Assessment of Surrogate of Ecosystem Health Using Indicator Species and Mixed-Species Bird Flock

Investigation of the use of indicator species as a surrogate for ecosystem health was conducted during 2014 in the periphery of the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Lampung, Indonesia. The survey area composed of forest, edge, and agricultural areas in three sites at the Pemerihan village. We used point count for bird surveys within 1 km transect to obtain the data and ad-libitum observation for mixed-species bird flock. The analysis was made by using Indicator Value (IV) to select the potential indicator species which complemented how mixed-flock groups formed at the sites and further analyzed by using principal component analysis. Among 127 species recorded, one species has been identified with high IV (IV>60) and 15 species have intermediate IV (30<IV<60). Our results suggested that Sooty-headed Bulbuls Pycnonotus aurigaster are the species with the highest IV which are exploiter species and indicator for agricultural gardens. Moreover, none of the birds with highest IV overlap among habitats, which indicate that proportions are very specific in terms of habitat types. Based on principal component analysis, mixed-flocks tend to comprise of edge-to-forest species and formed at edge which may indicate food availability in the area

Phenology, Climate, and Adaptation: How Does Dipterocarps Respond to Climate?

Temperature, rainfall and extreme weather have been indicated to affect the phenological patterns and forest productivity by shifting flowering and fruiting seasons and patterns, as well as crop production. Dipterocarpaceae are high value trees for both timber and non-timber forest products. This study aims to determine the response of phenological patterns of flowering and fruiting of Dipterocarps to climate variables. The study was conducted at Way Canguk Research Station of the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP), Lampung during May-November 2012 by analyzing 14 years (1998-2012) of phenological data of Dipterocarps. The phenology surveys were carried out on monthly basis by estimating the percentage of flowering, fruiting (divided into 0-4 scoring) and the crop production. The results indicated that the phenological patterns of Dipterocarps in the area depicted major and minor patterns without mass-flowering time, different from what have been reported for Kalimantan or North Sumatra. Minor peak flowering season showed regular flowering, particularly during March to July every year. However, there were major flowering seasons in November 2002 (20.2%), September 2006 (21%), and October-November 2011 (20.3%). Average monthly fruit production showed a peak at the end of the dry season. Major flowering season seemed to coincide with the period of major El Nino events in November 2002 and September 2006, while others associated with La Nina. This study suggest that phenology and climate change may have implications in designing strategies for collection of seed materials to support the conservation and plantation programs of the Dipterocarps

Shortening harvest interval, reaping benefits? A study on harvest practices in oil palm smallholder farming systems in Indonesia

CONTEXT: Smallholders are responsible for a large share of global palm oil production. Yet, in Indonesia, the main palm oil producing country, smallholders’ yields remain low. Better management practices, including short harvest interval (HI, the number of days between two harvest rounds), could help to raise smallholder yields. However, at present, HI is long in smallholder fields and the drivers underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: We explored agronomic, socio-economic, and institutional factors that underlie harvesting practices in independent oil palm smallholder farming systems in Indonesia to assess scope for sustainable intensification through shorter HI and reduced harvest losses. METHODS: Combining methods from agronomy and anthropology, we followed harvest interval of 950 farmers in six representative locations across Indonesia via farmer diaries over a period of two years to establish a correlation with yield. To quantify this relationship, we conducted post-harvest field measurements, and to explain which underlying factors impact HI we did qualitative interviews and surveys. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The HI of smallholders in our study ranged from 10 to 39 days (average: 17-d). Half of the farmers followed long HI (>16-d). Key factors impacting HI include annual fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield, total palm area per farmer, trusted labor availability, plantation accessibility, and FFB price. Farmers responded to low yield by prolonging HI to increase labor productivity and optimize labor and transportation costs. SIGNIFICANCE: This study contributes to a better understanding of the relation between HI and yield in smallholder farming systems, by uncovering how socio-economic and institutional factors sometimes override agronomic considerations. Long HI can potentially lead to harvest loss from loose fruits and missed bunches, and reduce oil quality from overripe bunches. However, to obtain the benefits of shorter HI requires collective action and incentives along the supply chain to streamline the harvest and sale process.Fil: de Vos, Rosanne. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países BajosFil: Nurfalah, Lisa. Universitas Indonesia; IndonesiaFil: Tenorio, Fatima A.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Lim, Ya Li. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Monzon, Juan Pablo. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata; ArgentinaFil: Donough, Christopher R.. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Sugianto, Hendra. Universidad de Nebraska - Lincoln; Estados UnidosFil: Dwiyahreni, Asri A.. Universitas Indonesia; IndonesiaFil: Winarni, Nurul L.. Universitas Indonesia; IndonesiaFil: Mulani, Nadia. No especifíca;Fil: Ramadhan, Gilang. No especifíca;Fil: Imran, Muhammad Ali. No especifíca;Fil: Tito, Antonius P.. No especifíca;Fil: Sulistiawan, Pandu. No especifíca;Fil: Khoirul, Muhammad. No especifíca;Fil: Farrasati, Rana. Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute; IndonesiaFil: Pradiko, Iput. Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute; IndonesiaFil: Grassini, Patricio. University of Nebraska; Estados UnidosFil: Slingerland, Maja. University of Agriculture Wageningen; Países Bajo

Shortening harvest interval, reaping benefits? A study on harvest practices in oil palm smallholder farming systems in Indonesia

CONTEXT: Smallholders are responsible for a large share of global palm oil production. Yet, in Indonesia, the main palm oil producing country, smallholders’ yields remain low. Better management practices, including short harvest interval (HI, the number of days between two harvest rounds), could help to raise smallholder yields. However, at present, HI is long in smallholder fields and the drivers underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: We explored agronomic, socio-economic, and institutional factors that underlie harvesting practices in independent oil palm smallholder farming systems in Indonesia to assess scope for sustainable intensification through shorter HI and reduced harvest losses. METHODS: Combining methods from agronomy and anthropology, we followed harvest interval of 950 farmers in six representative locations across Indonesia via farmer diaries over a period of two years to establish a correlation with yield. To quantify this relationship, we conducted post-harvest field measurements, and to explain which underlying factors impact HI we did qualitative interviews and surveys. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The HI of smallholders in our study ranged from 10 to 39 days (average: 17-d). Half of the farmers followed long HI (\u3e16-d). Key factors impacting HI include annual fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield, total palm area per farmer, trusted labor availability, plantation accessibility, and FFB price. Farmers responded to low yield by prolonging HI to increase labor productivity and optimize labor and transportation costs. SIGNIFICANCE: This study contributes to a better understanding of the relation between HI and yield in smallholder farming systems, by uncovering how socio-economic and institutional factors sometimes override agronomic considerations. Long HI can potentially lead to harvest loss from loose fruits and missed bunches, and reduce oil quality from overripe bunches. However, to obtain the benefits of shorter HI requires collective action and incentives along the supply chain to streamline the harvest and sale process

The road to recovery: conservation management for the critically endangered Bali myna shows signs of success

The Bali myna Leucopsar rothschildi has long suffered heavy trapping, leading to its near extinction in the wild and categorization as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Decades of conservation breeding, release of birds and post-release management at Bali Barat National Park have, until recently, failed to secure a viable wild population. However, over the past decade, population increases, expansion into new areas of the National Park and beyond, and successful breeding in both artificial and natural nest sites have occurred. These recent successes are associated with a change in approach by the National Park authority from concentrating efforts on the last refugium of the species (an area protected from trapping but with potentially suboptimal habitat) and towards the human-dominated landscapes around the main road through the National Park. Bali mynas tended to favour areas with extensive shorter grass cover and open canopies and to shun denser woodland. Anthropogenic landscapes such as farmland and plantations presumably mimic the original savannah habitat of the species, but nestbox provision has probably been crucial in these areas in the absence of natural cavities. A potential further factor in the increases in myna numbers and range has been a scheme involving local people in commercial breeding of the species, thereby reducing its market price, and working with communities to reduce trapping pressure. We encourage continuing operation of this management strategy inside the National Park and its further extension into adjacent tourist areas, which appear to have myna-friendly socio-ecological conditions

Emerging threats from deforestation and forest fragmentation in the Wallacea centre of endemism

The Wallacea biogeographic region of Sulawesi, the Moluccas and Lesser Sunda, is globally renowned for exceptional endemism, but is currently emerging as a development frontier in Indonesia. We assessed patterns and drivers of forest loss and fragmentation across the region, and used dynamic deforestation models to project future deforestation to 2053. Up to 10,231 km2 was deforested between 2000 and 2018, and a further 49,570 km2 is expected to be lost by 2053, with annual deforestation rates ranging between 0.09% and 2.17% in different sub-regions (average: 1.23%). Key Biodiversity Areas (priority sites for endemic and threatened biodiversity) are particularly vulnerable to deforestation if they are small, coastal and unprotected. Sub-regional variation in deforestation patterns and drivers must be acknowledged if conservation interventions are to be targeted and effective. We provide a valuable baseline from which to monitor Wallacea’s new development course, as Indonesia undergoes profound policy changes that will provide both challenges and opportunities for environmental governance and conservation

Severity of deforestation mediates biotic homogenisation in an island archipelago

Anthropogenic-driven species extinctions are radically changing the biosphere. Biological communities may become increasingly similar to or dissimilar from one another via the processes of biotic homogenisation or heterogenisation. A key question is how the conversion of native forests to agriculture may influence these processes by driving changes in the occurrence patterns of restricted-range endemic species versus wide-ranging generalists. We examined biotic homogenisation and heterogenisation in bird communities on the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo, Sulawesi, Seram, Buru, Talaud and Sangihe. Each island is characterised by high levels of avian endemism, and unique spatial configuration of forest conversion to agriculture. Forest conversion to agriculture influenced the patterns of biotic homogenisation on five islands. Bird communities became increasingly dissimilar to forest reference communities relative to localised patterns of deforestation. Turnover led to species with larger global range-sizes dominating communities at the expense of island endemics and ecological specialists. Within islands, forest conversion did not result in clear changes to β-diversity, whereas between-island communities became increasingly similar with greater deforestation, implying that patterns of forest conversion profoundly affect biotic homogenisation. Our findings elucidate how continued conversion of forests is causing the replacement of endemic species by a small cohort of shared ubiquitous species with potentially strong negative consequences for ecosystem functioning and resilience. Halting reorganisation of the biosphere via the loss of range-restricted species and spread of wide-ranged generalists will require improved efforts to reduce the impacts of deforestation particularly in regions with high endemism

A decentralized approach to model national and global food and land use systems

The achievement of several sustainable development goals and the Paris Climate Agreement depends on rapid progress towards sustainable food and land systems in all countries. We have built a flexible, collaborative modeling framework to foster the development of national pathways by local research teams and their integration up to global scale. Local researchers independently customize national models to explore mid-century pathways of the food and land use system transformation in collaboration with stakeholders. An online platform connects the national models, iteratively balances global exports and imports, and aggregates results to the global level. Our results show that actions toward greater sustainability in countries could sum up to 1 Mha net forest gain per year, 950 Mha net gain in the land where natural processes predominate, and an increased CO2 sink of 3.7 GtCO2e yr−1 over the period 2020-2050 compared to current trends, while average food consumption per capita remains above the adequate food requirements in all countries. We show examples of how the global linkage impacts national results and how different assumptions in national pathways impact global results. This modeling setup acknowledges the broad heterogeneity of socio-ecological contexts and the fact that people who live in these different contexts should be empowered to design the future they want. But it also demonstrates to local decision-makers the interconnectedness of our food and land use system and the urgent need for more collaboration to converge local and global priorities.Fil: Mosnier, Aline. Sustainable Development Solutions Network; FranciaFil: Javalera Rincon, Valeria. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; AustriaFil: Jones, Sarah K. Alliance of Bioversity International; FranciaFil: Andrew, Robbie. Center for International Climate Research; NoruegaFil: Bai, Zhaohai. Chinese Academy of Sciences; República de ChinaFil: Baker, Justin. North Carolina State University; Estados UnidosFil: Basnet, Shyam. Stockholm Resilience Centre; SueciaFil: Boer, Rizaldi. Bogor Agricultural University; IndonesiaFil: Chavarro, John. Geo-agro-environmental Sciences And Resources Research Center; ColombiaFil: Costa, Wanderson. Centro de Previsao de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais; BrasilFil: Daloz, Anne Sophie. Center for International Climate Research; NoruegaFil: DeClerck, Fabrice A.. Alliance of Bioversity International; Francia. Stockholm Resilience Centre; SueciaFil: Diaz, Maria. Sustainable Development Solutions Network; FranciaFil: Douzal, Clara. Sustainable Development Solutions Network; FranciaFil: Howe Fan, Andrew Chiah. Sunway University; MalasiaFil: Fetzer, Ingo. Stockholm Resilience Centre; SueciaFil: Frank, Federico. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez Abraham, Charlotte E.. University of California at San Diego; Estados UnidosFil: Habiburrachman, A. H. F.. Universitas Indonesia; IndonesiaFil: Immanuel, Gito. Stockholm Resilience Centre; SueciaFil: Harrison, Paula A.. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology; Reino UnidoFil: Imanirareba, Dative. Uganda Martyrs University; UgandaFil: Jha, Chandan. Indian Institute Of Management Ahmedabad; IndiaFil: Monjeau, Jorge Adrian. Fundación Bariloche; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vittis, Yiorgos. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis; AustriaFil: Wade, Chris. North Carolina State University; Estados UnidosFil: Winarni, Nurul L.. Universitas Indonesia; IndonesiaFil: Woldeyes, Firew Bekele. Ethiopian Development Research Institute; EtiopíaFil: Wu, Grace C.. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Zerriffi, Hisham. University of British Columbia; Canad