Browsing by Subject "oil palm"
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Item Open Access Deforestation risks posed by oil palm expansion in the Peruvian Amazon(Environmental Research Letters, 2018-11-01) Vijay, V; Reid, CD; Finer, M; Jenkins, CN; Pimm, SLFurther expansion of agriculture in the tropics is likely to accelerate the loss of biodiversity. One crop of concern to conservation is African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). We examined recent deforestation associated with oil palm in the Peruvian Amazon within the context of the region's other crops. We found more area under oil palm cultivation (845 km2) than did previous studies. While this comprises less than 4% of the cropland in the region, it accounted for 11% of the deforestation from agricultural expansion from 2007-2013. Patches of oil palm agriculture were larger and more spatially clustered than for other crops, potentially increasing their impact on local habitat fragmentation. Modeling deforestation risk for oil palm expansion using climatic and edaphic factors showed that sites at lower elevations, with higher precipitation, and lower slopes than those typically used for intensive agriculture are at long-term risk of deforestation from oil palm agriculture. Within areas at long-term risks, based on CART models, areas near urban centers, roads, and previously deforested areas are at greatest short-term risk of deforestation. Existing protected areas and officially recognized indigenous territories cover large areas at long-term risk of deforestation for oil palm (>40%). Less than 7% of these areas are under strict (IUCN I-IV) protection. Based on these findings, we suggest targeted monitoring for oil palm deforestation as well as strengthening and expanding protected areas to conserve specific habitats.Item Open Access Threats to Big Cats in Southeast Asia(2018-05-25) McMillan, MadeleineSoutheast Asia is experiencing rapid rates of habitat conversion as homogenous oil palm plantations are replacing biodiverse areas. These oil palm plantations have exploded over recent decades, altering the landscape for species such as tigers, leopards, and clouded leopards who depend on large tracts of habitat for survival. To understand how to protect these big cats and their habitats, I examined 1) the current state of big cat habitat and habitat connectivity in Southeast Asia, 2) how oil palm plantation expansion would impact remaining habitat, 3) additional threats challenging big cats such as poaching, forest loss, and human population growth, and 4) the overlap between protected areas and threatened habitat. This study found that big cat habitat patches are already isolated from one another. While oil palm was not found to be the biggest threat to big cat connectivity, habitat in Malaysia would suffer most from the expansion of oil palm plantations. Overall, big cats are experiencing the greatest anthropogenic threats to their habitat in Malaysia, Myanmar, and eastern India with over half of the threatened habitat patches falling outside of protected areas.