How many shade trees are enough? Identifying the threshold for golden-headed lion tamarin presence in cocoa agroforests of Southern Bahia, Brazil
(2025) Biological Conservation — Vol. 309, p. 111325 (2025)
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- Cocoa agroforestry systems offer potential for sustainable development by supporting biodiversity conservation alongside agricultural production and rural livelihoods. However, the effect of shade-tree management on biodiversity within these systems remains unclear, as research has largely focused on comparisons with other land-use systems. We investigate the effects of shade-tree management on the presence of the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas), an endangered primate species highly dependent on shaded cocoa agroforests, and terrestrial medium- and large-sized mammals in southern Bahia, Brazil. We conduct playback surveys to determine L. chrysomelas presence and use camera traps to record mammal detections across 18 farms with cocoa agroforestry systems, and analyse the relationship between shade-tree management and L. chrysomelas occupancy and mammal detection rates using occupancy modelling and generalized linear mixed models. Our findings show that reduced shade cover is associated with lower L. chrysomelas occupancy and decreased mammal detections, highlighting the negative effects of intensified shade management on biodiversity. The threshold required for L. chrysomelas' persistence is 65% shade cover, corresponding to 100 native shade trees per hectare. This is much higher than the shade levels allowed by the current Bahian shade-tree management decree, which permits thinning to 40 native shade trees per hectare. Our findings suggest that the current shade-tree management policy in Bahia needs to be adjusted to ensure adequate shade cover for biodiversity conservation in cocoa agroforests. These insights are valuable for policymakers developing strategies to mitigate trade-offs between management intensification and biodiversity conservation in cocoa-growing landscapes.
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Dekegel, S., Van den Broeck, G., Oliveira, L., & De Vleeschouwer, K. (2025). How many shade trees are enough? Identifying the threshold for golden-headed lion tamarin presence in cocoa agroforests of Southern Bahia, Brazil. Biological Conservation, 309, 111325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111325. (Original work published 2025)