These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Establishing the evidence base for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem function in the oil palm landscapes of South East Asia.
    Author: Foster WA, Snaddon JL, Turner EC, Fayle TM, Cockerill TD, Ellwood MD, Broad GR, Chung AY, Eggleton P, Khen CV, Yusah KM.
    Journal: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci; 2011 Nov 27; 366(1582):3277-91. PubMed ID: 22006968.
    Abstract:
    The conversion of natural forest to oil palm plantation is a major current threat to the conservation of biodiversity in South East Asia. Most animal taxa decrease in both species richness and abundance on conversion of forest to oil palm, and there is usually a severe loss of forest species. The extent of loss varies significantly across both different taxa and different microhabitats within the oil palm habitat. The principal driver of this loss in diversity is probably the biological and physical simplification of the habitat, but there is little direct evidence for this. The conservation of forest species requires the preservation of large reserves of intact forest, but we must not lose sight of the importance of conserving biodiversity and ecosystem processes within the oil palm habitat itself. We urgently need to carry out research that will establish whether maintaining diversity supports economically and ecologically important processes. There is some evidence that both landscape and local complexity can have positive impacts on biodiversity in the oil palm habitat. By intelligent manipulation of habitat complexity, it could be possible to enhance not only the number of species that can live in oil palm plantations but also their contribution to the healthy functioning of this exceptionally important and widespread landscape.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]