Tropical wetlands and land use changes: The case of oil palm in neotropical riverine floodplains

Abstract

Oil palm plantations are expanding in Latin America due to the global demand for food and biofuels, and much of this expansion has occurred at expense of important tropical ecosystems. Nevertheless, there is limited knowledge about effects on aquatic ecosystems near to oil palm-dominated landscapes. In this study, we used Landsat 7 ETM+, Landsat 8 OLI imagery and high-resolution images in Google Earth to map the current extent of oil palm plantations and determined prior land use land cover (LULC) in the Usumacinta River Basin as a case-study site. In addition, we assess the proximity of the crop with aquatic ecosystems distributed in the Usumacinta floodplains and their potential effects. Based on our findings, the most significant change was characterized by the expansion of oil palm crop areas mainly at expenses of regional rainforest and previously intervened lands (e.g. secondary vegetation and agriculture). Although aquatic ecosystem class (e.g. rivers, lagoons and channels) decreased in surface around 3% during the study period (2001–2017), the change was not due to the expansion of oil palm lands. However, we find that more than 50% of oil palm cultivations are near (between 500 and 3000 m) to aquatic ecosystems and this could have significant environmental impacts on sediment and water quality. Oil palm crops tend to spatially concentrate in the Upper Usumacinta ecoregion (Guatemala), which is recognized as an area of important fish endemism. We argue that the basic information generated in this study is essential to have better land use decision-making in a region that is relative newcomer to oil palm boom.

Does invasion by armored catfish shift trophic ecology of native fishes? Evidence from stable isotope analysis

“…Land use and land cover changes, especially propagation of oil palm plantations, have affected LPR whereas much of the SPR watershed remains lies within the Maya Biosphere Reserve. However, SPR has not escaped impacts entirely and agricultural development and wildfires have occurred in its watershed over the past 20 years, with likely consequences for nutrient loading (Camacho-Valdez et al, 2022;Ju arez-S anchez et al, 2019). Water depth was positively correlated with native fish δ 15 N signatures, and sediment depth showed the opposite trend.…”

“…At least 172 freshwater and estuarine fish species (Soria‐Barreto et al, 2018) are reported from the basin, with ~60% of freshwater species being endemic (Elías et al, 2020). Much of the basin has been impacted by deforestation, agriculture, and natural resource extraction (Dürr, 2017; Gandin, 2012; Tapia‐Silva et al, 2015), and African palm oil plantations have propagated mainly in LPR and SPR in Guatemala (Camacho‐Valdez et al, 2022), although some of these plantations in SPR are not yet documented. In recent decades, P. pardalis , P. disjunctivus , and their hybrids have been reported in various locations (Gaitán et al, 2020; Wakida‐Kusunoki et al, 2007; Wakida‐Kusunoki & Amador del Ángel, 2008).…”

Environmental Fiscal Reform and the Challenge of the Oil Palm. Towards Sustainable Production

“…Entre los efectos negativos derivados de la conversión de bosques naturales en plantaciones de palma, se encuentran la pérdida de hábitats críticos para la vida silvestre, lo que a su vez contribuye a la disminución de la biodiversidad, contaminación del agua dulce, disminución del carbono orgánico del suelo y la extinción de especies [6], [19], [20]. Las principales áreas afectadas por la deforestación se encuentran principalmente en el sudeste asiático (como Indonesia y Malasia) y América Latina, cuyas consecuencias han sido nefastas tanto para el medio ambiente como para las comunidades locales [14], [21]. Como consecuencia de la deforestación y el drenaje de turberas para la plantación, se liberan grandes cantidades de carbono almacenado, aumentando las emisiones de Gases de Efecto Invernadero (GEI), y por consiguiente los efectos del cambio climático [14], [19].…”

Baseflow Persistence and Magnitude in Oil Palm, Logged and Primary Tropical Rainforest Catchments in Malaysian Borneo: Implications for Water Management under Climate Change

“…The five catchments studied comprised two primary or near-primary forest catchments, a twice-selectively-logged catchment, a multiple-selectively-logged catchment and a ~20-year-old oil palm catchment. These land-use and logging histories were selected because repeat-logging and conversion to oil palm are spatially important not only within Sabah [29], but throughout ever-wet parts of SE Asia and the global tropics [35][36][37][38][39][40][41].…”