Publications (36)204.4 Total impact
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Dataset: Meijaard et al. 2011 - Ecosystem services certification
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Dataset: Gustafsson et al. 2007 - Logging for the Ark
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Article: Accessing Local Knowledge to Identify Where Species of Conservation Concern Occur in a Tropical Forest Landscape.
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ABSTRACT: Conventional biodiversity surveys play an important role in ensuring good conservation friendly management in tropical forest regions but are demanding in terms of expertise, time, and budget. Can local people help? Here, we illustrate how local knowledge can support low cost conservation surveys. We worked in the Malinau watershed, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, an area currently at risk of extensive forest loss. We selected eight species of regional conservation interest: rafflesia (Rafflesia spp.), black orchid (Coelogyne pandurata), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), tarsier (Tarsius bancanus), slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi/N. nebulosa), and orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus). We asked 52 informants in seven villages if, where and when they had observed these species. We used maps, based on both geo-referenced and sketched features, to record these observations. Verification concerns and related issues are discussed. Evaluations suggest our local information is reliable. Our study took 6 weeks and cost about USD 5000. Extensive expert based field surveys across the same region would cost one or two orders of magnitude more. The records extend the known distribution for sun bear, tarsier, slow loris, and clouded leopard. Reports of rafflesia, proboscis monkey, and orang-utan are of immediate conservation significance. While quality concerns should never be abandoned, we conclude that local people can help expand our knowledge of large areas in an effective, reliable, and low cost manner and thus contribute to improved management.Environmental Management 05/2013; · 1.74 Impact Factor -
Article: Is wildlife research useful for wildlife conservation in the tropics? A review for Borneo with global implications
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ABSTRACT: The urgency of the tropical biodiversity crisis continues to be a major justification for wildlife research and its funding. To examine the benefits of this research for on-the-ground conservation, we focused on Borneo, where conservation has a long history and we have direct experience. We compiled, categorized and evaluated 284 publications from a broad variety of sources, 153 from peer-reviewed journals. We found that few studies address threats to species and fewer still provide input for or guidance to effective management. We consider various reasons for these shortcomings. Research is seldom judged on its relevance to pragmatic problem solving. Furthermore, many research programs lack the necessary long-term vision and organizational structure for useful applied research. We consulted conservation leaders about our conclusions and all responses suggest that our concerns are not unique to Borneo but reflect wider problems. We conclude that conservation research across most of the tropics is failing to address conservation needs. We make a number of recommendations based on our findings. Conservation biologists should place a higher priority on addressing practical conservation needs and goals.Biodiversity and Conservation 04/2012; 16(11):3053-3065. · 2.24 Impact Factor -
Article: A Modest Proposal for Wealthy Countries to Reforest Their Land for the Common Good
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ABSTRACT: We discuss a recent press release calling on wealthy countries to do more to combat climate change and protect their biodiversity. We examine some further examples of how questionable views are imposed unilaterally on conservation problems. Until we better engage with local perspectives we shall be less credible and less effective as conservationists.Biotropica 08/2011; 43(5):524 - 528. · 2.23 Impact Factor -
Article: Soils on exposed Sunda shelf shaped biogeographic patterns in the equatorial forests of Southeast Asia.
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ABSTRACT: The marked biogeographic difference between western (Malay Peninsula and Sumatra) and eastern (Borneo) Sundaland is surprising given the long time that these areas have formed a single landmass. A dispersal barrier in the form of a dry savanna corridor during glacial maxima has been proposed to explain this disparity. However, the short duration of these dry savanna conditions make it an unlikely sole cause for the biogeographic pattern. An additional explanation might be related to the coarse sandy soils of central Sundaland. To test these two nonexclusive hypotheses, we performed a floristic cluster analysis based on 111 tree inventories from Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo. We then identified the indicator genera for clusters that crossed the central Sundaland biogeographic boundary and those that did not cross and tested whether drought and coarse-soil tolerance of the indicator genera differed between them. We found 11 terminal floristic clusters, 10 occurring in Borneo, 5 in Sumatra, and 3 in Peninsular Malaysia. Indicator taxa of clusters that occurred across Sundaland had significantly higher coarse-soil tolerance than did those from clusters that occurred east or west of central Sundaland. For drought tolerance, no such pattern was detected. These results strongly suggest that exposed sandy sea-bed soils acted as a dispersal barrier in central Sundaland. However, we could not confirm the presence of a savanna corridor. This finding makes it clear that proposed biogeographic explanations for plant and animal distributions within Sundaland, including possible migration routes for early humans, need to be reevaluated.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 07/2011; 108(30):12343-7. · 9.68 Impact Factor -
Article: Seeing the fruit for the trees in Borneo
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ABSTRACT: The recent mass fruiting of forest trees in Borneo is an urgent wakeup call: existing policy instruments, financial mechanisms, and forestry infrastructure are inadequate to take full advantage of these infrequent opportunities for forest restoration and conservation. Tropical forest restoration can provide substantial benefits for biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, and poverty alleviation. Yet the unpredictability of the synchronized flowering and consequent mass fruiting of many forest trees in Borneo presents a distinctive set of challenges for forest restoration. Significant financing and a considerable coordinated effort are required to prepare for future mass fruiting events if we are to capitalize on opportunities for ecological restoration. The continued high rate of forest clearance in this region and the rarity of mass fruiting events suggest that there may be few remaining opportunities to prevent widespread species extinctions. In this article we propose a facilitatory policy framework for forest restoration in Borneo to stimulate action in advance of the next mass fruiting of forest trees.Conservation Letters 05/2011; 4(3):184 - 191. · 4.08 Impact Factor -
Book: Ecosystem services certification :Opportunities and constraints
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ABSTRACT: A major challenge in trading ecosystem services is the need to quantify and commoditise services, for monitoring and verification as well as for trade. This is relatively straightforward for goods such as forest honey or shade-grown coffee, but potentially complex for services such as water purification, reducing risk from floods or other disasters or carbon sequestration. Developing certification systems for forest ecosystem services is one potential way to define, quantify and verify these services in a way that buyers can trust, and this is why certification of ecosystem services is promoted by a number of environmental and forestry NGOs. Certification of ecosystem services is a useful concept, but many practical and theoretical obstacles must be addressed before it can be put into practice. This paper is a review of existing development in certification of ecosystem services, with information useful for designing and implementing projects to evaluate the efficacy of new systems. We discuss the potential use of more holistic concepts for measuring management sustainability, which are to date undeveloped and untested, and recommend developing pilot projects that are specifically designed to address a number of challenges inherent to ecosystem service certification.01/2011; Cifor., ISBN: 9786028693592 -
Article: Mass fruiting in Borneo: a missed opportunity.
Science 10/2010; 330(6004):584. · 31.20 Impact Factor -
Article: Purity and Prejudice: Deluding Ourselves About Biodiversity Conservation
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ABSTRACT: Tropical conservationists can benefit from understanding human thought processes. We are often less rational than we might believe. Our judgmental biases may sometimes encourage us to overlook or act against major conservation opportunities. Better appreciation of the tricks of the human mind might make us more open-minded, humble, and ready to appreciate different viewpoints. We propose one inherent bias that we believe predisposes conservationists to neglect the value of modified habitats for biodiversity conservation. We call it the ‘tainted-nature delusion’. Recognizing such biases can increase our effectiveness in recognizing and achieving viable conservation outcomes.Biotropica 08/2010; 42(5):566 - 568. · 2.23 Impact Factor -
Article: Environmental correlates of tree biomass, basal area, wood specific gravity and stem density gradients in Borneo's tropical forests
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ABSTRACT: Aim Tropical forests have been recognized as important global carbon sinks and sources. However, many uncertainties about the spatial distribution of live tree above-ground biomass (AGB) remain, mostly due to limited availability of AGB field data. Recent studies in the Amazon have already shown the importance of large sample size for accurate AGB gradient analysis. Here we use a large stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB dataset to study and explain their spatial patterns in an Asian tropical forest.Location Borneo, Southeast Asia.Methods We combined stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB data from 83 locations in Borneo with an environmental database containing elevation, climate and soil variables. The Akaike information criterion was used to select models and environmental variables that best explained the observed values of stem density, basal area, community wood density and AGB. These models were used to extrapolate these parameters across Borneo.Results We found that wood density, stem density, basal area and AGB respond significantly, but differentially, to the environment. AGB was only correlated with basal area, but not with stem density and community wood specific gravity.Main conclusions Unlike results from Amazonian forests, soil fertility was an important positive correlate for AGB in Borneo while community wood density, which is a main driver of AGB in the Neotropics, did not correlate with AGB in Borneo. Also, Borneo's average AGB of 457.1 Mg ha−1 was c. 60% higher than the Amazonian average of 288.6 Mg ha−1. We find evidence that this difference might be partly explained by the high density of large wind-dispersed Dipterocarpaceae in Borneo, which need to be tall and emergent to disperse their seeds. Our results emphasize the importance of Bornean forests as carbon sinks and sources due to their high carbon storage capacity.Global Ecology and Biogeography. 12/2009; 19(1):50 - 60. -
Article: Evaluating the success of conservation actions in safeguarding tropical forest biodiversity.
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ABSTRACT: We reviewed the evidence on the extent and efficacy of conservation of tropical forest biodiversity for each of the classes of conservation action defined by the new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. Protected areas are the most tested conservation approach, and a number of studies show they are generally effective in slowing deforestation. There is some documentation of the extent of sustainable timber management in tropical forest, but little information on other landscape-conservation tactics. The extent and effectiveness of ex situ species conservation is quite well known. Forty-one tropical-forest species now survive only in captivity. Other single-species conservation actions are not as well documented. The potential of policy mechanisms, such as international conventions and provision of funds, to slow extinctions in tropical forests is considerable, but the effects of policy are difficult to measure. Finally, interventions to promote tropical conservation by supporting education and livelihoods, providing incentives, and furthering capacity building are all thought to be important, but their extent and effectiveness remain poorly known. For birds, the best studied taxon, the sum of such conservation actions has averted one-fifth of the extinctions that would otherwise have occurred over the last century. Clearly, tropical forest conservation works, but more is needed, as is critical assessment of what works in what circumstances, if mass extinction is to be averted.Conservation Biology 12/2009; 23(6):1448-57. · 4.69 Impact Factor -
Article: The intermediate disturbance hypothesis applies to tropical forests, but disturbance contributes little to tree diversity.
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ABSTRACT: The intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH) predicts local species diversity to be maximal at an intermediate level of disturbance. Developed to explain species maintenance and diversity patterns in species-rich ecosystems such as tropical forests, tests of IDH in tropical forest remain scarce, small-scale and contentious. We use an unprecedented large-scale dataset (2504 one-hectare plots and 331,567 trees) to examine whether IDH explains tree diversity variation within wet, moist and dry tropical forests, and we analyse the underlying mechanism by determining responses within functional species groups. We find that disturbance explains more variation in diversity of dry than wet tropical forests. Pioneer species numbers increase with disturbance, shade-tolerant species decrease and intermediate species are indifferent. While diversity indeed peaks at intermediate disturbance levels little variation is explained outside dry forests, and disturbance is less important for species richness patterns in wet tropical rain forests than previously thought.Ecology Letters 06/2009; 12(8):798-805. · 17.56 Impact Factor -
Article: Carbon payments as a safeguard for threatened tropical mammals
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ABSTRACT: One reason for the rapid loss of species-rich tropical forests is the high opportunity costs of forest protection. In Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), the expansion of high-revenue oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations currently threatens 3.3 million ha of forest. We estimate that payments for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) could offset the costs of stopping this deforestation at carbon prices of US$10–33 per tonne of CO2, or $2–16 per tonne if forest conservation targets only cost-efficient areas. Forty globally threatened mammals are found within these planned plantations, including the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) and Borneo pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis). Cost-efficient areas for emissions reductions also contain higher-than-average numbers of threatened mammals, indicating that there may be synergies between mitigating climate change and conserving biodiversity. While many policy and implementation issues need clarification, our economic assessment suggests that REDD could offer a financially realistic lifeline for Kalimantan's threatened mammals if it is included in future climate agreements.Conservation Letters 05/2009; 2(3):123 - 129. · 4.08 Impact Factor -
Article: Environmental correlates for tropical tree diversity and distribution patterns in Borneo
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ABSTRACT: Aim Identify environmental correlates for tropical tree diversity and composition.Location Borneo, Southeast Asia.Methods A GIS-environmental database with 5 arc minute (c. 10 × 10 km) resolution was combined with tree inventory data. Tree diversity, phylogenetic diversity (PD) and the two main compositional gradients were determined for 46 tree inventories. Akaike's information criterion and a data jackknifing procedure were used to select 50 explanatory models for diversity and composition gradients. The average of these models was used as our final diversity and compositional model. We applied Moran's I to detect spatial autocorrelation of residuals.Results Tree diversity, PD and the two main compositional gradients in Borneo were all significantly correlated with the environment. Tree diversity correlated negatively with elevation, soil depth, soil coarseness (texture) and organic carbon content, whereas it correlated positively with soil C:N ratio, soil pH, moisture storage capacity and annual rainfall. Tree PD was correlated positively with elevation and temperature seasonality and was largely determined by gymnosperms. However, angiosperm PD also correlated positive with elevation. Compositional patterns were strongly correlated with elevation but soil texture, cation-exchange-capacity, C:N ratio, C and N content and drainage were also important next to rainfall seasonality and El Niño Southern Oscillation drought impact.Main conclusions Although elevation is the most important correlate for diversity and compositional gradients in Borneo, significant additional variability is explained by soil characteristics (texture, carbon content, pH, depth, drainage and nutrient status) and climate (annual rainfall, rainfall seasonality and droughts). The identified environmental correlates for diversity and composition gradients correspond to those found in other tropical regions of the world. Differences between the regions are mainly formed by differences in the relative importance of the environmental variables in explaining diversity and compositional gradients.Diversity and Distributions 04/2009; 15(3):523 - 532. · 4.83 Impact Factor -
Article: Wood density as a conservation tool: quantification of disturbance and identification of conservation-priority areas in tropical forests.
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ABSTRACT: Inventories of tree species are often conducted to guide conservation efforts in tropical forests. Such surveys are time consuming, demanding of expertise, and expensive to perform and interpret. Approaches to make survey efforts simpler or more effective would be valuable. In particular, it would be good to be able to easily identify areas of old-growth forest. The average density of the wood of a tree species is closely linked to its successional status. We used tree inventory data from eastern Borneo to determine whether wood density can be used to quantify forest disturbance and conservation importance. The average density of wood in a plot was significantly and negatively related to disturbance levels, with plots with higher wood densities occurring almost exclusively in old-growth forests. Average wood density was unimodally related to the diversity of tree species, indicating that the average wood density in a plot might be a better indicator of old-growth forest than species diversity. In addition, Borneo endemics had significantly heavier wood than species that are common throughout the Malesian region, and they were more common in plots with higher average wood density. We concluded that wood density at the plot level could be a powerful tool for identifying areas of conservation priority in the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia.Conservation Biology 10/2008; 22(5):1299-308. · 4.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Cuddly animals don't persuade poor people to back conservation.
Nature 08/2008; 454(7201):159. · 36.28 Impact Factor -
Article: Maximum size distributions in tropical forest communities: relationships with rainfall and disturbance
Journal of Ecology 03/2008; 96(3):495 - 504. · 4.69 Impact Factor -
Article: Phylogenetic Age is Positively Correlated with Sensitivity to Timber Harvest in Bornean Mammals
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ABSTRACT: The reasons that forest vertebrates differ in their response to selective timber extraction in tropical forests remain poorly characterized. Understanding what determines response and sensitivity can indicate how forest management might yield greater conservation benefits, and help us identify which lesser-known species may be especially vulnerable. We assessed the response of 41 Bornean mammals to selective timber harvest and tested eight hypotheses regarding the correlation between those responses and a range of species characteristics. Multivariate analyses show that phylogenetic species age is a key variable determining sensitivity. Older species are less able to cope with the effects of selective timber harvest. Most of these species are endemic to insular southeast Asia, and do not occur on the Asian mainland. These species are more specialized, and appear less able to cope with habitat change. In contrast, species tolerant to logging evolved more recently. This group tends to be omnivorous or herbivorous, to use all vegetation strata, and to be regionally widespread. This finding allows the sensitivity to habitat disturbance of lesser-known species to be predicted, and therefore has important conservation implications. These new insights also help in the design of large-scale forest landscapes that combine sustainable forest management and species conservation requirements. We recognize that these functions can be compatible, but that some species still need completely protected areas for their survival.RINGKASAN Hingga saat ini belum banyak penelitian mengungkapkan bagaimana berbagai vertebrata hutan akan bereaksi ketika dilakukan pembalakan hutan secara selektif. Dengan mempelajari tingkat reaksi dan kepekaan vertebrata, maka dapat diketahui bagaimana pengelolaan hutan dapat memberikan manfaat konservasi yang lebih besar. Penelitian demikian dapat membantu kami mengidentifikasi spesies mana saja yang biologinya sedikit diketahui namun termasuk rentan kepunahan. Kami mengevaluasi tanggapan 41 spesies mamalia Kalimantan/Borneo terhadap pemanenan kayu secara selektif, dan selanjutnya menguji 8 hipotesa berkaitan dengan hubungan atau korelasi antara tanggapan yang terjadi dengan berbagai karakteristik dari masing-masing spesies yang diteliti. Berdasarkan analisis multivarian disimpulkan bahwa umur filogenetik dari masing-masing spesies merupakan penentu kelentingan masing-masing spesies tersebut terhadap dampak pemanenan selektif. Spesies yang berumur lebih tua cenderung kurang dapat mentolerir dampak pemanenan kayu. Kebanyakan spesies ini merupakan endemik kepulauan di Asia Tenggara. Spesies ini cenderung merupakan spesialis (memiliki niche yang lebih sempit), serta tampaknya tidak seberapa kuat menerima dampak perubahan habitat. Sebaliknya spesies yang lebih toleran terhadap pembalakan cenderung baru berevolusi belakangan ini. Kelompok ini cenderung bersifat omnivora atau herbivora, serta mampu menggunakan seluruh lapisan vegetasi yang ada, serta tersebar meluas. Berdasarkan penelitian ini, dimungkinkan dilakukan prakiraan terhadap kepekaan dan dengan demikian terdapat berbagai manfaat praktis dalam hal metodologi. Analisis ini juga dapat membantu perancangan lanskap hutan berskala besar, dengan menggabungkan pengelolaan hutan berkelanjutan serta kebutuhan konservasi spesies. Kami melihat bahwa kedua kebutuhan pengelolaan tersebut dapat dipadu-serasikan, namun untuk beberapa spesies akan mutlak dibutuhkan kawasan yang dilindungi penuh demi kelanjutan spesies-spesies tersebut.Biotropica 12/2007; 40(1):76 - 85. · 2.23 Impact Factor -
Article: Developing a predictive understanding of landscape importance to the Punan-Pelancau of East Kalimantan, Borneo.
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ABSTRACT: In order for local community views to be incorporated into new development initiatives, their perceptions need to be clearly understood and documented in a format that is readily accessible to planners and developers. The current study sought to develop a predictive understanding of how the Punan Pelancau community, living in a forested landscape in East Kalimantan, assigns importance to its surrounding landscapes and to present these perceptions in the form of maps. The approach entailed the iterative use of a combination of participatory community evaluation methods and more formal modeling and geographic information system techniques. Results suggest that landscape importance is largely dictated by potential benefits, such as inputs to production, health, and houses. Neither land types nor distance were good predictors of landscape importance. The grid-cell method, developed as part of the study, appears to offer a simple technique to capture and present the knowledge of local communities, even where their relationship to the land is highly complex, as was the case for this particular community.AMBIO A Journal of the Human Environment 12/2007; 36(7):593-9. · 2.03 Impact Factor
Top co-authors
Top Journals
- Biotropica (4)
- Conservation Biology (3)
- AMBIO A Journal of the Human Environment (2)
- Journal of Ecology (2)
- Nature (2)
Institutions
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2012
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Australian National University
- School of Archaeology & Anthropology
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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2011
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Southern Cross University
Lismore, New South Wales, Australia -
Texas Tech University
- Department of Biological Sciences
Lubbock, TX, USA
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2009–2011
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Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST)
Mbarara, Mbarara District, Uganda -
Conservation International
Arlington, VA, USA
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2008–2009
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Wageningen University
- • Department of Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group
- • Department of Resource Ecology
Wageningen, Provincie Gelderland, Netherlands
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2006–2009
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Center for International Forestry Research
Sindangbarang, West Java, Indonesia
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2005–2006
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Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
- Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Washington, D. C., DC, USA
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