How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?

Fitzherbert, Emily; Struebig, Matthew J.; Morel, Alexandra; Danielsen, Finn; Brühl, Carsten A.; Donald, Paul F.; Phalan, Ben

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.06.012

Cited by 1,158 publications

(964 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…The widespread expansion of palm oil plantations, a current example, is predominantly taking place in tropical regions in South and Central America, West Africa and especially in Malaysia and Indonesia (Fitzherbert et al 2008). The oil is a relatively cheap biofuel (whether as palm biodiesel or for direct burning), with price advantages and particular properties for food and feed.…”

Section: Cross-scale Linkages and Feedbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconnecting to the Biosphere

Folke

Jansson

Rockström

et al. 2011

AMBIO

508

320

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Humanity has emerged as a major force in the operation of the biosphere, with a significant imprint on the Earth System, challenging social-ecological resilience. This new situation calls for a fundamental shift in perspectives, world views, and institutions. Human development and progress must be reconnected to the capacity of the biosphere and essential ecosystem services to be sustained. Governance challenges include a highly interconnected and faster world, cascading social-ecological interactions and planetary boundaries that create vulnerabilities but also opportunities for social-ecological change and transformation. Tipping points and thresholds highlight the importance of understanding and managing resilience. New modes of flexible governance are emerging. A central challenge is to reconnect these efforts to the changing preconditions for societal development as active stewards of the Earth System. We suggest that the Millennium Development Goals need to be reframed in such a planetary stewardship context combined with a call for a new social contract on global sustainability. The ongoing mind shift in human relations with Earth and its boundaries provides exciting opportunities for societal development in collaboration with the biosphere-a global sustainability agenda for humanity.

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Section: Cross-scale Linkages and Feedbacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconnecting to the Biosphere

Folke

Jansson

Rockström

et al. 2011

AMBIO

508

320

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“…Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis: Arecaceae) is cultivated in expansive monoculture plantations, and severe loss of forest-associated species has been documented in these habitats [41,42]. Palm oil, the commercial commodity extracted from oil palm fruits and kernels, is currently the most lucrative vegetable oil crop in the world, and Indonesia and Malaysia alone account for more than 80 % of all palm oil production [40,43].…”

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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“…Those authors highlighted that the high agricultural productivity reduces the pressure on forests by requiring less area to increase production, albeit while reducing biodiversity (Fitzherbert et al, 2008). Satellite images drove the assessments of the expansion of oil palm at a high-yield industrial scale in the Peruvian Amazon between 2000 and 2010, indicating that 72% of the new plantations were in forested areas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Expansion of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the state of Maranhão and soil water deficit limitations in the Brazilian Amazon

Martorano¹,

Moraes²,

Lisboa³

et al. 2017

Aust J Crop Sci

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Oil palm is considered the crop with the highest oil production per planted area unit. This condition has driven the Brazilian government to create the Sustainable Oil Palm Production Program. Since 2009, the agroenergy production chain has used oil palm as a viable and profitable crop to recover deforested areas in the Amazon. The aim of this study was to assess hydric conditions able to indicate the potential to expand oil palm crops in the state of Maranhão, even in the Legal Amazon. The climate database used (average and extreme temperature in degrees Celsius; rainfall values; relative humidity, and vapour-pressure deficit). Water deficit values were was obtained by comparing the potential evapotranspiration of oil palm (ETc) to actual rainfall (ER). Water balance was calculated based on available water capacity of 125 mm.month -1 . Evapotranspiration was obtained using the methodology according to the climate database available to calculate the evapotranspiration rate in an area planted with oil palm in this study. The water deficit values show no restriction in the soil water replacement between January and June. However, from July to December, the water deficit varies between 200 and 300 mm. The levels showed that, in the areas evaluated, oil palm crops will require irrigation. In this period, yield was estimated at 17 tons ha -1 when the water deficit was considered at 210 mm and 14 tons ha -1 for a deficit of 380 mm. This result reinforces that oil palm production may drop by more than 50% due to water deficits and the crop will greatly impact the economy and the environment if the irrigation strategy is adopted in the areas of Maranhão.

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How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?

Cited by 1,158 publications

References 58 publications

Reconnecting to the Biosphere

Reconnecting to the Biosphere

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

Expansion of palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the state of Maranhão and soil water deficit limitations in the Brazilian Amazon

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