534

Born, J., Boreux, V. & Lawes, M.J. (2009) Synthesis: Sharing ecological knowledge - The way forward. Biotropica 41(5): 586-588