Managing Oil Palm Plantations More Sustainably: Large-Scale Experiments Within the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

Julie K. Hinsch¹  David J. Kurz³  Jake L. Snaddon⁴  Darren J. Mann⁵  Graham W. Prescott⁶  David J. X. Tan⁸  Hsiao-Hang Tao^1,10  Christopher R. Woodham^1,11  Eleanor M. Slade^1,12  Julia Drewer^1,14  Edgar C. Turner^1,15  Amelia S. C. Hood^1,15  Helen S. Waters^1,15  Martina F. Harianja^1,15  William A. Foster^1,15  Sarah H. Luke^1,15  Michael D. Pashkevich^1,15  Dakota M. Spear^1,15  Amy E. Eycott^1,16  Alex J. Dumbrell^1,17  Kirsty J. Matthews Nicholass^1,17  Adham Ashton-Butt^1,18  Holly Barclay^1,19  Dwi Nugroho Adhy^2,20  Edi^2,20  Whendy^2,20  Mohammad Naim^2,21  Suhardi^2,21  Andreas Dwi Advento^2,21  Rudi Harto Widodo^2,21  Candra Kurniawan^2,21  Ribka Sionita Tarigan^2,21  Dedi Purnomo^2,21  Anak Agung Ketut Aryawan^2,21  Jassica Prajna Dewi^2,21  T. Dzulfikar S. Rambe^2,21  Resti Wahyuningsih^2,21  Syafrisar Putra^2,21  Jean-Pierre Caliman^2,21  Sudharto Ps^2,21  Pujianto^2,21  Rizky Rajabillah Purwoko^2,21  Soeprapto^2,21 

[1] 0Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;0School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;1Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States;1School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom;2Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford, United Kingdom;3Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland;4Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore;5Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, United States;6Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom;7Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan;8Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom;9Asian School of the Environment, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore;British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, United Kingdom;Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Penicuik, United Kingdom;Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom;Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, Nord University Steinkjer, Steinkjer, Norway;School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom;School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, United Kingdom;School of Science, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, Malaysia;Sinar Mas Agro Resources Technology PT Ivo Mas Tunggal, Pekanbaru, Indonesia;Sinar Mas Agro Resources Technology Research Institute, Pekanbaru, Indonesia;

关键词: biodiversity;    habitat heterogeneity;    palm oil;    plantation management;    sustainability;    tropical agriculture;   

DOI  :  10.3389/ffgc.2019.00075

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Conversion of tropical forest to agriculture results in reduced habitat heterogeneity, and associated declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Management strategies to increase biodiversity in agricultural landscapes have therefore often focused on increasing habitat complexity; however, the large-scale, long-term ecological experiments that are needed to test the effects of these strategies are rare in tropical systems. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)—one of the most widespread and important tropical crops—offers substantial potential for developing wildlife-friendly management strategies because of its long rotation cycles and tree-like structure. Although there is awareness of the need to increase sustainability, practical options for how best to manage oil palm plantations, for benefits to both the environment and crop productivity, have received little research attention. In this paper we introduce the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function in Tropical Agriculture (BEFTA) Programme: a long-term research collaboration between academia and industry in Sumatra, Indonesia. The BEFTA Programme aims to better understand the oil palm agroecosystem and test sustainability strategies. We hypothesise that adjustments to oil palm management could increase structural complexity, stabilise microclimate, and reduce reliance on chemical inputs, thereby helping to improve levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The Programme has established four major components: (1) assessing variability within the plantation under business-as-usual conditions; (2) the BEFTA Understory Vegetation Project, which tests the effects of varying herbicide regimes; (3) the Riparian Ecosystem Restoration in Tropical Agriculture (RERTA) Project, which tests strategies for restoring riparian habitat; and (4) support for additional collaborative projects within the Programme landscape. Across all projects, we are measuring environmental conditions, biodiversity, and ecosystem functions. We also measure oil palm yield and production costs, in order to assess whether suggested sustainability strategies are feasible from an agronomic perspective. Early results show that oil palm plantation habitat is more variable than might be expected from a monoculture crop, and that everyday vegetation management decisions have significant impacts on habitat structure. The BEFTA Programme highlights the value of large-scale collaborative projects for understanding tropical agricultural systems, and offers a highly valuable experimental set-up for improving our understanding of practices to manage oil palm more sustainably.

【 授权许可】

Unknown