Coffee crops have been consideredas a biodiversity refuge. In México, 180 species of amphibians and reptileshave been reported in this crop, 45 species are endemic. There are 75 speciesprotected in México (NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2001), three are mentionedin CITES and just one in the UICN-2006 red list. Most of the herpetofaunais tropical, mostly associated with tropical rain forest. The endemic speciesare also associated with cloud forest, a habitat rich in endemism. In comparisonto other vegetation types, coffee crop herpetofauna is similar to those in tropicalrain forest and cloud forest, the later being the most used habitat to growcoffee. We support the hypothesis that coffee crops represent biodiversity refuges.
