Can oil palm plantations be made more hospitable for forest butterflies and birds?

作者：Lian Pin Koh · 发表于：Journal of Applied Ecology · 年份：2008 · DOI：10.1111/j.1365-2664.2008.01491.x · 被引用次数：207 · 研究领域：Oil Palm Production and Sustainability、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management

1 Rising global demand for palm oil is likely to exacerbate deforestation rates in oil palm-producing countries. This will lead to a net reduction in biodiversity unless measures can be taken to improve the value of oil palm plantations. 2 Here, I investigate whether the biodiversity of oil palm plantations can be increased by determining how forest-dwelling butterflies and birds in these plantations are affected by vegetation characteristics at the local level (e.g. epiphyte prevalence) and by natural forest cover at the landscape level (e.g. old-growth forests surrounding oil palm estates). 3 Across transects, vegetation variables explained 0–1·2% of the variation in butterfly species richness and 0–7% of that in bird species richness. The most important predictors of species richness across transects were percentage ground cover of weeds for butterflies; and epiphyte prevalence and presence of leguminous crops for birds. Across estates, natural forest cover explained 1·2–12·9% of the variation in butterfly species richness and 0·6–53·3% of variation in bird species richness. The most important predictors of species richness across estates were percentage cover of old-growth forests surrounding an estate for butterflies; and percentage cover of young secondary forests surrounding an estate for birds. 4 Synthesis and applications. In order to maximize biodiversity in oil palm plantations, oil palm companies and local governments should work together to preserve as much of th...