Biodiversity in oil palm agroecosystems: rich or poor?

Abstract

The oil palm agroecosystem is being claimed to impose large threats to biodiversity. Is it true? In response to this, we had conducted studies on insect diversify in selected oil palm plantations in Malaysia from 2005 to 2008. The sites were of different ages, land-use history and management systems. Sampling was done using Malaise trap, sweep net, and yellow pan trap. Special intensions were made on the Order Hymenoptera (parasitic wasps) as the assemblages were important as biological control agents for lepidopteran pest of oil palm. Different sampling protocols were also adopted in sampling termites as they require the technique of direct searching on soil surfaces. A total of 368 morphospecies from 36 subfamilies of parasitic Hymenoptera, 46 morphospecies of termites, 42 morphospecies from 12 families of Coleoptera, 27 morphospecies from 7 families ofOrthoptera and some 115 morphospecies of other insects including Lepidotera, Odonata, Hemiptera, Diptera, Dictyoptera and Dermaptera had been collected throughout this study. The diversity indices in most of the samplings indicate that oil palm was surprisingly is rich in species and as diverse as, if not higher, than the forests or other land uses surrounding the oil palm plantations studied. This indicates that oil palm agroecosystems are not poor in insect diversity. The impact of oil palm on diversity, as far as insects are concerned, should be redefined instead, as our results clearly aganist the negative claim about impact of oil palm expension on biodiversity by those who have different agenda toward developing countries like Malaysia.