Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia

Peruvian national and regional plans promoting oil palm have prompted a rapid expansion of the crop in the Amazonian region. This expansion has taken place primarily at the expense of forest, both undisturbed and disturbed. Assessments of carbon emissions from forest-to-oil palm conversion have esse...

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Autores principales: Málaga Durán, N., Hergoualc'h, Kristell, Kapp, G., Martius, C.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Springer 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112191
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author Málaga Durán, N.
Hergoualc'h, Kristell
Kapp, G.
Martius, C.
author_browse Hergoualc'h, Kristell
Kapp, G.
Martius, C.
Málaga Durán, N.
author_facet Málaga Durán, N.
Hergoualc'h, Kristell
Kapp, G.
Martius, C.
author_sort Málaga Durán, N.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Peruvian national and regional plans promoting oil palm have prompted a rapid expansion of the crop in the Amazonian region. This expansion has taken place primarily at the expense of forest, both undisturbed and disturbed. Assessments of carbon emissions from forest-to-oil palm conversion have essentially been confined to Southeast Asia, and research on Peruvian Amazonian forests has mainly targeted undisturbed sites. This study characterizes the vegetation structure and composition of disturbed forests and smallholder oil palm plantations and evaluates the change in ecosystem (that is, phytomass and soil) carbon stocks associated with forest-to-oil palm conversion. Inventories were conducted in four degraded forest sites neighboring six oil palm plantation sites in Ucayali. Time-averaged carbon stocks over the 30-year oil palm rotation were computed from models developed upon the sampled chronosequence (1 to 28 years old). Disturbed forests harbored species typical of primary forests, pioneer species and gaps opportunistic species. Their tree basal area (18.7 ± 1.4 m2 ha−1) and above-ground C stock (71.3 ± 4.2 Mg C ha−1) were, respectively, 50 and 60% of the values of undisturbed forests from the literature. The growth curve for oil palm above-ground biomass was consistently below models developed for plantations in Indonesia. Thirty-year time-averaged ecosystem C stock (Mg C ha−1) in oil palm plantations (78.2 ± 2.0) represented 55% of the stock in disturbed forest (140.9 ± 5.8), resulting in a 62.7 ± 6.1 loss from such conversion. These results reinforce recommendations to redirect oil palm expansion toward low-carbon degraded lands, sparing disturbed and undisturbed forests.
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spelling CGSpace1121912024-08-27T10:34:39Z Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia Málaga Durán, N. Hergoualc'h, Kristell Kapp, G. Martius, C. carbon sinks vegetation ecosystems oil palms plantations ecology Peruvian national and regional plans promoting oil palm have prompted a rapid expansion of the crop in the Amazonian region. This expansion has taken place primarily at the expense of forest, both undisturbed and disturbed. Assessments of carbon emissions from forest-to-oil palm conversion have essentially been confined to Southeast Asia, and research on Peruvian Amazonian forests has mainly targeted undisturbed sites. This study characterizes the vegetation structure and composition of disturbed forests and smallholder oil palm plantations and evaluates the change in ecosystem (that is, phytomass and soil) carbon stocks associated with forest-to-oil palm conversion. Inventories were conducted in four degraded forest sites neighboring six oil palm plantation sites in Ucayali. Time-averaged carbon stocks over the 30-year oil palm rotation were computed from models developed upon the sampled chronosequence (1 to 28 years old). Disturbed forests harbored species typical of primary forests, pioneer species and gaps opportunistic species. Their tree basal area (18.7 ± 1.4 m2 ha−1) and above-ground C stock (71.3 ± 4.2 Mg C ha−1) were, respectively, 50 and 60% of the values of undisturbed forests from the literature. The growth curve for oil palm above-ground biomass was consistently below models developed for plantations in Indonesia. Thirty-year time-averaged ecosystem C stock (Mg C ha−1) in oil palm plantations (78.2 ± 2.0) represented 55% of the stock in disturbed forest (140.9 ± 5.8), resulting in a 62.7 ± 6.1 loss from such conversion. These results reinforce recommendations to redirect oil palm expansion toward low-carbon degraded lands, sparing disturbed and undisturbed forests. 2021-03 2021-03-08T08:20:54Z 2021-03-08T08:20:54Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112191 en Open Access Springer Málaga Durán, N., Hergoualc'h, K., Kapp, G., Martius, C. 2021. Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia. Ecosystems, 24: 351-369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-020-00521-8
spellingShingle carbon sinks
vegetation
ecosystems
oil palms
plantations
ecology
Málaga Durán, N.
Hergoualc'h, Kristell
Kapp, G.
Martius, C.
Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title_full Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title_fullStr Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title_full_unstemmed Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title_short Variation in Vegetation and Ecosystem Carbon Stock Due to the Conversion of Disturbed Forest to Oil Palm Plantation in Peruvian Amazonia
title_sort variation in vegetation and ecosystem carbon stock due to the conversion of disturbed forest to oil palm plantation in peruvian amazonia
topic carbon sinks
vegetation
ecosystems
oil palms
plantations
ecology
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/112191
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