Enhancing the ecological value of tropical agriculture through set-asides

Bicknell, Jake E.; O’Hanley, J.R.; Armsworth, Paul R.; Slade, Eleanor M.; Deere, Nicolas J.; Mitchell, Simon L.; Hemprich‐Bennett, David; Kemp, David; Rossiter, Stephen J.; Lewis, Odette; Coomes, David A.; Agama, Agnes Lee; Reynolds, Glen; Struebig, Matthew J.; Davies, Zoe G.

doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-272185/v1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 48 publications

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“…The buffer widths in our study were greater than those legally required in Sabah (20 m -Sabah Water Resources Enactment, 1998) and our results suggest these wider buffers are important for dung beetle movement as well as diversity (Gray et al, 2014;Williamson et al, 2020) of dung beetles in these landscapes. However, further research on the trade-offs of wider buffers for biodiversity versus the effects on oil palm yield is needed; this is a multi-faceted question which will likely vary depending on the local and landscape context (Bicknell et al, 2021;Luke et al, 2019).…”

Section: Implications For Land Management and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement of forest‐dependent dung beetles through riparian buffers in Bornean oil palm plantations

Gray

Rodríguez

Lewis

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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1. Fragmentation of tropical forests is increasing globally, with negative impacts for biodiversity. In Southeast Asia, expansion of oil palm agriculture has caused widespread deforestation, forest degradation and fragmentation.2. Persistence of forest-dependent species within these fragmented landscapes is likely to depend on the capacity of individuals to move between forest patches. In oil palm landscapes, riparian buffers along streams and rivers are potential movement corridors, but their use by moving animals is poorly studied.3. We examined how six dung beetle species traversed riparian buffers connected to a continuous forest reserve area within an oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We used a mark-release-recapture study and a new Bayesian Joint Species Movement Modelling (JSMM) approach, extended to a continuous capture process model. 4. Dung beetle species were fairly generalist in their habitat use, but two species showed a statistically supported preference for riparian buffer forest over oil palm, and one species showed a strong preference for forest reserve over riparian buffer, indicating the importance of forested areas within oil palm landscapes for some species. 5. A land-use change simulation indicated that the loss of riparian buffers in oil palm will result in reduced movement by forest-dependent species.6. Synthesis and applications. Our results provide evidence for the use of riparian buffers in oil palm plantations for forest-dependent dung beetle species, strengthening the case for their retention, restoration and re-establishment. Furthermore, | 239

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Section: Implications For Land Management and Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Movement of forest‐dependent dung beetles through riparian buffers in Bornean oil palm plantations

Gray

Rodríguez

Lewis

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Riparian buffers made of mature oil palms have inconsistent impacts on oil palm ecosystems

Pashkevich

Luke

Aryawan

et al. 2022

Ecological Applications

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Expansion of oil palm has caused widespread declines in biodiversity and changes in ecosystem functioning across the tropics. A major driver of these changes is loss of habitat heterogeneity as forests are converted into oil palm plantations. Therefore, one strategy to help support biodiversity and functioning in oil palm is to increase habitat heterogeneity, for instance, by retaining forested buffers around rivers when new plantations are established, or maintaining buffers made of mature oil palms (“mature palm buffers”) when old plantations are replanted. While forested buffers are known to benefit oil palm systems, the impacts of mature palm buffers are less certain. In this study, we assessed the benefits of mature palm buffers, which were being passively restored (in this case, meaning that buffers were treated with no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers) by sampling environmental conditions and arthropods within buffers and in surrounding non‐buffer areas (i.e., areas that were 25 and 125 m from buffers, and receiving normal business‐as‐usual management) across an 8‐year chronosequence in industrial oil palm plantations (Sumatra, Indonesia). We ask (1) Do environmental conditions and biodiversity differ between buffer and non‐buffer areas? (2) Do buffers affect environmental conditions and biodiversity in adjacent non‐buffer areas (i.e., areas that were 25 m from buffers)? (3) Do buffers become more environmentally complex and biodiverse over time? We found that buffers can have environmental conditions (canopy openness, variation in openness, vegetation height, ground cover, and soil temperature) and levels of arthropod biodiversity (total arthropod abundance and spider abundance in the understory and spider species‐level community composition in all microhabitats) that are different from those in non‐buffer areas, but that these differences are inconsistent across the oil palm commercial life cycle. We also found that buffers might contribute to small increases in vegetation height and changes in ground cover in adjacent non‐buffer areas, but do not increase levels of arthropod biodiversity in these areas. Finally, we found that canopy openness, variation in openness, and ground cover, but no aspects of arthropod biodiversity, change within buffers over time. Collectively, our findings indicate that mature palm buffers that are being passively restored can have greater environmental complexity and higher levels of arthropod biodiversity than non‐buffer areas, particularly in comparison to recently replanted oil palm, but these benefits are not consistent across the crop commercial life cycle. If the goal of maintaining riparian buffers is to consistently increase habitat heterogeneity and improve biodiversity, an alternative to mature palm buffers or a move toward more active restoration of these areas is, therefore, probably required.

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Enhancing the ecological value of tropical agriculture through set-asides

Cited by 2 publications

References 48 publications

Movement of forest‐dependent dung beetles through riparian buffers in Bornean oil palm plantations

Movement of forest‐dependent dung beetles through riparian buffers in Bornean oil palm plantations

Riparian buffers made of mature oil palms have inconsistent impacts on oil palm ecosystems

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