Addressing the threats to biodiversity from oil-palm agriculture

Wilcove, David S.; Koh, Lian Pin

doi:10.1007/s10531-009-9760-x

Cited by 320 publications

(239 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…1). Phytogeographers have hypothesized that this transition is associated with the occurrence of one or more months without rainfall north of the Kangar-Pattani Line (Whitmore 1998). Although maps of Weck's Climatic Index show an abrupt change here (Brown et al 2001), maps of the number of months with no significant rainfall suggest a more complex picture (see Wells 1999;Woodruff 2003a, b).…”

Section: Patterns Of Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The diverse communities within each subregion share a common biogeographic history and many genera and families of plants and animals. A finer scale classification of the biota has been proposed by World Wildlife Fund: dividing the traditional subregions (bioregions) into smaller units called ecoregions, 31 Indochinese, and 28 Sundaic and Philippine ecoregions (Wikramanayake et al 2002). These ecoregions contain geographically distinct sets of natural communities that share a majority of their species, ecological dynamics and environmental conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the ecoregion as the ''fundamental conservation unit'', priorities can be based on each ecoregion's biodiversity distinctiveness index and a quantitative assessment of various threats. The biodiversity distinctiveness index captures measures of endemism, species richness, higher taxonomic uniqueness, and the presence of rare habitats (Wikramanayake et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeography and conservation in Southeast Asia: how 2.7 million years of repeated environmental fluctuations affect today’s patterns and the future of the remaining refugial-phase biodiversity

2010

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Understanding the historical biogeography of this global biodiversity hotspot is as important to long-term conservation goals as ecology and evolution are to understanding current patterns and processes. Today's geography is, however, misleading and typical of only *2% of the last million years; [90% of that time the region's land area was 1.5-2.0 times larger as mean sea levels were 62 m below today's, climates were cooler, and extensive forests and savanna covered the emerged Sunda plains. The region's land area varied two-fold as sea levels fluctuated up to ±50 m with each of *50 Pleistocene glacial cycles, and forests expanded and contracted with oscillations in land area and seasonality. This dynamic geographic history is relevant to the development of biogeographic regionalism and shows that it is today's forests that are refugial, not those of the Last Glacial Maximum. This history affects how species will adapt or shift their ranges in response to global warming and further decreases in land area (submergence of low-lying coastal areas) during the 21st century. The alternative is mass species extinction. The biota is also threatened by the continued destruction of forest, destruction of Mekong River flood-pulse based ecosystems, and continued human population growth. Human biogeography will become more important in conservation planning as tens of millions of people who depend on protected area forests, riverine ecosystems, and coastal habitats become environmental refugees. Conservation scientists need to become more involved in regional ecological education, environmental stewardship, and ecosystem-based adaptation to sustain as much as possible of this rich biota and the ecological services it provides.

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Section: Patterns Of Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biogeography and conservation in Southeast Asia: how 2.7 million years of repeated environmental fluctuations affect today’s patterns and the future of the remaining refugial-phase biodiversity

2010

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“…While oil palm has caused an economic boom in the producing regions, it has also attracted criticism on environmental and social grounds. Oil palm expansion is often held responsible for deforestation, biodiversity loss, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and conflicts over land rights between oil palm companies and local communities (Curran et al, 2004;Fitzherbert et al, 2008;Koh and Wilcove, 2008;Rist et al, 2010;Wilcove and Koh, 2010;Feintrenie et al 2010a;Koh et al, 2011;Wicke et al, 2011;Carlson et al, 2012;Margono et al, 2012;Obidzinski et al, 2013;Dewi et al, 2013;Wheeler et al, 2013). However, oil palm is not only grown on large-scale plantations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oil palm boom and land-use dynamics in Indonesia: The role of policies and socioeconomic factors

2015

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Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. We investigate land-use dynamics in Jambi, Sumatra, one of the hotspots of Indonesia's recent oil palm boom. Data from a structured village survey are used to analyze the role of socioecono mic and policy factors. Oil palm is partly grown on large plantations, but smallholders are also involved significantly. We find that, in spite of significant oil palm expansion, rubber remains the dominant crop. Most of the oil palm growth takes place on previous fallow and rubber land. Oil palm has not been a major driver of deforestation. Much of the forest in Jambi was cleared more than 20 years ago, and rubber was an established cash crop long before the oil palm boom started. However, oil palm growth occurs in locations with ongoing logging activities, so indirect effects on deforestation are likely. The government's transmigration program of the 1980s and 1990s was instrumental for the start and spread of oil palm in Jambi. Some autochthonous villages have adopted oil palm, but adoption started later compared to migrants from Java, and it happens at a slower pace. While the transmigration program benefited many of the participating families, it has contributed to the risk of unequal socioeconomic developments in Jambi. Terms of use: Documents in

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“…While there have been some small-scale studies examining the diversity of fungi in oil palm plantations [45,46], these have mostly focused on decomposer fungi and no molecular studies have evaluated soil fungal communities in these agricultural landscapes. Since oil palm cultivation is only predicted to increase throughout the tropics [47], revealing the responses of soil fungi to cultivation in Southeast Asia could provide valuation information for inferring the consequences of expanding oil palm cultivation in other tropical regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of Soil Fungi to Logging and Oil Palm Agriculture in Southeast Asian Tropical Forests

et al. 2014

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Human land use alters soil microbial composition and function in a variety of systems, although few comparable studies have been done in tropical forests and tropical agricultural production areas. Logging and the expansion of oil palm agriculture are two of the most significant drivers of tropical deforestation, and the latter is most prevalent in Southeast Asia. The aim of this study was to compare soil fungal communities from three sites in Malaysia that represent three of the most dominant land-use types in the Southeast Asia tropics: a primary forest, a regenerating forest that had been selectively logged 50 years previously, and a 25-year-old oil palm plantation. Soil cores were collected from three replicate plots at each site, and fungal communities were sequenced using the Illumina platform. Extracellular enzyme assays were assessed as a proxy for soil microbial function. We found that fungal communities were distinct across all sites, although fungal composition in the regenerating forest was more similar to the primary forest than either forest community was to the oil palm site. Ectomycorrhizal fungi, which are important associates of the dominant Dipterocarpaceae tree family in this region, were compositionally distinct across forests, but were nearly absent from oil palm soils. Extracellular enzyme assays indicated that the soil ecosystem in oil palm plantations experienced altered nutrient cycling dynamics, but there were few differences between regenerating and primary forest soils. Together, these results show that logging and the replacement of primary forest with oil palm plantations alter fungal community and function, although forests regenerating from logging had more similarities with primary forests in terms of fungal composition and nutrient cycling potential. Since oil palm agriculture is currently the mostly rapidly expanding equatorial crop and logging is pervasive across tropical ecosystems, these findings may have broad applicability.

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Addressing the threats to biodiversity from oil-palm agriculture

Cited by 320 publications

References 22 publications

Biogeography and conservation in Southeast Asia: how 2.7 million years of repeated environmental fluctuations affect today’s patterns and the future of the remaining refugial-phase biodiversity

Biogeography and conservation in Southeast Asia: how 2.7 million years of repeated environmental fluctuations affect today’s patterns and the future of the remaining refugial-phase biodiversity

Oil palm boom and land-use dynamics in Indonesia: The role of policies and socioeconomic factors

Responses of Soil Fungi to Logging and Oil Palm Agriculture in Southeast Asian Tropical Forests

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