Trait-dependent declines of species following conversion of rain forest to oil palm plantations

Senior, Michael; Hamer, Keith C.; Bottrell, Simon H.; Edwards, David P.; Fayle, Tom M.; Lucey, Jennifer M.; Mayhew, Peter J.; Newton, Robert J.; Peh, Kelvin S.‐H.; Sheldon, Frederick H.; Stewart, Christopher; Styring, Alison R.; Thom, Michael D.; Woodcock, Paul; Hill, Jane K.

doi:10.1007/s10531-012-0419-7

Cited by 67 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Most animal taxa decline in species richness, abundance and functional diversity following conversion of forest to oil palm, with a severe loss of forest species and an increased abundance of non-native species (Edwards et al 2010(Edwards et al , 2013aFayle et al 2010Fayle et al , 2013Foster et al 2011 ;Senior et al 2012 ). In contrast to oil palm, we found that VJRs supported 78 % of the species sampled at control sites (calculated from data in Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Biodiversity of leaf-litter ants in fragmented tropical rainforests of Borneo: the value of publically and privately managed forest fragments

et al. 2014

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In view of the rapid rate of expansion of agriculture in tropical regions, attention has focused on the potential for privately-managed rainforest patches within agricultural land to contribute to biodiversity conservation. However, these sites generally differ in their history of forest disturbance and management compared with other forest fragments, and more information is required on the biodiversity value of these privately-managed sites, particularly in oil -palm dominated landscapes of SE Asia. Here we address this issue, using tropical leaf-litter ants in rainforest fragments surrounded by mature oil palm plantations in Sabah, Borneo as a model system. We compare the species richness and composition of ant assemblages in privately-managed forest fragments ('high conservation value' fragments; HCVs) with those in publically-managed fragments of forest (virgin jungle reserves; VJRs) and control sites in extensive tracts of primary forest. In this way, we test the hypothesis that privately-managed and publically-managed forest fragments differ in their species richness and composition as a result of differences in history and management and hence in habitat quality. In support of this hypothesis, we found that HCVs had much poorer habitat quality than VJRs, including lower sizes and densities of trees, less canopy cover, fewer dipterocarp trees and shallower leaf litter. Consequently, HCVs supported only half the species richness of ants in VJRs, which in turn supported 70 % of the species richness of control sites, with vegetation structure and composition explaining 77 % of the variation among forest fragments in ant species richness. HCVs were also much smaller than VJRs but there was only a weak relationship between fragment size and habitat quality, and species richness was not related to fragment size. VJRs supported 78 % of the 156 species found in extensive tracts of forest whereas HCVs supported only 22 %, which was only slightly higher than the proportion previously recorded in oil palm (19 %). These data support previous findings that publically-managed VJR fragments can make an important contribution to biodiversity conservation within agricultural landscapes. However, we suggest that for these HCVs to be effective as reservoirs of biodiversity, management is required to restore vegetation structure and habitat quality, for instance through enrichment planting with native tree species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Biodiversity of leaf-litter ants in fragmented tropical rainforests of Borneo: the value of publically and privately managed forest fragments

et al. 2014

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“…Other studies provide evidence that competition is elevated in smaller fragments (Feeley 2003, Bennett et al 2014, which seems plausible if the overall pool of resources declines in parallel with fragment size, increasing the likelihood of resource limitation and competitive exclusion. However, these alternative hypotheses have rarely been tested directly, with most studies focusing on the extent to which local extinction is mediated by species traits rather than species interactions (e.g., Robinson et al 1992, McKinney and Lockwood 1999, Smith and Knapp 2003, Banks-Leite et al 2012, Senior et al 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species interactions regulate the collapse of biodiversity and ecosystem function in tropical forest fragments

Bregman

Lees

Seddon

et al. 2015

Ecology

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Abstract. Competitive interactions among species with similar ecological niches are known to regulate the assembly of biological communities. However, it is not clear whether such forms of competition can predict the collapse of communities and associated shifts in ecosystem function in the face of environmental change. Here, we use phylogenetic and functional trait data to test whether communities of two ecologically important guilds of tropical birds (frugivores and insectivores) are structured by species interactions in a fragmented Amazonian forest landscape. In both guilds, we found that forest patch size, quality, and degree of isolation influence the phylogenetic and functional trait structure of communities, with small, degraded, or isolated forest patches having an increased signature of competition (i.e., phylogenetic and functional trait overdispersion in relation to null models). These results suggest that local extinctions in the context of fragmentation are nonrandom, with a consistent bias toward more densely occupied regions of niche space. We conclude that the loss of biodiversity in fragmented landscapes is mediated by niche-based competitive interactions among species, with potentially far-reaching implications for key ecosystem processes, including seed dispersal and plant damage by phytophagous insects.

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“…T.M) (Hockey et al ). Large frugivores are crucial for dispersal, especially for large seeded plants, and are sensitive to changes in forest structure (Galetti et al ; Senior et al ). For instance, young regenerating plantations could be unsuitable for large frugivores as compared to forest patches (Styring et al ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree and bird functional groups as indicators of recovery of regenerating subtropical coastal dune forests

Rolo

Olivier

Aarde

2017

Restoration Ecology

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Functional diversity indicators are increasingly used to monitor forest function recovery because they connect biodiversity to ecosystem functions. However, identifying which functions deviate from a reference forest has not received much attention, despite its potential to inform restoration interventions. In this study, we used functional groups to assess the recovery of ecosystem functions in regenerating coastal dune forests. We surveyed birds and trees in forest of different ages and a reference old‐growth forest in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. We classified species into functional groups for each taxa based on functional traits or a priori defined categories (i.e. guilds) and quantified the number of species within functional groups as a proxy of function stability. Bird species density followed an asymptotic trajectory, reaching old‐growth forest values after 25 years. Insectivores and granivores showed saturating trajectories, whereas small frugivores and generalists increased linearly. With the exception of large frugivores, relative abundances of bird functional groups progressed towards old‐growth forest values as the forest aged. Tree species density increased linearly with forest age. In contrast to old‐growth forests, large‐canopy trees and understory shrubs were under‐represented, while mid‐canopy trees dominated regenerating forests. Our result suggests that most bird, but not tree, functions may have been restored. The trend in large frugivore numbers may warrant further investigation, as their low numbers may have hampered the recovery of tree functions. We conclude that functional group trajectories can track functions that deviate from a benchmark, and may therefore direct adaptive actions to recover the stability of regenerating forest.

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Trait-dependent declines of species following conversion of rain forest to oil palm plantations

Cited by 67 publications

References 65 publications

Biodiversity of leaf-litter ants in fragmented tropical rainforests of Borneo: the value of publically and privately managed forest fragments

Biodiversity of leaf-litter ants in fragmented tropical rainforests of Borneo: the value of publically and privately managed forest fragments

Species interactions regulate the collapse of biodiversity and ecosystem function in tropical forest fragments

Tree and bird functional groups as indicators of recovery of regenerating subtropical coastal dune forests

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