Tropical forest clearance impacts biodiversity and function, whereas logging changes structure

• DOI: 10.1126/science.adf9856
• Publication Date: 2025-01-09T18:58:38Z
• Authors: Charles J. Marsh; Edgar C. Turner; Benjamin Wong Blo...; Boris Bongalov; Sabine Both; Rudi S. Cruz; Dafydd M. O. Elias; David Hemprich-Be...; Palasiah Jotan; Victoria Kemp; Ully H. Kritzler; Sol Milne; David T. Milodowski; Simon L. Mitchell; Milenka Montoya P...; Matheus Henrique ...; Terhi Riutta; Samuel J. B. Robi...; Eleanor M. Slade; Henry Bernard; David F. R. P. Bu...; Arthur Y. C. Chung; Elizabeth L. Clare; David A. Coomes; Zoe G. Davies; David P. Edwards; David Johnson; Pavel Kratina; Yadvinder Malhi; Noreen Majalap; Reuben Nilus; Nicholas J. Ostle; Stephen J. Rossiter; Matthew J. Struebig; Joseph A. Tobias; Mathew Williams; Robert M. Ewers; Owen T. Lewis; Glen Reynolds; Yit Arn Teh; Andy Hector
• Keywords: Conservation of Natural Resources; Soil; Tropical Climate; Rainforest; Borneo; Forestry; Biodiversity; Arecaceae; Trees

The impacts of degradation and deforestation on tropical forests are poorly understood, particularly at landscape scales. We present an extensive ecosystem analysis of the impacts of logging and conversion of tropical forest to oil palm from a large-scale study in Borneo, synthesizing responses from 82 variables categorized into four ecological levels spanning a broad suite of ecosystem properties: (i) structure and environment, (ii) species traits, (iii) biodiversity, and (iv) ecosystem functions. Responses were highly heterogeneous and often complex and nonlinear. Variables that were directly impacted by the physical process of timber extraction, such as soil structure, were sensitive to even moderate amounts of logging, whereas measures of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning were generally resilient to logging but more affected by conversion to oil palm plantation.