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07.27.10 News
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Shade-grown Coffee Supports Native Bees, Helps Maintain Biodiversity

Shade-grown coffee farms support native bees that help maintain the health of some of the world's most biodiverse tropical regions, according to a study by a University of Michigan biologist and a colleague at the University of California, Berkeley.

The study suggests that by pollinating native trees on shade-coffee farms and adjacent patches of forest, the bees help preserve the genetic diversity of remnant native-tree populations.

Image credit: Shalene Jha, University of California, Berkeley