PIP Presentation
Download as pptx, pdf1 like599 views
Laura King's personal inquiry project examines whether shade-grown or sun-grown coffee is better for bird habitats. Shade-grown coffee systems are more biodiverse and use natural pest control methods, while sun-grown plantations are more invasive. Using an expected utility matrix, drinking shade-grown coffee that costs more money has a higher utility than drinking cheaper sun-grown coffee that could harm bird habitats. Laura decides to support shade-grown coffee based on the evidence that it preserves migratory bird habitats better than intensive sun-grown agriculture.
More Related Content
Similar to PIP Presentation (20)
PIP Presentation
- 1. Personal Inquiry Project Laura King IS SHADE-GROWN COFFEE FOR THE BIRDS?
- 2. Comparing Coffee Agricultural Systems Sun Grown Plantation Shade Grown Plantation
- 3. Why should I support shade-grown coffee? Shade-grown systems are minimally invasive. Landscape Food Webs Biodiversity Shade grown systems use non-chemical methods of pollination and pest control. Human Health Aquifer Health Biodiversity
- 4. Decision Methods Expected Utility Matrix Help Bird Habitat Harm Bird Habitat Drink Sun Grown, Save Money U = 1 (Best scenario, U=0 but not possible) Drink Shade Grown, Spend More U = .9 (Best Option U=0 Money Available) Expected utility does not work for this example because the value is subjective what is a bird worth? The monetary value of a bird has yet to be quantified, in terms of ecological services. I have made my decision based on the evidence showing a positive correlation between the shade grown- mode of agriculture and migratory bird presence. While money may be of more importance in value to others, I have placed more importance on a moralistic/ethical obligation to engage in practices that preserve migratory bird habitat. My decision is derived from the best available option - from uncertainty to best option to best option strategy flow chart.
- 5. Conclusions Strong positive correlation between intensive agricultural management and migratory bird absence. Food Web Territory Hypothesis is supported by the data shade grown coffee agriculture benefits migratory bird abundance and sun grown systems contribute to displacement and absence.
Editor's Notes
- #2: Hi there and thank you for joining me in my personal inquiry project discussion. For my PIP project, I have chosen to research the effectiveness of supporting shade - grown coffee brands, rather than sun-grown coffee. Through media, advertising and through the word of friends, Ive come to believe that investing in shade grown coffee is the right thing to do for birds. My objective is to support or debunk this belief through the study of scientific evidence on the matter.Therein lies the first valuable lesson that I have learned in this class and during my research- is that its very important to understand and to seek to find scientific and evidence- based rationality in my convictions and beliefs.
- #3: Lets begin by taking a look at a side by side comparison of a sun grown coffee plantation, vs. a rustic shade grown plantation.
- #4: Here are some key findings that Ive discovered through my research. I primarily used peer-reviewed scientific articles as the authority in my research. As can be observed in the previous photo,Shade grown systems are minimally invasive. Concerning the natural landscape, minimal brush, tree and vegetation removal is practiced while implementing shade grown systems. As trees and plant biodiversity remain intact, so does the proliferation of insects, seeds and fruits. With the presence of these food sources, complex food webs remain minimally disturbed, and birds are able to continue habitation of these plantation lands. In addition to promoting biodiversity by preservation of a food web, biodiversity is also preserved, as fragmentation does not occur from the removal of trees and shrubs. Fragmentation has been linked as a deterrant to migratory bird species from settling and inhabiting in areas that have been altered, as cover and protection are no longer available. Fragmentation is an effect that occurs when land is intermittantly disturbed by man, and birds steer away from inhabiting lands that do not offer steady cover from predators and adverse weather.A second primary feature of shade grown coffee plantations that is beneficial to the preservation of biodiversity is the absence of chemical pesticides and the practice of promoting natural pollination services. The absence of pesticides also means that run off and accumulation will not occur and adversly affect the health of plantation workers and of aquifer systems.
- #5: I have found that my decision problem can not be assigned utility values that make it an objective problem that can be applied to others.Although I have mentioned money as a factor that may decide whether or not its worth preserving bird habitat, this is not an important value to me. I have placed the highest importance in morality and ethics. If shade grown coffee would become so expensive that I could not afford it, I would simply make the choice to not drink coffee at all.My values are subjective, and to date, an economic (expected value) has not been quantified for a bird (in terms of ecological services). Ecological services are practices that are monetarily beneficial to man, executed by birds, such as pollination, pest control and seed dispersal.Harm, as in depletion
- #6: What have you learned from this project and/or the course as a whole about how to be a goodconsumer of scientific research?Was your PIP research worthwhile?