Testing the Resilience of Tropical Agricultural Landscapes

景观具有多种功能，包括为不断增长的人口提供食物和支持当地生计，以及保护生物多样性。在东南亚，棕榈油种植是造成雨林损失的一个原因，但对当地经济和支持扶贫至关重要，因此发展可持续的种植方法至关重要。该项目将研究占棕榈油产量50%的小农景观，并解决以下问题：2.以小农为主的自然林区生物多样性高于工业人工林；2 .小农油棕的生物多样性和生态系统功能高于大租界油棕；大租地的收益比小租地高。该项目还将探讨小农提高产量的障碍。方法与途径：生物多样性（蚂蚁）调查将在沙巴东部（马来西亚婆罗洲）进行。蚂蚁是一个理想的研究分类群，因为它们包括捕食者、种子传播者和分解者，因此提供了生物多样性和生态系统功能的信息。将利用地理信息系统评估森林和农业区的空间位置，计算机模型将测试森林斑块的大小、位置和质量对物种丰富度的影响以及油棕集约化的影响。土地节约/共享分析将考察不同生物多样性/产量优先方案下的“最佳”景观。该项目适合对跨学科研究感兴趣的学生，希望获得生态实地调查、无脊椎动物鉴定和分类学、建模和空间分析方面的技能和培训，并将他们的科学发现转化为政策制定。这是一个CASE项目，在Proforest（牛津办事处）实习期间，学生将研究可持续性和认证过程的社会影响，重点关注小农户接受认证的障碍。

Landscapes have many functions, including providing food to feed a growing human population and support local livelihoods, as well as conserving biodiversity. In SE Asia, cultivation of palm oil is a driver of rainforest loss, but is vital to local economies and supporting poverty alleviation, making it crucial to develop sustainable cultivation practices. This project will study smallholder landscapes, which contribute up to 50% of palm oil production, and tackle the followingquestions:1. Biodiversity is higher in natural forest areas within smallholder-dominated landscapes than in forest areas withinindustrial plantations;2. Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are higher within oil palm in smallholdings compared with larger concessions;3. Yields are higher on larger concessions than on smallholdings. The project will also explore smallholder impedimentsto yield enhancement.Methods & Approach: Biodiversity (ant) surveys will be carried out in eastern Sabah (Malaysian Borneo). Ants are anideal taxon to study because they include predators, seed dispersers as well as decomposers, and so provide information on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Spatial location of forest and agricultural areas will be assessed using GIS, and computer modelling will test size, placement and quality of forest patches on species richness and the effects of oil palm intensification. Land sparing/sharing analyses will examine the 'best' landscapes under different biodiversity/yield prioritisation scenarios. The project will suit a student interested in inter-disciplinary research, wishing to gain skills and training in ecological field surveys, invertebrate identification and taxonomy, modelling and spatial analyses, and translating their science findings into policy development. This is a CASE project and during their placement with Proforest (Oxford office), the student will examine social impacts of sustainability and certification processes, focusing on impediments to uptake of certification by smallholders.