Non-RTE/farmland birds as indicator bird species for sustainable oil palm agroecosystem

Oil palm certification schemes, such as the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), currently overlook important biodiversity indicators like farmland birds commonly found in plantations. While the focus of certification bodies is primarily on rare, threatened, and endangered species, yet farmland birds, which are commonly not listed species, are one of the crucial components of healthy agroecosystems. This study provides crucial baseline data for establishing an indicator species concept in avian biodiversity within oil palm landscapes. While past studies focused on insects in measuring habitat characteristics, this pioneering research introduces a workflow for identifying and developing indicator farmland bird species for oil palm plantations sustainability assessment. The methodology consisted of three main steps where i) sets of candidates of oil palm bird indicator species for four sub-regions in Southeast Asia; Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, the Philippines, and Sumatera were developed based on information gathered from previously published studies, ii) Similarity Percentages Analysis (SIMPER) was performed on the bird species list to identify indicator bird species by analysing the contribution of each species to the observed similarity between samples in each region, and iii) point count and opportunistic bird surveys were conducted in selected locations in Peninsular Malaysia to validate indicator bird candidates obtained from literature search. By combining information from previous studies and field verification surveys, the study identified the most suitable bird species as indicators for oil palm agroecosystems. Overall, conservation priority species were found to be less common in oil palm plantations. All indicator lists of the sub-regions comprise of Least Concern (LC) bird species with 97% except for Peninsular Malaysia where Javan Myna was recorded as Vulnerable (VU) with 3%. Hence the majority of ecosystem services in oil palm are provided by common farmland birds species with a total of 19 species out of 20, which should be included as indicator species as part of oil palm certification standards. Validation from field analysis recorded Javan Myna and Long-tailed Parakeet as VU with 3% while the rest are LC bird species. When comparing field data with the indicator species list, Rembau recorded the highest similarity with 90%, followed by Bangi (70%), Keratong (65%), Banting (50%) and Serdang (45%). Meanwhile, opportunistic surveys from Bangi and Serdang recorded similarity of 50% and 45% respectively based on indicator species list. This study also found that indicator bird species are associated with geographical locations and endemism where all regions were found to have different species occurrence. For example, Borneo did not record Zebra Dove and Yellow-vented Bulbul, Sumatra did not record Pied Fantail whereas the Philippines did not record Spotted Dove. Therefore, regional avian biodiversity information in the development of indicator species lists to support oil palm environmental sustainability is recommended. Insectivores were recorded the most prevalent in both published literature data and field surveys whereas nectarivores were less frequently found in oil palm plantations. By implementing the concept of common bird indicators in oil palm certification schemes, the findings can effectively promote biodiversity conservation and enhance ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.

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