Publication Date:
2022-05-25
Description:
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biotropica 48 (2016): 483-490, doi:10.1111/btp.12320.
Description:
A growing body of literature has demonstrated significant biodiversity losses for many taxa
when forest is converted to oil palm. However, no studies have directly investigated changes to
biodiversity throughout the oil palm life cycle, in which oil palm matures for 25-30 years before
replanting. This process leads to major changes in the oil palm landscape that likely influence
species assemblages and ecosystem function. We compare frog assemblages between mature
(21-27 year old) and recently replanted (1-2 year old) oil palm in Sumatra, Indonesia. Across
eighteen 2.25-ha oil palm plots, we found 719 frogs from 14 species. Frog richness was 31
percent lower in replanted oil palm (9 species) than mature oil palm (13 species). Total frog
abundance was 47 percent lower in replanted oil palm, and frog assemblage composition differed
significantly between the two ages of oil palm. The majority of frog species were disturbance-
tolerant, although we encountered four forest-associated frog species within mature oil palm
despite a distance of 28 km between our study sites and the nearest extensive tract of forest.
Although it is clear that protection of forest is of paramount importance for the conservation of
tropical fauna, our results indicate that management decisions within tropical agricultural
landscapes also have a profound impact on biodiversity. Practices such as staggered replanting or
variable retention of mature oil palm patches could help maintain frog diversity in the oil palm
landscape.
Description:
The Isaac Newton Trust and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology
funded both the fieldwork and the BEFTA Project.
Keywords:
Amphibian
;
Biodiversity loss
;
Management
;
SE Asia
;
Tropical agriculture
Repository Name:
Woods Hole Open Access Server
Type:
Preprint
