Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia
Oil palm plantation has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversityrich countries in the tropics. It plays a major role in the economy of Malaysia as the second largest producer of palm oil and oil palm related products after Indonesia. The conversion of native forests to oil palm mo...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2016
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/1/FH%202016%2021%20IR%20UPM%20IR.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848855678925406208 |
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| author | Nasron, Amal Ghazali |
| author_facet | Nasron, Amal Ghazali |
| author_sort | Nasron, Amal Ghazali |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Oil palm plantation has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversityrich
countries in the tropics. It plays a major role in the economy of Malaysia as
the second largest producer of palm oil and oil palm related products after
Indonesia. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture system has
caused biodiversity loss. With proper planning and implementation of farming
practice, oil palm agriculture in Malaysia can go further as an economic
backbone. However, little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture
system on biodiversity. Studying arthropod diversity in response to different
habitat variables will give evidence to support wildlife conservation in the
expanding oil palm industry. The smallholdings were chosen as representatives
of the oil palm smallholdings in Peninsular Malaysia as they include both oil palm
and banana plants. In this study, arthropods are used as ecological indicators
while pitfall traps were used in data collection. Systematic sampling of insects
with random starting points were used in pitfall trapping in each plot. Arthropod
diversity was examined with respect to abundance, number of orders (order
richness) and community composition responded to different farming practices
and vegetation structure characteristics. Across oil palm smallholdings, the
number of arthropod orders were significantly higher in polyculture smallholdings
than monoculture smallholdings. However, there were no significant difference
in arthropod abundances in both monoculture and polyculture smallholdings.
Habitat quality variables explained 15.98% of arthropods richness. The most
significant predictor variables in influencing arthropod diversity were polyculture
farming practice, height of oil palm crop and number of immature oil palm. This
study concluded that polyculture smallholdings can host a wider arthropod order
than monoculture smallholdings. Arthropods were shown to favour multiple crops
that offer variety of food sources for different trophic levels. The findings of this
study suggest that, in order to preserve biodiversity, oil palm stakeholders should
maintain as much of the remaining arthropod biodiversity as possible by
sustaining local habitat complexity in the smallholdings. This practice is not only important for the oil palm smallholding sustainability, but it also increases
arthropods richness that helps to carry out important ecological niche and
functions in the oil palm landscape such as floral pollination, pest predation,
decomposing of litter layer and recycling of nutrient cycle. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:29:35Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | upm-66831 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:29:35Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-668312025-05-22T01:10:28Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/ Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia Nasron, Amal Ghazali Oil palm plantation has become one of the economic mainstays for biodiversityrich countries in the tropics. It plays a major role in the economy of Malaysia as the second largest producer of palm oil and oil palm related products after Indonesia. The conversion of native forests to oil palm monoculture system has caused biodiversity loss. With proper planning and implementation of farming practice, oil palm agriculture in Malaysia can go further as an economic backbone. However, little is known about the effects of oil palm polyculture system on biodiversity. Studying arthropod diversity in response to different habitat variables will give evidence to support wildlife conservation in the expanding oil palm industry. The smallholdings were chosen as representatives of the oil palm smallholdings in Peninsular Malaysia as they include both oil palm and banana plants. In this study, arthropods are used as ecological indicators while pitfall traps were used in data collection. Systematic sampling of insects with random starting points were used in pitfall trapping in each plot. Arthropod diversity was examined with respect to abundance, number of orders (order richness) and community composition responded to different farming practices and vegetation structure characteristics. Across oil palm smallholdings, the number of arthropod orders were significantly higher in polyculture smallholdings than monoculture smallholdings. However, there were no significant difference in arthropod abundances in both monoculture and polyculture smallholdings. Habitat quality variables explained 15.98% of arthropods richness. The most significant predictor variables in influencing arthropod diversity were polyculture farming practice, height of oil palm crop and number of immature oil palm. This study concluded that polyculture smallholdings can host a wider arthropod order than monoculture smallholdings. Arthropods were shown to favour multiple crops that offer variety of food sources for different trophic levels. The findings of this study suggest that, in order to preserve biodiversity, oil palm stakeholders should maintain as much of the remaining arthropod biodiversity as possible by sustaining local habitat complexity in the smallholdings. This practice is not only important for the oil palm smallholding sustainability, but it also increases arthropods richness that helps to carry out important ecological niche and functions in the oil palm landscape such as floral pollination, pest predation, decomposing of litter layer and recycling of nutrient cycle. 2016-08 Thesis NonPeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/1/FH%202016%2021%20IR%20UPM%20IR.pdf Nasron, Amal Ghazali (2016) Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia. Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia. Arthropoda - Selangor - Malaysia Oil palm - Selangor - Malaysia |
| spellingShingle | Arthropoda - Selangor - Malaysia Oil palm - Selangor - Malaysia Nasron, Amal Ghazali Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title | Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title_full | Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title_short | Diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in Selangor, Malaysia |
| title_sort | diversity of arthropod soil dweller in relation to monoculture and polyculture practices in oil palm smallholdings in selangor, malaysia |
| topic | Arthropoda - Selangor - Malaysia Oil palm - Selangor - Malaysia |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/66831/1/FH%202016%2021%20IR%20UPM%20IR.pdf |