Yann Clough, Vijesh V. Krishna, Marife D. Corre, Kevin Darras, Lisa H. Denmead, Ana Meijide, Stefan Moser, Oliver Musshoff, Stefanie Steinebach, Edzo Veldkamp, Kara Allen, Andrew D. Barnes, Natalie Breidenbach, Ulrich Brose, Damayanti Buchori, Rolf Daniel, Reiner Finkeldey, Idham Harahap, Dietrich Hertel, A. Mareike Holtkamp, Elvira Hörandl, Bambang Irawan, I. Nengah Surati Jaya, Malte Jochum, Bernhard Klarner, Alexander Knohl, Martyna M. Kotowska, Valentyna Krashevska, Holger Kreft, Syahrul Kurniawan, Christoph Leuschner, Mark Maraun, Dian Nuraini Melati, Nicole Opfermann, César Pérez-Cruzado, Walesa Edho Prabowo, Katja Rembold, Akhmad Rizali, Ratna Rubiana, Dominik Schneider, Sri Sudarmiyati Tjitrosoedirdjo, Aiyen Tjoa, Teja Tscharntke, Stefan Scheu
Smallholder-dominated agricultural mosaic landscapes are highlighted as model production systems that deliver both economic and ecological goods in tropical agricultural landscapes, but trade-offs underlying current land-use dynamics are poorly known. Here, using the most comprehensive quantification of land-use change and associated bundles of ecosystem functions, services and economic benefits to date, we show that Indonesian smallholders predominantly choose farm portfolios with high economic productivity but low ecological value. The more profitable oil palm and rubber monocultures replace forests and agroforests critical for maintaining above- and below-ground ecological functions and the diversity of most taxa. Between the monocultures, the higher economic performance of oil palm over rubber comes with the reliance on fertilizer inputs and with increased nutrient leaching losses. Strategies to achieve an ecological-economic balance and a sustainable management of tropical smallholder landscapes must be prioritized to avoid further environmental degradation. © The Author(s) 2016.
Centre for Environmental and Climate Research, Lund University, Sölvegatan 37, Lund, 22362, Sweden; Department of Crop Sciences, Agroecology, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 6, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg August University Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems, Büsgen Institute, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Bioclimatology, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Theaterplatz 15, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; Systemic Conservation Biology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (IDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Forest Genetics and Forest Tree Breeding, Büsgen Institute, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 2, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger-Str. 159, Jena, 07743, Germany; Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Bogor Agricultural University Jalan Kamper Kampus IPB Darmaga, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia; Department of Genomic and Applied Microbiology, Göttingen Genomics Laboratory, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg August University Göttingen, Grisebachstr. 8, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Department of Plant Ecology and Ecosystems Research, Georg August University Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; Department of Systematics, Biodiversity and Evolution of Plants, Georg August University Göttingen, Untere Karspüle 2, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; Forestry Faculty, University of Jambi, Campus Pinang Masak Mendalo, Jambi, 36361, Indonesia; Forest Resources Inventory and Remote Sensing, Bogor Agricultural University, Kampus IPB Darmaga, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia; JF Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Animal Ecology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Str. 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany; Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Brawijaya University, Jl. Veteran 56 Malang, East Java, 65145, Indonesia; Forest Inventory and Remote Sensing, Burckhardt Institute, Georg August University Göttingen, Büsgenweg 5, Göttingen, 37077, Germany; Conservation Biology Division, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, Bern, CH-3012, Switzerland; Department of Plant Pests and Diseases, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran Malang, East Java, 65145, Indonesia; SEAMEO BIOTROP Regional Center for Tropical Biology, Jl. Raya Tajur km 6, Bogor, 16134, Indonesia; Faculty of Agriculture, Tadulako University, Jl. Soekarno Hatta km 09 Tondo, Palu, 94118, Indonesia; Marine and Environmental Management, School of Applied Science, Waiariki Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, 70 Windermere Drive, Tauranga, 3112, New Zealand; Institute of Biology, Leipzig University, Johannisallee 21, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; University of Kassel, Mönchebergstr. 19, Kassel, 34125, Germany
