Potential and role of bird diversity in various oil palm land cover of PT Selatan Agro Makmur Lestari, South Sumatra

Abstract

The change in the development paradigm to a “green economy” requires the management of oil palm plantations (as one of the national strategic industries) to make more use of biodiversity in increasing its productivity. In addition to reducing production costs (the use of chemical fertilizers, chemical pest and weed control), optimizing the use of biodiversity in oil palm agrosystems will be able to realize the management of oil palm plantations in a sustainable and environmentally sound manner. This study aims to identify the potential for species diversity and the role of birds in oil palm plantation agrosystems. Data collection on the potential for species diversity was carried out on six types of oil palm plantation land cover at PT Selatan Agro Makmur Lestari, South Sumatra with the transect line method along 1 km with a width of 50 meters. As for the role of various types of birds in the ecosystem, a literature review is carried out. The highest number of species and individuals was found in shrubs as many as 19 species and 69 individuals. On the other hand, the lowest number of species and individuals was found in smallholder oil palm plantations-II with 6 species and 16 individuals. In terms of the number of individuals, cave swiftlet (Collocalia linchi) was the largest species with 58 individuals, while cerulean kingfisher (Alcedo coerulescens), pink-necked green pigeon (Treron vernans), and white-headed munia (Lonchura maja) were the species with the fewest individual encounters. (only 1 individual). Based on the literature review, the types of birds found at the research site have four ecological roles. There are insect pest controller, seed dispersers, predator, and weed controller. Further research is needed to examine more deeply the role (quantitative ecology) of each bird species in oil palm agrosystems.

Understanding the impact of munia birds (Aves: Passeriformes: Estrildidae) on rice farming: Behavior, distribution, and bioacoustic parameters

“…The presence of munia not only plays a significant role as pests but also has a impact on the collapse of the ecosystem's trophic structure. A drastic decline in munia populations will increase the potential for herbivorous insects, which also serve as bird food (Railsback and Johnson 2014;Milligan et al 2016;García et al 2018;Affandi 2023). This indicates that munia attacks can be anticipated by reducing edge vegetation, which besides disturbing rice physiology, also provides enough sunlight to block the interaction between munia and rice.…”