Riparian buffers can help mitigate biodiversity declines in oil palm agriculture

Nicolas J Deere and Jake E Bicknell and Simon L Mitchell and Aqilah Afendy and Esther L Baking and Henry Bernard and Arthur YC Chung and Robert M Ewers and Herry Heroin and Nellcy Joseph and Owen T Lewis and Sarah H Luke and Sol Milne and Arman Hadi Fikri and Jonathan M Parrett and Melissa Payne and Stephen J Rossiter and Charles Santhanaraju Vairappan and Chaw Vi Vian and Clare L Wilkinson and Joseph Williamson and Andrew BH Wong and Eleanor M Slade and Zoe G Davies and Matthew J Struebig (2022) Riparian buffers can help mitigate biodiversity declines in oil palm agriculture. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. pp. 1-8. ISSN 1540-9309

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Abstract

Agricultural expansion is a primary driver of biodiversity decline in forested regions of the tropics. Consequently, it is important to understand the conservation value of remnant forests in production landscapes. In a tropical landscape dominated by oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), we characterized faunal communities across eight taxa occurring within riparian forest buffers, which are legally protected alongside rivers, and compared them to nearby recovering logged forest. Buffer width was the main predictor of species richness and abundance, with widths of 40–100 m on each side of the river supporting broadly equivalent levels of biodiversity as compared to logged forest. However, width responses varied markedly among taxa, and buffers often lacked forest dependent species. Much wider buffers than are currently mandated are needed to safeguard most species. The largest biodiversity gains are achieved by increasing relatively narrow buffers. To provide optimal conservation outcomes in tropical production landscapes, we encourage policy makers to prescribe width requirements for key taxa and different landscape contexts.

Item Type:	Article
Keyword:	Riparian buffers , Biodiversity , Agriculture
Subjects:	Q Science > QK Botany > QK1-989 Botany > QK1-474.5 General Including geographical distribution S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) > S1-(972) Agriculture (General) > S589.75-589.76 Agriculture and the environment
Department:	INSTITUTE > Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation
Depositing User:	SITI AZIZAH BINTI IDRIS -
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2022 09:00
Last Modified:	27 Sep 2022 09:00
URI:	https://eprints.ums.edu.my/id/eprint/34282

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