Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
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 |
Show full item record
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
SCOPUSTM
Citations
396
checked on Jan 31, 2023
WEB OF SCIENCETM
Citations
342
checked on Jan 31, 2023
Page view(s)
196
checked on Jan 26, 2023
Google ScholarTM
Check
Altmetric
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.