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Proximity to forest mediates trade‐offs between yields and biodiversity of birds in oil palm smallholdings

K. Hamer,Michael Adu Sasu,Linda Ofosuhene,R. Asare,B. Ossom,C. Parr,Sarah A. Scriven,W. Asante,R. Addico,Jane K. Hill

Published 2021 in Biotropica

ABSTRACT

There is much debate about how best to mitigate the effects of agricultural expansion on biodiversity, especially in the tropics. Recent studies have emphasized that proximity to natural habitats can enhance farmland biodiversity, yet few studies have examined whether or not such proximity mediates local trade‐offs between yields and biodiversity, and hence alters conclusions about the ecological benefits of alternative farming strategies. Here we examine yield‐biodiversity trade‐offs, focusing on birds in oil palm smallholdings at different distances from remaining areas of forest, including a large forest reserve, in Ghana. We found significantly fewer birds on higher‐yielding than lower‐yielding farms, in terms of both species richness and abundance. For forest specialist birds (likely to be highly vulnerable to conversion of land to agriculture) we also found a greater trade‐off (i.e., lower richness and abundance for a given yield) at farms further from forest, to the extent that increasing distance to the nearest forest from 1 to 10 km had a similar effect as a 3‐ to 5‐fold increase in fruit yield brought about by increased intensification. Our study highlights the importance of accounting for the effects of natural forest in the landscape when considering agricultural policies for biodiversity protection, underlining the importance of a landscape‐scale approach to conservation.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2021

  • Venue

    Biotropica

  • Publication date

    2021-07-18

  • Fields of study

    Biology, Geography, Environmental Science

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1111/btp.12997
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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