title: Experimental Biodiversity Enrichment in Oil-Palm-Dominated Landscapes in Indonesia.
abstract: Tropical biodiversity is threatened by the expansion of oil-palm plantations. Reduced-impact farming systems such as agroforests, have been proposed to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In regions where oil-palm plantations already dominate the landscape, this increase can only be achieved through systematic ecological restoration. However, our knowledge about the underlying ecological and socio-economic processes, constraints, and trade-offs of ecological restoration in oil-palm landscapes is very limited. To bridge this gap, we established a long-term biodiversity enrichment experiment. We established experimental tree islands in a conventional oil-palm plantation and systematically varied plot size, tree diversity, and tree species composition. Here, we describe the rationale and the design of the experiment, the ecosystem variables (soil, topography, canopy openness) and biotic characteristics (associated vegetation, invertebrates, birds) of the experimental site prior to the establishment of the experiment, and initial experimental effects on the fauna. Already one year after establishment of the experiment, tree plantings had an overall positive effect on the bird and invertebrate communities at the plantation scale. The diversity and abundance of invertebrates was positively affected by the size of the tree islands. Based on these results, we expect a further increase of biodiversity and associated ecological functions in the future. The long-term interdisciplinary monitoring of ecosystem variables, flora, fauna, and socio-economic aspects will allow us to evaluate the suitability of tree islands as a restoration measure. Thereof, guidelines for ecologically improved and socio-economically viable restoration and management concepts could be developed.
authors: Department of Systemic Conservation Biology, J.F. Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Miriam
authors: M
authors: Teuscher
authors: Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Anne
authors: A
authors: Gérard
authors: German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-LeipzigLeipzig, Germany; Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University JenaJena, Germany.
authors: Ulrich
authors: U
authors: Brose
authors: Department of Plant Protection, Bogor Agricultural University Bogor, Indonesia.
authors: Damayanti
authors: D
authors: Buchori
authors: Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund UniversityLund, Sweden; Department of Crop Sciences, Agroecology, Georg-August-University GöttingenGöttingen, Germany.
authors: Yann
authors: Y
authors: Clough
authors: Silviculture and Forest Ecology of the Temperate Zones, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Ehbrecht
authors: Tropical Silviculture and Forest Ecology, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Dirk
authors: D
authors: Hölscher
authors: Faculty of Forestry, University of Jambi Jambi, Indonesia.
authors: Bambang
authors: B
authors: Irawan
authors: Department of Forest Management, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University Bogor, Indonesia.
authors: Leti
authors: L
authors: Sundawati
authors: Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Meike
authors: M
authors: Wollni
authors: Biodiversity, Macroecology and Biogeography, Georg-August-University Göttingen Göttingen, Germany.
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Kreft
keywords: agroforestry; applied nucleation; biodiversity-ecosystem functioning; ecological restoration; ecosystem services; tree planting