Potential roles of birds diversity in optimizing sustainable oil palm plantations at PT Gunung Tua Abadi

Abstract

Abstract Indonesia has declared the green economy paradigm; as one of the strategic sectors in implementing the green economy, oil palm plantations are expected to start reducing the use of chemical fertilizers, fungicides, pesticides and etc. Additionally, oil palm plantations are expected to be able to optimize the roles of biodiversity in oil palm plantations. So, it will enhance sustainable and environmentally friendly plantation management. Therefore, there is a need for further studies on the species potential and role of birds in oil palm plantations. The study was conducted on four types of land cover at PT Gunung Tua Abadi (PT GTA) with a line transect method in the morning and afternoon with three repetitions. The number of bird species in the Young Oil Palm (YP) is as many as 20. Meanwhile, the lowest number of species was found in Medium Oil Palm (MP) and Old Oil Palm (OP), as many as 10 species. In addition, if grouped by a guild, the birds in PT GTA belong to 8 guilds. Each type of guild is thought to have its role to assist in oil palm operations, including the role of controlling insect pests (Centropus sinensis, Centropus bengalensis, Collocalia linchi); seed dispersal (Trerons vernans), and also as pest control (Tyto alba, Elanus caeruleus). Further research is needed to determine more deeply the effectiveness of the role of each bird species in oil palm plantation.