Biodiversity: Oil-palm replanting raises ecology issues
Biodiversity: Oil-palm replanting raises ecology issues
复制标题
生物多样性：油棕补种引发生态问题
作者：
Jake L. Snaddon;K. Willis;D. Macdonald
马来西亚油棕种植面积的三分之一以上，约140万公顷（http：faostat.fao.org），已经过了产量高峰期，将重新种植。重新种植代表着该行业的一个新阶段，必须仔细考虑和实施，以避免重复最初清除原始森林对生物多样性和环境的灾难性影响。油棕作物的生产寿命为25-30年，由于油棕种植的繁荣始于20世纪80年代中期，东南亚大面积老化的油棕现在需要更换。然而，作物的长期性质使生物复杂性随着时间的推移而在其周围建立起来。因此，重新种植阶段-就像最初为种植而清理土地一样-有可能破坏自然生境，不分青红皂白地清除植被，严重扰乱土壤和水文系统。我们建议大规模的补种行动应小心进行，以尽量减少对环境的不良影响。
More than one-third of the area on which oil palm is grown in Malaysia, some 1.4 million hectares (http://faostat.fao.org), has already passed peak yields and is due to be replanted. Replanting, which represents a new phase for the industry, must be carefully thought through and implemented to avoid repeating the disastrous effects of the initial clearance of primary forest on biodiversity and the environment. The productive life of an oil-palm crop is 25–30 years and, because the boom in oil-palm cultivation began in the mid-1980s, large areas of ageing oil palm in southeast Asia now need replacing. However, the long-term nature of the crop has allowed biological complexity to build up around it over time. There is therefore a risk that the replanting phase — just like the initial clearance for planting — will disrupt natural habitats by indiscriminate removal of vegetation and heavy disturbance of soil and hydrological systems. We suggest that large-scale replanting operations should be carried out carefully with a view to minimizing such adverse effects on the environment.