Managing neotropical oil palm expansion to retain phylogenetic diversity

Prescott, Graham W., Gilroy, James J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7597-5780, Haugaasen, Torbjørn, Medina Uribe, Claudia A., Foster, William A. and Edwards, David P. (2016) Managing neotropical oil palm expansion to retain phylogenetic diversity. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53 (1). pp. 150-158. ISSN 0021-8901

Preview

PDF (Prescott_et_al_2015_final) - Accepted Version Download (286kB) | Preview

Abstract

Summary: The expansion of tropical agriculture is a major driver of the extinction crisis. A key question is whether biodiversity losses can be minimized by restricting future expansion to low-productivity farmland and retaining forest fragments, especially in rapidly changing Neotropical landscapes. We investigated these methods in the context of avian phylogenetic diversity, which summarizes the evolutionary history preserved within communities. Evidence suggests that phylogenetic diversity plays an important role in maintaining key ecosystem functions. We collected data on avian communities in the Colombian Llanos, a region highlighted as being optimal for the expansion of oil palm, at the expense of existing habitats including forest remnants and improved cattle pastures. PD, a measure of phylogenetic richness, and MPD, a measure of the phylogenetic distance between individuals in a community in deep evolutionary time, were significantly higher in forest than in oil palm or pasture, but did not differ significantly between oil palm and pasture. MNTD, a measure of distance between individuals in a community at the intra-familial and intra-generic level, was significantly higher in oil palm and pasture than in forest. However, median evolutionary distinctiveness (ED) was highest in pasture, partly due to the abundance of distinct waterbirds, but did not differ between oil palm and forest. PD in oil palm and pasture increased with the extent of remnant forest cover. Synthesis and applications. The PD (a measure of phylogenetic richness) and MPD (a measure of the phylogenetic distance) of bird communities in this region can best be conserved by ensuring that new oil palm plantations replace pasturelands rather than forest. A secondary benefit of preserving forest would be the enhancement of PD in the surrounding agricultural landscape. This strategy will need to be coupled with measures to either reduce pasture demand or to intensify existing cattle production to ensure that forest is not replaced by pasture elsewhere.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	birds,colombian llanos,landscape configuration,oil palm,pasture,phylogenetic diversity,tropical agriculture
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Organisms and the Environment Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	12 Jan 2016 16:00
Last Modified:	11 May 2023 23:58
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/56258
DOI:	10.1111/1365-2664.12571

Downloads

Actions (login required)

View Item