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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018776108
Title: | Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm | Authors: | Koh, L.P. Miettinen, J. Liew, S.C. Ghazoul, J. |
Keywords: | Carbon payment Climate change Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Rural livelihoods Tropical ecology |
Issue Date: | 22-Mar-2011 | Citation: | Koh, L.P., Miettinen, J., Liew, S.C., Ghazoul, J. (2011-03-22). Remotely sensed evidence of tropical peatland conversion to oil palm. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 (12) : 5127-5132. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018776108 | Abstract: | Rising global demands for food and biofuels are driving forest clearance in the tropics. Oil-palm expansion contributes to biodiversity declines and carbon emissions in Southeast Asia. However, the magnitudes of these impacts remain largely unquantified until now. We produce a 250-m spatial resolution map of closed canopy oil-palm plantations in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia (2 million ha), Borneo (2.4 million ha), and Sumatra (3.9 million ha). We demonstrate that 6% (or ≈880,000 ha) of tropical peatlands in the region had been converted to oil-palm plantations by the early 2000s. Conversion of peatswamp forests to oil palm led to biodiversity declines of 1% in Borneo (equivalent to four species of forestdwelling birds), 3.4% in Sumatra (16 species), and 12.1% in Peninsular Malaysia (46 species). This land-use change also contributed to the loss of ≈140 millionMg of aboveground biomass carbon, and annual emissions of ≈4.6 million Mg of belowground carbon from peat oxidation. Additionally, the loss of peatswamp forests implies the loss of carbon sequestration service through peat accumulation, which amounts to ≈660,000 Mg of carbon annually. By 2010, 2.3 million ha of peatswamp forests were clear-felled, and currently occur as degraded lands. Reforestation of these clearings could enhance biodiversity by up to ≈20%, whereas oil-palm establishment would exacerbate species losses by up to ≈12%. To safeguard the region's biodiversity and carbon stocks, conservation and reforestation efforts should target Central Kalimantan, Riau, and West Kalimantan, which retain three-quarters (3.9 million ha) of the remaining peatswamp forests in Southeast Asia. | Source Title: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | URI: | http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/115263 | ISSN: | 00278424 | DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.1018776108 |
Appears in Collections: | Staff Publications |
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