Abstract
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) agriculture is rapidly expanding and requires large areas of land in the tropics to meet the global demand for palm oil products. Land cover conversion of peat swamp forest to oil palm (large- and small-scale oil palm production) is likely to have negative impacts on microhabitat conditions. This study assessed the impact of peat swamp forest conversion to oil palm plantation on microclimate conditions and soil characteristics. The measurement of microclimate (air temperature, wind speed, light intensity and relative humidity) and soil characteristics (soil surface temperature, soil pH, soil moisture, and ground cover vegetation temperature) were compared at a peat swamp forest, smallholdings and a large-scale plantation. Results showed that the peat swamp forest was 1.5–2.3 °C cooler with significantly greater relative humidity, lower light intensities and wind speed compared to the smallholdings and large-scale plantations. Soil characteristics were also significantly different between the peat swamp forest and both types of oil palm plantations with lower soil pH, soil and ground cover vegetation surface temperatures and greater soil moisture in the peat swamp forest. These results suggest that peat swamp forests have greater ecosystem benefits compared to oil palm plantations with smallholdings agricultural approach as a promising management practice to improve microhabitat conditions. Our findings also justify the conservation of remaining peat swamp forest as it provides a refuge from harsh microclimatic conditions that characterize large plantations and smallholdings.
Highlights
Tropical peat swamp forests are an important element of the world’s wetland ecosystems, as they serve as a dynamic bridge between land and water; they are an exchange zone for water flow and nutrient cycling
The small scale plantation is distinctively different from the large scale plantation, as the smallholdings area covered less than 50 ha with semi-traditional cultivation areas that are managed by small-scale farmers who are less dependent on modern infrastructure and use mixed planting systems of monoculture intercropped with other economic crops (Azhar et al, 2015)
The results showed that the peat swamp forest was 1.5 and 2.3 C cooler compared to the smallholdings and large-scale plantation respectively
Summary
Tropical peat swamp forests are an important element of the world’s wetland ecosystems, as they serve as a dynamic bridge between land and water; they are an exchange zone for water flow and nutrient cycling. Of an overall 1.0% yearly forest cover decline in Southeast Asia, the highest deforestation rates were in peat swamp forests with an average annual rate of 2.2%, with the majority of forest being converted to plantations and secondary vegetation (Miettinen, Shi & Liew, 2011). If peatland deforestation continues at current rates (31,000 km2/year), Southeast Asian peat swamp forests are projected to disappear by around 2030 (Miettinen, Shi & Liew, 2012). The conversion of peat swamp forests will have major impacts on the local communities that depend on their ecosystem services, cause the extinction of endemic peat swamp forest species, increase global carbon emissions and climate change (Miettinen, Shi & Liew, 2012; Hawa et al, 2016; Sasidhran et al, 2016; Adila et al, 2017)
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