Rainforest of the Danum Valley, Malaysia. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.
For one month the Royal Society is offering a special theme issue of its Philosophical Transaction B journal on rainforest conservation for free. Entitled ‘The future of Southeast Asian rainforests in a changing landscape and climate’, the issue looks largely at studies conducted in Malaysian Borneo’s Danum Valley.
The issue includes a wide-range of studies, including comparing biodiversity in protected forests versus palm oil plantations, seed dispersal in fragmented forests, and in-depth looks at the chemistry of rainforests.
“Some of the key findings are: that conversion from forest to oil palm plantation can have dramatic effects on atmospheric chemistry and hydrology; that not only the size of remaining forest fragments matters, but also the distance between them, due to dispersal abilities of different species; and that there is a threat to the persistence and recovery of selectively-logged forests, because there is a lower seed production and a higher seed predation then in primary forest site,” reads an announcement from the Royal Society.
Another study in the issue recommends ways in which palm oil plantations could become more friendly to biodiversity.
The issue will be freely available online until December 31st.
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