Diverse and larger tree islands promote native tree diversity in oil palm landscapes

Abstract

In monoculture-dominated landscapes, recovering biodiversity is a priority, but effective restoration strategies have yet to be identified. In this study, we experimentally tested passive and active restoration strategies to recover taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of woody plants within 52 tree islands established in an oil palm landscape. Large tree islands and higher initial planted diversity catalyzed diversity recovery, particularly functional diversity at the landscape level. At the local scale, results demonstrated that greater initial planting diversity begets greater diversity of native recruits, overcoming limitations of natural recruitment in highly modified landscapes. Establishing large and diverse tree islands is crucial for safeguarding rare, endemic, and forest-associated species in oil palm landscapes.

Citation

BibTex

@article{paternoDiverseLargerTree2024,
  title = {Diverse and Larger Tree Islands Promote Native Tree Diversity in Oil Palm Landscapes},
  author = {Paterno, Gustavo B. and Brambach, Fabian and {Guerrero-Ram{\'i}rez}, Nathaly and Zemp, Delphine Clara and Cantillo, Aiza F. and Camarretta, Nicol{\`o} and Moura, Carina C. M. and Gailing, Oliver and Ballauff, Johannes and Polle, Andrea and Schlund, Michael and Erasmi, Stefan and Iddris, Najeeb A. and Khokthong, Watit and Sundawati, Leti and Irawan, Bambang and H{\"o}lscher, Dirk and Kreft, Holger},
  year = {2024},
  month = nov,
  journal = {Science},
  volume = {386},
  number = {6723},
  pages = {795--802},
  issn = {0036-8075, 1095-9203},
  doi = {10.1126/science.ado1629},
  urldate = {2024-11-18},
  abstract = {In monoculture-dominated landscapes, recovering biodiversity is a priority, but effective restoration strategies have yet to be identified. In this study, we experimentally tested passive and active restoration strategies to recover taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of woody plants within 52 tree islands established in an oil palm landscape. Large tree islands and higher initial planted diversity catalyzed diversity recovery, particularly functional diversity at the landscape level. At the local scale, results demonstrated that greater initial planting diversity begets greater diversity of native recruits, overcoming limitations of natural recruitment in highly modified landscapes. Establishing large and diverse tree islands is crucial for safeguarding rare, endemic, and forest-associated species in oil palm landscapes.           ,              Editor's summary                            Oil palm plantations replace diverse tropical forests with monocultures, but restoration can bring biodiversity and ecosystem services back to these highly modified landscapes. Planting areas of forest (``tree islands '') can provide seeds and microclimates favorable to the natural regeneration of native trees. Paterno               et al               . planted tree islands of different sizes and levels of diversity to determine how these management factors affected natural regeneration success. Larger and more diverse plantings led to greater recruited tree diversity in terms of, not just species, but also functional traits and lineages. These local factors played a greater role than the distance to forest patches or density of native trees in the landscape. ---Bianca Lopez},
  copyright = {All rights reserved},
  langid = {english}
}

How to cite?

Gustavo B. Paterno et al., Diverse and larger tree islands promote native tree diversity in oil palm landscapes.Science386,795-802(2024).DOI: 10.1126/science.ado1629