Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations

Oil palm expansion has caused considerable biodiversity loss as rainforest has been converted to plantation. However, it is still possible to mitigate such biodiversity losses and increase agricultural sustainability by introducing sustainable oil palm farming practices. One such method is the use o...

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Main Authors: Tohiran, Kamil A., Nobilly, Frisco, Maxwell, Thomas, Puan, Chong Leong, Zakaria, Mohamed, Zulkifli, Raja, Ashton‐Butt, Adham, Azhar, Badrul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ornithological Society of Japan 2019
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/1/CATTLE.pdf
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author Tohiran, Kamil A.
Nobilly, Frisco
Maxwell, Thomas
Puan, Chong Leong
Zakaria, Mohamed
Zulkifli, Raja
Ashton‐Butt, Adham
Azhar, Badrul
author_facet Tohiran, Kamil A.
Nobilly, Frisco
Maxwell, Thomas
Puan, Chong Leong
Zakaria, Mohamed
Zulkifli, Raja
Ashton‐Butt, Adham
Azhar, Badrul
author_sort Tohiran, Kamil A.
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Oil palm expansion has caused considerable biodiversity loss as rainforest has been converted to plantation. However, it is still possible to mitigate such biodiversity losses and increase agricultural sustainability by introducing sustainable oil palm farming practices. One such method is the use of biological control agents for understory weed management in place of herbicides. Integrating cattle into oil palm plantation management to control undergrowth is expected to improve biodiversity (including avian diversity) in oil palm plantations. This study investigated the association between cattle grazing and farmland bird species composition in oil palm plantations. We used point transect sampling to survey farmland birds in 45 oil palm plantations which were divided into systematically and non-systematically cattle grazed plantations and control plantations (without cattle grazing). We found that both oil palm plantations with systematic (P=0.001) and non-systematic (P=0.005) cattle grazing had greater avian diversity than plantations without cattle grazing. Based on feeding guild, avian insectivores made up the majority of farmland birds observed. Bird species composition was determined by four attributes in our model: number of cattle, selective weeding frequency, age of oil palm stand, and palm height. We conclude that systematic grazing can improve avian diversity in oil palm plantations. We stress, that cattle integration into oil palm agriculture can provide an excellent means of maximising agricultural land use efficiency as well as increasing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by increasing habitat complexity.
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spelling upm-808692021-02-28T17:43:48Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/ Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations Tohiran, Kamil A. Nobilly, Frisco Maxwell, Thomas Puan, Chong Leong Zakaria, Mohamed Zulkifli, Raja Ashton‐Butt, Adham Azhar, Badrul Oil palm expansion has caused considerable biodiversity loss as rainforest has been converted to plantation. However, it is still possible to mitigate such biodiversity losses and increase agricultural sustainability by introducing sustainable oil palm farming practices. One such method is the use of biological control agents for understory weed management in place of herbicides. Integrating cattle into oil palm plantation management to control undergrowth is expected to improve biodiversity (including avian diversity) in oil palm plantations. This study investigated the association between cattle grazing and farmland bird species composition in oil palm plantations. We used point transect sampling to survey farmland birds in 45 oil palm plantations which were divided into systematically and non-systematically cattle grazed plantations and control plantations (without cattle grazing). We found that both oil palm plantations with systematic (P=0.001) and non-systematic (P=0.005) cattle grazing had greater avian diversity than plantations without cattle grazing. Based on feeding guild, avian insectivores made up the majority of farmland birds observed. Bird species composition was determined by four attributes in our model: number of cattle, selective weeding frequency, age of oil palm stand, and palm height. We conclude that systematic grazing can improve avian diversity in oil palm plantations. We stress, that cattle integration into oil palm agriculture can provide an excellent means of maximising agricultural land use efficiency as well as increasing biodiversity in agricultural landscapes by increasing habitat complexity. Ornithological Society of Japan 2019 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/1/CATTLE.pdf Tohiran, Kamil A. and Nobilly, Frisco and Maxwell, Thomas and Puan, Chong Leong and Zakaria, Mohamed and Zulkifli, Raja and Ashton‐Butt, Adham and Azhar, Badrul (2019) Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations. Ornithological Science, 18. pp. 81-94. ISSN 1347-0558 https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/osj/18/1/18_81/_pdf/-char/ja
spellingShingle Tohiran, Kamil A.
Nobilly, Frisco
Maxwell, Thomas
Puan, Chong Leong
Zakaria, Mohamed
Zulkifli, Raja
Ashton‐Butt, Adham
Azhar, Badrul
Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title_full Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title_fullStr Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title_full_unstemmed Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title_short Cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
title_sort cattle grazing benefits farmland bird community composition in oil palm plantations
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/80869/1/CATTLE.pdf