Oil palm monoculture induces drastic erosion of an Amazonian forest mammal fauna

Mendes-Oliveira, Ana Cristina, Peres, Carlos A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765, Maués, Paula Cristina R. de A., Oliveira, Geovana Linhares, Mineiro, Ivo G. B., de Maria, Susanne L. Silva and Lima, Renata C. S. (2017) Oil palm monoculture induces drastic erosion of an Amazonian forest mammal fauna. PLoS One, 12 (11). ISSN 1932-6203

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Abstract

Oil palm monoculture comprises one of the most financially attractive land-use options in tropical forests, but cropland suitability overlaps the distribution of many highly threatened vertebrate species. We investigated how forest mammals respond to a landscape mosaic, including mature oil palm plantations and primary forest patches in Eastern Amazonia. Using both line-transect censuses (LTC) and camera-trapping (CT), we quantified the general patterns of mammal community structure and attempted to identify both species life-history traits and the environmental and spatial covariates that govern species intolerance to oil palm monoculture. Considering mammal species richness, abundance, and species composition, oil palm plantations were consistently depauperate compared to the adjacent primary forest, but responses differed between functional groups. The degree of forest habitat dependency was a leading trait, determining compositional dissimilarities across habitats. Considering both the LTC and CT data, distance from the forest-plantation interface had a significant effect on mammal assemblages within each habitat type. Approximately 87% of all species detected within oil palm were never farther than 1300 m from the forest edge. Our study clearly reinforces the notion that conventional oil palm plantations are extremely hostile to native tropical forest biodiversity, which does not bode well given prospects for oil palm expansion in both aging and new Amazonian deforestation frontiers.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_on_land
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Environmental Biology
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Resources, Sustainability and Governance (former - to 2018)
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Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 17 Nov 2017 06:05
Last Modified: 20 Mar 2023 14:42
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/65489
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187650

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