Functional structure of ant and termite assemblages in old growth forest, logged forest and oil palm plantation in Malaysian Borneo

ABSTRACTTropical forests are being rapidly altered by logging and cleared for agriculture. Understanding the effects of these land use changes on soil bacteria, which constitute a large proportion of total biodiversity and perform important ecosystem functions, is a major conservation frontier. Here we studied the effects of logging history and forest conversion to oil palm plantations in Sabah, Borneo, on the soil bacterial community. We used paired-end Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, V3 region, to compare the bacterial communities in primary, once-logged, and twice-logged forest and land converted to oil palm plantations. Bacteria were grouped into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at the 97% similarity level, and OTU richness and local-scale α-diversity showed no difference between the various forest types and oil palm plantations. Focusing on the turnover of bacteria across space, true β-diversity was higher in oil palm plantation soil than in forest soil, whereas community dissimilarity-based metrics of β-diversity were only marginally different between habitats, suggesting that at large scales, oil palm plantation soil could have higher overall γ-diversity than forest soil, driven by a slightly more heterogeneous community across space. Clearance of primary and logged forest for oil palm plantations did, however, significantly impact the composition of soil bacterial communities, reflecting in part the loss of some forest bacteria, whereas primary and logged forests did not differ in composition. Overall, our results suggest that the soil bacteria of tropical forest are to some extent resilient or resistant to logging but that the impacts of forest conversion to oil palm plantations are more severe.

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Response of Understory Bird Feeding Groups to Deforestation Gradient in a Tropical Rainforest of Cameroon

Tropical Conservation Science ◽

10.1177/1940082920906970 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

pp. 194008292090697

Author(s):

Mélanie A. Tchoumbou ◽

Elikwo F. N. Malange ◽

Claire T. Tiku ◽

Brice Tibab ◽

Jerome Fru-Cho ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Diversity Index ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Selective Logging ◽

Habitat Types ◽

Frugivorous Birds ◽

Oil Palm Plantation ◽

Logged Forest ◽

Abundance And Diversity

Birds are crucial in maintaining the balance of many ecosystems and provide various ecological services. Understanding their sensitivity to human disturbances should be prioritized in understudy areas for effective conservation practices. Using mist nets, this study characterized mostly understory bird communities (insectivorous, frugivorous, granivorous, and nectarivorous birds) in three habitat types (pristine forest, selectively logged forest, and young oil palm plantation) in the Talangaye rainforest, Southwest Cameroon. A total of 845 birds belonging to 27 families and 85 species were recorded in the three habitats after 294 h of mist netting. Overall, the mist-netted community was largely dominated by insectivores, followed by frugivores, nectarivores, granivores, and carnivores. Although mean species richness, abundance, and Simpson diversity index did not vary significantly among habitat types, mean species abundance and diversity index decreased in selectively logged forest and young oil palm plantation and species richness increased in both habitats. The species richness, abundance, and diversity index for insectivorous and frugivorous birds were lowest in the young oil palm plantations. For granivores, species richness and abundance increased following selective logging and the establishment of oil palm plantation. The highest mean species richness and diversity index in nectarivores were recorded in the young oil palm plantations. The study showed that selective logging and establishment of oil palm plantation had variable effects on the bird communities in the Talangaye rainforest. Also, the frugivorous birds appeared to be more sensitive to both types of disturbances, while the insectivores were more sensitive to habitat loss/conversion.

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Impacts of logging on soil organic carbon and heterotrophic respiration in tropical forests in Borneo

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-10276 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sylvia H. Vetter ◽

Yit Arn Teh ◽

Michael Martin ◽

Dafydd M. O. Elias ◽

Terhi Riutta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Organic Carbon ◽

Soil Respiration ◽

Net Primary Productivity ◽

Spatial Modelling ◽

Selective Logging ◽

Heterotrophic Respiration ◽

Old Growth ◽

Old Growth Forest ◽

Logged Forest

Selective logging is the practice of extracting selected commercial trees from natural production forests. The intensity of logging correlates with a reduction in biodiversity, wood production and biomass stocks. Less is known about the relationship of logging to soil organic carbon (SOC) and how it changes or recovers over time. Empirical measurements in Borneo provided SOC, soil respiration, aboveground and belowground net primary productivity (NPP) from intact old-growth forest (OGF) as well as from moderately to heavily logged (LOG) forest sites. Soil carbon (C) content and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) was higher in LOG sites than in OGF sites. Moderately logged forest (logged > 10 years ago) contained more SOC than heavily logged forest (logged approx. 7 years ago). NPP was used to estimate the C input to the soil. All these data were used to test the biochemical model ECOSSE (Estimating Carbon in Organic Soils &#8211; Sequestration and Emissions) to calculate SOC for the study sites. The model performed well in simulating the soil respiration of OGF and generated acceptable results for LOG sites in the validation process. The results for logged forests showed an increase in Rh over the first 15 years, with some sites showing either a further increase over the next 15 years or stabilizing at a higher level compared to pre-disturbance conditions for other sites. However, for all modelled cases, a break was observed after 30 years, when Rh decreased to a lower level (but not as low as for OGF) before reaching a new equilibrium. At the same time, SOC begins to increase. Spatial modelling showed the results for Borneo under logged conditions and the potential of storing C if logging was reduced. Only 22% of Borneo is under old-growth forest; the results show moderate to high C losses if this region is subjected to logging. Overall, the results show the disturbance of SOC and Rh through logging over periods longer than 30 years.

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Estimating aboveground biomass in forest and oil palm plantation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo using ALOS PALSAR data

Forest Ecology and Management ◽

10.1016/j.foreco.2011.07.008 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 262 (9) ◽

pp. 1786-1798 ◽

Cited By ~ 125

Author(s):

Alexandra C. Morel ◽

Sassan S. Saatchi ◽

Yadvinder Malhi ◽

Nicholas J. Berry ◽

Lindsay Banin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oil Palm ◽

Aboveground Biomass ◽

Alos Palsar ◽

Oil Palm Plantation ◽

Malaysian Borneo

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Monoterpenes from tropical forest and oil palm plantation floor in Malaysian Borneo/Sabah: emission and composition

Environmental Science and Pollution Research ◽

10.1007/s11356-021-13052-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Julia Drewer ◽

Melissa M. Leduning ◽

Gemma Purser ◽

James M. Cash ◽

Justin Sentian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tropical Forest ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Oil Palm Plantation ◽

Malaysian Borneo

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Oil palm expansion increases the vectorial capacity of dengue vectors in Malaysian Borneo

10.1101/2021.06.03.446885 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nichar Gregory ◽

Robert M Ewers ◽

Arthur Y.C. Chung ◽

Lauren J Cator

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Disease Transmission ◽

Vectorial Capacity ◽

Adult Survival ◽

Forest Conversion ◽

Fine Scale ◽

Temperature Dependent ◽

Oil Palm Plantation ◽

Malaysian Borneo

Changes in land-use and the associated shifts in environmental conditions can have large effects on the transmission and emergence of disease. Mosquito-borne disease are particularly sensitive to these changes because mosquito growth, reproduction, survival and susceptibility to infection are all thermally sensitive traits, and land use change dramatically alters local microclimate. Predicting disease transmission under environmental change is increasingly critical for targeting mosquito-borne disease control and for identifying hotspots of disease emergence. Mechanistic models offer a powerful tool for improving these predications. However, these approaches are limited by the quality and scale of temperature data and the thermal response curves that underlie predictions. Here, we used fine-scale temperature monitoring and a combination of empirical, laboratory and temperature-dependent estimates to estimate the vectorial capacity of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes across a tropical forest – oil palm plantation conversion gradient in Malaysian Borneo. We found that fine-scale differences in temperature between logged forest and oil palm plantation sites were not sufficient to produce differences in temperature-dependent trait estimates using published thermal performance curves. However, when measured under field conditions a key parameter, adult abundance, differed significantly between land-use types, resulting in estimates of vectorial capacity that were 1.5 times higher in plantations than in forests. The prediction that oil palm plantations would support mosquito populations with higher vectorial capacity was robust to uncertainties in our adult survival estimates. These results provide a mechanistic basis for understanding the effects of forest conversion on mosquito-borne disease risk, and a framework for interpreting emergent relationships between land-use and disease transmission. As rising demand for palm oil products drives continued expansion of plantations, these findings have important implications for conservation, land management and public health policy at the global scale.

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Trait Variation in Moths Mirrors Small-Scaled Ecological Gradients in A Tropical Forest Landscape

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects11090612 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (9) ◽

pp. 612

Author(s):

Dominik Rabl ◽

Aura M. Alonso-Rodríguez ◽

Gunnar Brehm ◽

Konrad Fiedler

Keyword(s):

Oil Palm ◽

Environmental Gradients ◽

Biotic Interactions ◽

Old Growth ◽

Physical Constraints ◽

Old Growth Forest ◽

Forest Sites ◽

Regional Species Pool ◽

Disturbed Forest ◽

Using Data

Along environmental gradients, communities are expected to be filtered from the regional species pool by physical constraints, resource availability, and biotic interactions. This should be reflected in species trait composition. Using data on species-rich moth assemblages sampled by light traps in a lowland rainforest landscape in Costa Rica, we show that moths in two unrelated clades (Erebidae-Arctiinae; Geometridae) are much smaller-sized in oil palm plantations than in nearby old-growth forest, with intermediate values at disturbed forest sites. In old-growth forest, Arctiinae predominantly show aposematic coloration as a means of anti-predator defense, whereas this trait is much reduced in the prevalence in plantations. Similarly, participation in Müllerian mimicry rings with Hymenoptera and Lycidae beetles, respectively, is rare in plantations. Across three topographic types of old-growth forests, community-weighted means of moth traits showed little variation, but in creek forest, both types of mimicry were surprisingly rare. Our results emphasize that despite their mobility, moth assemblages are strongly shaped by local environmental conditions through the interplay of bottom–up and top–down processes. Assemblages in oil palm plantations are highly degraded not only in their biodiversity, but also in terms of trait expression.

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The diversity of beetle assemblages in different habitat types in Sabah, Malaysia

Bulletin of Entomological Research ◽

10.1017/s0007485300000602 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 90 (6) ◽

pp. 475-496 ◽

Cited By ~ 77

Author(s):

A.Y.C. Chung ◽

P. Eggleton ◽

M.R. Speight ◽

P.M. Hammond ◽

V.K. Chey

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Trophic Structure ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Canopy Cover ◽

Ground Cover ◽

Oil Palm Plantation ◽

Beetle Assemblages ◽

Logged Forest ◽

Species Richness And Abundance

AbstractThe diversity of beetle assemblages in different habitat types (primary forest, logged forest, acacia plantation and oil palm plantation) in Sabah, Malaysia was investigated using three different methods based on habitat levels (Winkler sampling, flight-interception-trapping and mist-blowing). The overall diversity was extremely high, with 1711 species recorded from only 8028 individuals and 81 families (115 family and subfamily groups). Different degrees of environmental changes had varying effects on the beetle species richness and abundance, with oil palm plantation assemblage being most severely affected, followed by acacia plantation and then logged forest. A few species became numerically dominant in the oil palm plantation. In terms of beetle species composition, the acacia fauna showed much similarity with the logged forest fauna, and the oil palm fauna was very different from the rest. The effects of environmental variables (number of plant species, sapling and tree densities, amount of leaf litter, ground cover, canopy cover, soil pH and compaction) on the beetle assemblage were also investigated. Leaf litter correlated with species richness, abundance and composition of subterranean beetles. Plant species richness, tree and sapling densities correlated with species richness, abundance and composition of understorey beetles while ground cover correlated only with the species richness and abundance of these beetles. Canopy cover correlated only with arboreal beetles. In trophic structure, predators represented more than 40% of the species and individuals. Environmental changes affected the trophic structure with proportionally more herbivores (abundance) but fewer predators (species richness and abundance) in the oil palm plantation. Biodiversity, conservation and practical aspects of pest management were also highlighted in this study.

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DIVERSITY OF MICROCHIROPTERAN BATS IN FOREST FRAGMENTS AND RIPARIAN ZONES IN AN OIL PALM PLANTATION ESTATE

SIMBIOSA ◽

10.33373/sim-bio.v3i1.247 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fauziah Syamsi

Keyword(s):

Oil Palm ◽

Riparian Zones ◽

Habitat Patch ◽

Forest Fragments ◽

Oil Palm Plantation

Kelapa sawit merupakan salah satu tanaman meningkat paling pesat di dunia, dan mencakup lebih dari 13 juta ha di Asia Tenggara. Sumatera memiliki sejarah yang relatif panjang budidaya kelapa sawit komersial, dan banyak perkebunan telah menggantikan hutan hujan. Biasanya ini perkebunan monokultur mendukung spesies lebih sedikit daripada hutan, namun ada sangat sedikit informasi yang tersedia untuk kelelawar. Kami mencicipi kelelawar pemakan serangga di Sumatera Barat dalam perkebunan kelapa sawit matang di mana beberapa tutupan hutan dipertahankan di fragmen hutan di bukit-bukit dan di sepanjang sungai. Menggunakan total 180 kecapi perangkap malam kami dibandingkan dengan komunitas kelelawar dalam tiga jenis habitat: patch hutan, zona riparian dan perkebunan. Total kami ditangkap 1108 kelelawar yang mewakili 21 spesies dan 5 keluarga, dan mayoritas ini (dalam hal spesies dan kelimpahan) ditemukan di fragmen hutan. perkebunan kelapa sawit ditemukan menjadi habitat miskin untuk kelelawar - hanya empat orang dari dua spesies ditangkap. daerah pinggiran sungai didukung keanekaragaman menengah, dan mungkin penting sebagai koridor satwa liar antara fragmen hutan. Kata kunci : Biodiversitas, keleawar Microchiropteran

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