Spiders in canopy and ground microhabitats are robust to changes in understory vegetation management practices in mature oil palm plantations (Riau, Indonesia)

Maintaining understory vegetation in oil palm plantations supports higher assassin bug numbers

“…Barring 6 days of geographically restricted pyrethroid based canopy fogging (see Pashkevich et al. (2022)) no insecticides were used in the plots throughout this study. Data collection was carried out during three separate time periods.…”

“…Few studies have investigated the impacts on biodiversity of local‐scale management practices that enhance understory complexity in oil palm plantations. Instead, the majority of research that has been carried out on management for heterogeneity within oil palm has focussed on increasing complexity at the landscape‐scale, such as through retaining or replanting native trees in fragments (as in Lucey & Hill, 2012; Lucey et al., 2014; Teuscher et al., 2016; Zemp et al., 2019) or along rivers (as in Gray et al., 2015; Gray et al., 2016; Luke, Slade, et al., 2019; Mullin et al., 2020; Pashkevich et al., 2022; Williamson et al., 2020; Woodham et al., 2019). Given that guidance on local‐scale management practices is already included in certain sustainability certification guidelines (such as those highlighted within Principle 7 of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's Principles and Criteria [Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), 2020]), and that such practices are likely to be relatively easily and cheaply adapted to fit with future updated guidelines, it is of key importance that the outcomes of such practices are better understood.…”