Shade tree diversity, carbon sequestration, and epiphyte presence in coffee agroecosystems: A decade of smallholder management in San Ramón, Nicaragua

•We trace coffee shade trees, carbon and epiphyte abundance over a ten-year period.•Shade tree density and carbon stocks decrease over the ten-year period.•Shade tree richness remains the same over the ten-year period.•Individually-managed plots contain higher shade tree density than collective plots.•Epiphytic plants increase in abundance over time. Coffee smallholder management practices have received attention for their potential to conserve biodiversity and sequester carbon by maintaining structural complexity, high canopy diversity, and minimal external inputs. We conducted shade tree surveys on 95 1000m2 research plots over a 10-year period to identify patterns of shade tree density and diversity, epiphyte presence, and carbon stocks within smallholder shade coffee systems of northern Nicaragua. We also analyzed each of these parameters with respect to management by comparing collectively- and individually-managed farms. Our results indicate that the overall shade tree density has decreased over time (F=42.597, p