Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 512 in total

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  1. Wan Ahmad WN, Rezaei J, Tavasszy LA, de Brito MP
    J Environ Manage, 2016 Sep 15;180:202-13.
    PMID: 27233046 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.04.056
    Our current dependency on the oil and gas (O&G) industry for economic development and social activities necessitates research into the sustainability of the industry's supply chains. At present, studies on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the industry do not include firm-internal factors that affect the sustainability strategies employed by different functional areas of its supply chains. Our study aims to address this gap by identifying the relevant internal factors and exploring their relationship with SSCM strategies. Specifically, we discuss the commitment to and preparedness for sustainable practices of companies that operate in upstream and downstream O&G supply chain. We study the impact of these factors on their sustainability strategies of four key supply chain functions: supplier management, production management, product stewardship and logistics management. The analyses of data collected through a survey among 81 companies show that management preparedness may enhance sustainable supply chain strategies in the O&G industry more than commitment does. Among the preparedness measures, management of supply chain operational risks is found to be vital to the sustainability of all supply chain functions except for production management practices. The findings also highlight the central importance of supplier and logistics management to the achievement of sustainable O&G supply chains. Companies must also develop an organizational culture that encourages, for example, team collaboration and proactive behaviour to finding innovative sustainability solutions in order to translate commitment to sustainable practices into actions that can produce actual difference to their SSCM practices.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
  2. Slik JW, Aiba S, Bastian M, Brearley FQ, Cannon CH, Eichhorn KA, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2011 Jul 26;108(30):12343-7.
    PMID: 21746913 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1103353108
    The marked biogeographic difference between western (Malay Peninsula and Sumatra) and eastern (Borneo) Sundaland is surprising given the long time that these areas have formed a single landmass. A dispersal barrier in the form of a dry savanna corridor during glacial maxima has been proposed to explain this disparity. However, the short duration of these dry savanna conditions make it an unlikely sole cause for the biogeographic pattern. An additional explanation might be related to the coarse sandy soils of central Sundaland. To test these two nonexclusive hypotheses, we performed a floristic cluster analysis based on 111 tree inventories from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo. We then identified the indicator genera for clusters that crossed the central Sundaland biogeographic boundary and those that did not cross and tested whether drought and coarse-soil tolerance of the indicator genera differed between them. We found 11 terminal floristic clusters, 10 occurring in Borneo, 5 in Sumatra, and 3 in Peninsular Malaysia. Indicator taxa of clusters that occurred across Sundaland had significantly higher coarse-soil tolerance than did those from clusters that occurred east or west of central Sundaland. For drought tolerance, no such pattern was detected. These results strongly suggest that exposed sandy sea-bed soils acted as a dispersal barrier in central Sundaland. However, we could not confirm the presence of a savanna corridor. This finding makes it clear that proposed biogeographic explanations for plant and animal distributions within Sundaland, including possible migration routes for early humans, need to be reevaluated.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  3. Bennett A, Basurto X, Virdin J, Lin X, Betances SJ, Smith MD, et al.
    Ambio, 2021 May;50(5):981-989.
    PMID: 33454882 DOI: 10.1007/s13280-020-01451-4
    The international development community is off-track from meeting targets for alleviating global malnutrition. Meanwhile, there is growing consensus across scientific disciplines that fish plays a crucial role in food and nutrition security. However, this 'fish as food' perspective has yet to translate into policy and development funding priorities. We argue that the traditional framing of fish as a natural resource emphasizes economic development and biodiversity conservation objectives, whereas situating fish within a food systems perspective can lead to innovative policies and investments that promote nutrition-sensitive and socially equitable capture fisheries and aquaculture. This paper highlights four pillars of research needs and policy directions toward this end. Ultimately, recognizing and working to enhance the role of fish in alleviating hunger and malnutrition can provide an additional long-term development incentive, beyond revenue generation and biodiversity conservation, for governments, international development organizations, and society more broadly to invest in the sustainability of capture fisheries and aquaculture.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  4. Schepaschenko D, Chave J, Phillips OL, Lewis SL, Davies SJ, Réjou-Méchain M, et al.
    Sci Data, 2019 10 10;6(1):198.
    PMID: 31601817 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-019-0196-1
    Forest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth's ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (AGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. AGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25 ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. All plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  5. Röper KM, Scheumann M, Wiechert AB, Nathan S, Goossens B, Owren MJ, et al.
    Am J Primatol, 2014 Feb;76(2):192-201.
    PMID: 24123122 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22221
    The endangered proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) is a sexually highly dimorphic Old World primate endemic to the island of Borneo. Previous studies focused mainly on its ecology and behavior, but knowledge of its vocalizations is limited. The present study provides quantified information on vocal rate and on the vocal acoustics of the prominent calls of this species. We audio-recorded vocal behavior of 10 groups over two 4-month periods at the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Sabah, Borneo. We observed monkeys and recorded calls in evening and morning sessions at sleeping trees along riverbanks. We found no differences in the vocal rate between evening and morning observation sessions. Based on multiparametric analysis, we identified acoustic features of the four common call-types "shrieks," "honks," "roars," and "brays." "Chorus" events were also noted in which multiple callers produced a mix of vocalizations. The four call-types were distinguishable based on a combination of fundamental frequency variation, call duration, and degree of voicing. Three of the call-types can be considered as "loud calls" and are therefore deemed promising candidates for non-invasive, vocalization-based monitoring of proboscis monkeys for conservation purposes.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  6. Klaus A, Strube C, Röper KM, Radespiel U, Schaarschmidt F, Nathan S, et al.
    PLoS One, 2018;13(4):e0195584.
    PMID: 29630671 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195584
    Understanding determinants shaping infection risk of endangered wildlife is a major topic in conservation medicine. The proboscis monkey, Nasalis larvatus, an endemic primate flagship species for conservation in Borneo, is endangered through habitat loss, but can still be found in riparian lowland and mangrove forests, and in some protected areas. To assess socioecological and anthropogenic influence on intestinal helminth infections in N. larvatus, 724 fecal samples of harem and bachelor groups, varying in size and the number of juveniles, were collected between June and October 2012 from two study sites in Malaysian Borneo: 634 samples were obtained from groups inhabiting the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (LKWS), 90 samples were collected from groups of the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary (LBPMS), where monkeys are fed on stationary feeding platforms. Parasite risk was quantified by intestinal helminth prevalence, host parasite species richness (PSR), and eggs per gram feces (epg). Generalized linear mixed effect models were applied to explore whether study site, group type, group size, the number of juveniles per group, and sampling month predict parasite risk. At the LBPMS, prevalence and epg of Trichuris spp., strongylids, and Strongyloides spp. but not Ascaris spp., as well as host PSR were significantly elevated. Only for Strongyloides spp., prevalence showed significant changes between months; at both sites, the beginning rainy season with increased precipitation was linked to higher prevalence, suggesting the external life cycle of Strongyloides spp. to benefit from humidity. Higher prevalence, epgs, and PSR within the LBPMS suggest that anthropogenic factors shape host infection risk more than socioecological factors, most likely via higher re-infection rates and chronic stress. Noninvasive measurement of fecal parasite stages is an important tool for assessing transmission dynamics and infection risks for endangered tropical wildlife. Findings will contribute to healthcare management in nature and in anthropogenically managed environments.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  7. Gallardo B, Bogan AE, Harun S, Jainih L, Lopes-Lima M, Pizarro M, et al.
    Sci Total Environ, 2018 Sep 01;635:750-760.
    PMID: 29680765 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.056
    Deforestation, climate change and invasive species constitute three global threats to biodiversity that act synergistically. However, drivers and rates of loss of freshwater biodiversity now and in the future are poorly understood. Here we focus on the potential impacts of global change on freshwater mussels (Order Unionida) in Sundaland (SE Asia), a vulnerable group facing global declines and recognized indicators of overall freshwater biodiversity. We used an ensemble of distribution models to identify habitats potentially suitable for freshwater mussels and their change under a range of climate, deforestation and invasion scenarios. Our data and models revealed that, at present, Sundaland features 47 and 32 Mha of habitat that can be considered environmentally suitable for native and invasive freshwater mussels, respectively. We anticipate that by 2050, the area suitable for palm oil cultivation may expand between 8 and 44 Mha, representing an annual increase of 2-11%. This is expected to result in a 20% decrease in suitable habitat for native mussels, a drop that reaches 30% by 2050 when considering concomitant climate change. In contrast, the habitat potentially suitable for invasive mussels may increase by 44-56% under 2050 future scenarios. Consequently, native mussels may compete for habitat, food resources and fish hosts with invasive mussels across approximately 60% of their suitable range. Our projections can be used to guide future expeditions to monitor the conservation status of freshwater biodiversity, and potentially reveal populations of endemic species on the brink of extinction. Future conservation measures-most importantly the designation of nature reserves-should take into account trends in freshwater biodiversity generally, and particularly species such as freshwater mussels, vital to safeguard fundamental ecosystem services.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources/methods*
  8. Cazzolla Gatti R, Liang J, Velichevskaya A, Zhou M
    Sci Total Environ, 2019 Feb 20;652:48-51.
    PMID: 30359800 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.222
    The globalization of the palm oil trade poses a menace to the ecosystem integrity of Southeast Asia. In this short communication, we briefly discuss why palm oil certifications may have failed as an effective means to halt forest degradation and biodiversity loss. From a comparison of multiple new datasets, we analysed recent tree loss in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, and discovered that, from 2001 to 2016, about 40% of the area located in certified concessions suffered from habitat degradation, deforestation, fires, or other tree damages. Certified concessions have been subject to more tree removals than non-certified ones. We also detect significant tree loss before and after the start of certification schemes. Beyond non-governmental organisations' concern that Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) certifications allow ongoing clearance of any forest not identified as of high conservation values (HCV) or high carbon stock (HCS), we suggest an alarming and previously overlooked situation, such as that current "sustainable palm oil" is often associated with recent habitat degradation and forest loss. In other words, certified palm oil production may not be so sustainable.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
  9. Chou L, Dai J, Qian X, Karimipour A, Zheng X
    Agric Water Manag, 2021 Feb 28;245:106583.
    PMID: 33100487 DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106583
    With the development of Chinese economy, more and more attention has been paid to environmental protection, the implementation of water price policy affects economic and environmental changes in China. This paper analyzes the impact of water price policy on agricultural land use and the scale of water pollution discharge in 240 cities in China between 2001 and 2017, by including data from China Urban Statistical Yearbook and China Land & Resources Almanac. The theoretical analysis of this study indicates that the optimal scale of pollution depends on the local initial endowment, economic investment capital and the marginal cost of environmental pollution caused by government's economic activities. Furtherly, the economic activities have a worsening impact on environmental pollution, but when the government implements environmental protection and water price policy measures in response to environmental pollution caused by economic activities, it has a significant impact on the decline in the scale of pollution. The government has promoted the pollution suppression model in the formulation of water prices, which has internalized the external cost of pollution in economic activities and can effectively reduce the scale of agricultural water pollution discharge.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  10. Jia M, Wei Y, Ma Y, Shen Y, Zhang Y
    Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi, 1997 Aug;22(8):454-8, 510.
    PMID: 11038909
    Through the investigation on botanical origin, output and sales of Togcao in producing areas, it has been proved that there are twenty-two species of six families used as Tongcao. The medicinal parts are the pith of stems or petioles. The provinces featuring more species and larger output of Tongcao are Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan and Shaanxi. A hundred and two pieces of commercial samples collected from twenty-six provinces in China, Hongkong area, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Republic of Korea have been identified. The result shows that both Xiaotongcao and Datongcao are called by the same name Tongcao. The main species is Xiaotongcao, which takes a proportion of 70% in Tongcao. And the Tongcao(Tetrapanax papyriferus, taking a proportion of 20%) as recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (1995 edition) is seldom used.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  11. Feng S, Stiller J, Deng Y, Armstrong J, Fang Q, Reeve AH, et al.
    Nature, 2020 11;587(7833):252-257.
    PMID: 33177665 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2873-9
    Whole-genome sequencing projects are increasingly populating the tree of life and characterizing biodiversity1-4. Sparse taxon sampling has previously been proposed to confound phylogenetic inference5, and captures only a fraction of the genomic diversity. Here we report a substantial step towards the dense representation of avian phylogenetic and molecular diversity, by analysing 363 genomes from 92.4% of bird families-including 267 newly sequenced genomes produced for phase II of the Bird 10,000 Genomes (B10K) Project. We use this comparative genome dataset in combination with a pipeline that leverages a reference-free whole-genome alignment to identify orthologous regions in greater numbers than has previously been possible and to recognize genomic novelties in particular bird lineages. The densely sampled alignment provides a single-base-pair map of selection, has more than doubled the fraction of bases that are confidently predicted to be under conservation and reveals extensive patterns of weak selection in predominantly non-coding DNA. Our results demonstrate that increasing the diversity of genomes used in comparative studies can reveal more shared and lineage-specific variation, and improve the investigation of genomic characteristics. We anticipate that this genomic resource will offer new perspectives on evolutionary processes in cross-species comparative analyses and assist in efforts to conserve species.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  12. Binns C, Lee MK, Low WY, Zerfas A
    Asia Pac J Public Health, 2017 Oct;29(7):617-624.
    PMID: 29094630 DOI: 10.1177/1010539517736441
    The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replaced the Millennium Development Goals (MDCs) in 2015, which included several goals and targets primarily related to nutrition: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. In the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH) member countries as a group, infant and child mortality were reduced by more than 65% between 1990 and 2015, achieving the MDG target of two-thirds reduction, although these goals were not achieved by several smaller countries. The SDGs are broader in focus than the MDGs, but include several goals that relate directly to nutrition: 2 (zero hunger-food), 3 (good health and well-being-healthy life), and 12 (responsible consumption and production-sustainability). Other SDGs that are closely related to nutrition are 4 and 5 (quality education and equality in gender-education and health for girls and mothers, which is very important for infant health) and 13 (climate action). Goal 3 is "good health and well-being," which includes targets for child mortality, maternal mortality, and reducing chronic disease. The Global Burden of Disease Project has confirmed that the majority of risk for these targets can be attributed to nutrition-related targets. Dietary Guidelines were developed to address public health nutrition risk in the Asia Pacific region at the 48th APACPH 2016 conference and they are relevant to the achievement of the SDGs. Iron deficiency increases the risk of maternal death from haemorrhage, a cause of 300000 deaths world-wide each year. Improving diets and iron supplementation are important public health interventions in the APACPH region. Chronic disease and obesity rates in the APACPH region are now a major challenge and healthy life course nutrition is a major public health priority in answering this challenge. This article discusses the role of public health nutrition in achieving the SDGs. It also examines the role of APACPH in education and advocacy and in fulfilling the educational needs of public health students in public health nutrition.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  13. Díaz S, Settele J, Brondízio ES, Ngo HT, Agard J, Arneth A, et al.
    Science, 2019 12 13;366(6471).
    PMID: 31831642 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax3100
    The human impact on life on Earth has increased sharply since the 1970s, driven by the demands of a growing population with rising average per capita income. Nature is currently supplying more materials than ever before, but this has come at the high cost of unprecedented global declines in the extent and integrity of ecosystems, distinctness of local ecological communities, abundance and number of wild species, and the number of local domesticated varieties. Such changes reduce vital benefits that people receive from nature and threaten the quality of life of future generations. Both the benefits of an expanding economy and the costs of reducing nature's benefits are unequally distributed. The fabric of life on which we all depend-nature and its contributions to people-is unravelling rapidly. Despite the severity of the threats and lack of enough progress in tackling them to date, opportunities exist to change future trajectories through transformative action. Such action must begin immediately, however, and address the root economic, social, and technological causes of nature's deterioration.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
  14. Grill G, Lehner B, Thieme M, Geenen B, Tickner D, Antonelli F, et al.
    Nature, 2019 05;569(7755):215-221.
    PMID: 31068722 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1111-9
    Free-flowing rivers (FFRs) support diverse, complex and dynamic ecosystems globally, providing important societal and economic services. Infrastructure development threatens the ecosystem processes, biodiversity and services that these rivers support. Here we assess the connectivity status of 12 million kilometres of rivers globally and identify those that remain free-flowing in their entire length. Only 37 per cent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometres remain free-flowing over their entire length and 23 per cent flow uninterrupted to the ocean. Very long FFRs are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and of the Amazon and Congo basins. In densely populated areas only few very long rivers remain free-flowing, such as the Irrawaddy and Salween. Dams and reservoirs and their up- and downstream propagation of fragmentation and flow regulation are the leading contributors to the loss of river connectivity. By applying a new method to quantify riverine connectivity and map FFRs, we provide a foundation for concerted global and national strategies to maintain or restore them.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  15. Slik JWF, Franklin J, Arroyo-Rodríguez V, Field R, Aguilar S, Aguirre N, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2018 02 20;115(8):1837-1842.
    PMID: 29432167 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714977115
    Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources
  16. Qureshi MI, Rasli AM, Awan U, Ma J, Ali G, Faridullah, et al.
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2015 Mar;22(5):3467-76.
    PMID: 25242593 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-014-3584-2
    The objective of the study is to establish the link between air pollution, fossil fuel energy consumption, industrialization, alternative and nuclear energy, combustible renewable and wastes, urbanization, and resulting impact on health services in Malaysia. The study employed two-stage least square regression technique on the time series data from 1975 to 2012 to possibly minimize the problem of endogeniety in the health services model. The results in general show that air pollution and environmental indicators act as a strong contributor to influence Malaysian health services. Urbanization and nuclear energy consumption both significantly increases the life expectancy in Malaysia, while fertility rate decreases along with the increasing urbanization in a country. Fossil fuel energy consumption and industrialization both have an indirect relationship with the infant mortality rate, whereas, carbon dioxide emissions have a direct relationship with the sanitation facility in a country. The results conclude that balancing the air pollution, environment, and health services needs strong policy vistas on the end of the government officials.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources/trends; Conservation of Natural Resources/statistics & numerical data*
  17. Ng CH, Ng KKS, Lee SL, Tnah LH, Lee CT, Zakaria NF
    Forensic Sci Int Genet, 2020 01;44:102188.
    PMID: 31648150 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2019.102188
    To inform product users about the origin of timber, the implementation of a traceability system is necessary for the forestry industry. In this study, we developed a comprehensive genetic database for the important tropical timber species Merbau, Intsia palembanica, to trace its geographic origin within peninsular Malaysia. A total of 1373 individual trees representing 39 geographically distinct populations of I. palembanica were sampled throughout peninsular Malaysia. We analyzed the samples using a combination of four chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) markers and 14 short tandem repeat (STR) markers to establish both cpDNA haplotype and STR allele frequency databases. A haplotype map was generated through cpDNA sequencing for population identification, resulting in six unique haplotypes based on 10 informative intraspecifically variable sites. Subsequently, an STR allele frequency database was developed from 14 STRs allowing individual identification. Bayesian cluster analysis divided the individuals into two genetic clusters corresponding to the northern and southern regions of peninsular Malaysia. Tests of conservativeness showed that the databases were conservative after the adjustment of the θ values to 0.2000 and 0.2900 for the northern (f = 0.0163) and southern (f = 0.0285) regions, respectively. Using self-assignment tests, we observed that individuals were correctly assigned to populations at rates of 40.54-94.12% and to the identified regions at rates of 79.80-80.62%. Both the cpDNA and STR markers appear to be useful for tracking Merbau timber originating from peninsular Malaysia. The use of these forensic tools in addition to the existing paper-based timber tracking system will help to verify the legality of the origin of I. palembanica and to combat illegal logging issues associated with the species.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
  18. Habibullah MS, Din BH, Tan SH, Zahid H
    Environ Sci Pollut Res Int, 2022 Jan;29(1):1073-1086.
    PMID: 34341937 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15702-8
    The present study investigates the impact of climate change on biodiversity loss using global data consisting of 115 countries. In this study, we measure biodiversity loss using data on the total number of threatened species of amphibians, birds, fishes, mammals, mollusks, plants, and reptiles. The data were compiled from the Red List published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). For climate change variables, we have included temperature, precipitation, and the number of natural disaster occurrences. As for the control variable, we have considered governance indicator and the level of economic development. By employing ordinary least square with robust standard error and robust regression (M-estimation), our results suggest that all three climate change variables - temperature, precipitation, and the number of natural disasters occurrences - increase biodiversity loss. Higher economic development also impacted biodiversity loss positively. On the other hand, good governance such as the control of corruption, regulatory quality, and rule of law reduces biodiversity loss. Thus, practicing good governance, promoting conservation of the environment, and the control of greenhouse gasses would able to mitigate biodiversity loss.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
  19. Foster WA, Snaddon JL, Turner EC, Fayle TM, Cockerill TD, Ellwood MD, et al.
    Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci, 2011 Nov 27;366(1582):3277-91.
    PMID: 22006968 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0041
    The conversion of natural forest to oil palm plantation is a major current threat to the conservation of biodiversity in South East Asia. Most animal taxa decrease in both species richness and abundance on conversion of forest to oil palm, and there is usually a severe loss of forest species. The extent of loss varies significantly across both different taxa and different microhabitats within the oil palm habitat. The principal driver of this loss in diversity is probably the biological and physical simplification of the habitat, but there is little direct evidence for this. The conservation of forest species requires the preservation of large reserves of intact forest, but we must not lose sight of the importance of conserving biodiversity and ecosystem processes within the oil palm habitat itself. We urgently need to carry out research that will establish whether maintaining diversity supports economically and ecologically important processes. There is some evidence that both landscape and local complexity can have positive impacts on biodiversity in the oil palm habitat. By intelligent manipulation of habitat complexity, it could be possible to enhance not only the number of species that can live in oil palm plantations but also their contribution to the healthy functioning of this exceptionally important and widespread landscape.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources/methods*
  20. Imai N, Furukawa T, Tsujino R, Kitamura S, Yumoto T
    PLoS One, 2018;13(5):e0197391.
    PMID: 29763452 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0197391
    While many tropical countries are experiencing rapid deforestation, some have experienced forest transition (FT) from net deforestation to net reforestation. Numerous studies have identified causative factors of FT, among which forest scarcity has been considered as a prerequisite for FT. In fact, in SE Asia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, which experienced FT since 1990, exhibited a lower remaining forest area (30±8%) than the other five countries (68±6%, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar) where forest loss continues. In this study, we examined 1) the factors associated with forest scarcity, 2) the proximate and/or underlying factors that have driven forest area change, and 3) whether causative factors changed across FT phases (from deforestation to net forest gain) during 1980-2010 in the eight SE Asian countries. We used production of wood, food, and export-oriented food commodities as proximate causes and demographic, social, economic and environmental factors, as well as land-use efficiency, and wood and food trade as underlying causes that affect forest area change. Remaining forest area in 1990 was negatively correlated with population density and potential land area of lowland forests, while positively correlated with per capita wood production. This implies that countries rich in accessible and productive forests, and higher population pressures are the ones that have experienced forest scarcity, and eventually FT. Food production and agricultural input were negatively and positively correlated, respectively, with forest area change during 1980-2009. This indicates that more food production drives deforestation, but higher efficiency of agriculture is correlated with forest gain. We also found a U-shaped response of forest area change to social openness, suggesting that forest gain can be achieved in both open and closed countries, but deforestation might be accelerated in countries undergoing societal transition. These results indicate the importance of environmental, agricultural and social variables on forest area dynamics, and have important implications for predicting future tropical forest change.
    Matched MeSH terms: Conservation of Natural Resources*
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