Felicia Lasmana

Bio: Felicia Lasmana is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Old-growth forest & Logging. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 131 citations.

Quantifying the Biodiversity Value of Repeatedly Logged Rainforests: Gradient and Comparative Approaches from Borneo

Abstract: There is substantial variation in the reported effects of logging on tropical forest fauna. In addition to inherent variation in disturbance sensitivity among taxa, another contributing factor is that most studies use comparative analyses of unlogged versus logged forests, which cannot fully account for heterogeneity in disturbance as well as underlying environmental gradients. To better understand how logging affects biodiversity, we examined changes in bat assemblages across a disturbance gradient ranging from old growth to forest logged several times. In one of the first evaluations of repeatedly logged forest, we use both comparative and gradient analyses to reveal substantial signals in assemblage change in response to habitat alteration. Despite multiple rounds of extraction in the most degraded forest, neither approach revealed a definitive effect of logging on site-based richness. However, each approach generated insight into assemblage compositional responses to forest degradation. Structural differences were evident between old-growth and repeatedly logged forest, and depauperate assemblages characterised degraded sites with low, open canopy. Ordinations identified species that best contributed to the signal of assemblage change, and also key associated forest-structure variables. Models of trap-based abundance confirmed not only the importance of forest height in determining assemblage change but also the role of tree-cavity availability in supporting forest specialists, indicating that efforts to supplement this resource could aid restoration. While highlighting the ecological importance of unlogged stands, we show that heavily degraded forests—even those that have been repeatedly logged—still hold some potential value for tropical biota and could have a role in conservation.

Political transition and emergent forest-conservation issues in Myanmar.

Abstract: Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.

Trading-off Fish Biodiversity, Food Security and Hydropower in the Mekong River Basin

Abstract: The Mekong River Basin, site of the biggest inland fishery in the world, is undergoing massive hydropower development. Planned dams will block critical fish migration routes between the river's downstream floodplains and upstream tributaries. Here we estimate fish biomass and biodiversity losses in numerous damming scenarios using a simple ecological model of fish migration. Our framework allows detailing trade-offs between dam locations, power production, and impacts on fish resources. We find that the completion of 78 dams on tributaries, which have not previously been subject to strategic analysis, would have catastrophic impacts on fish productivity and biodiversity. Our results argue for reassessment of several dams planned, and call for a new regional agreement on tributary development of the Mekong River Basin.

Land sparing versus land sharing: Moving forward

Abstract: To address the challenges of biodiversity conservation and commodity production, a framework has been proposed that distinguishes between the integration (“land sharing”) and separation (“land sparing”) of conservation and production. Controversy has arisen around this framework partly because many scholars have focused specifically on food production rather than more encompassing notions such as land scarcity or food security. Controversy further surrounds the practical value of partial trade‐off analyses, the ways in which biodiversity should be quantified, and a series of scale effects that are not readily accounted for. We see key priorities for the future in (1) addressing these issues when using the existing framework, and (2) developing alternative, holistic ways to conceptualise challenges related to food, biodiversity, and land scarcity.

Tropical Forests in the Anthropocene

Abstract: The Anthropocene is characterized as an epoch when human influence has begun to fundamentally alter many aspects of the Earth system and many of the planet’s biomes. Here, we review and synthesize our understanding of Anthropocene changes in tropical forests. Key facets include deforestation driven by agricultural expansion, timber and wood extraction, the loss of fauna that maintain critical ecological connections, the spread of fire, landscape fragmentation, the spread of second-growth forests, new species invasion and pathogen spread, increasing CO2, and climate change. The patterns of change are spatially heterogeneous, are often characterized by strong interactions among different drivers, can have both large-scale and remote effects, and can play out through ecological cascades over long timescales. As a consequence, most tropical forests are on a trajectory to becoming altered ecosystems, with the degree of alteration dependent on the intensity and duration of the current bottleneck of human-induced pressures. We highlight the importance of this understanding to develop the strategies necessary for shaping the transition of tropical forests through the early Anthropocene, as well as highlight the opportunities and challenges for the tropical forest science community in the coming decades.

Mesocosm Experiments as a Tool for Ecological Climate-Change Research

Abstract: Predicting the ecological causes and consequences of global climate change requires a variety of approaches, including the use of experiments, models, and surveys. Among experiments, mesocosms have become increasingly popular because they provide an important bridge between smaller, more tightly controlled, microcosm experiments (which can suffer from limited realism) and the greater biological complexity of natural systems (in which mechanistic relationships often cannot be identified). A new evaluation of the contribution of the mesocosm approach, its potential for future research, as well as its limitations, is timely. As part of this review, we constructed a new database of over 250 post-1990 studies that have explored different components of climate change across a range of organisational levels, scales, and habitats. Issues related to realism, reproducibility and control are assessed in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial systems. Some general patterns emerged, particularly at the ecosystem level, such as consistent and predictable effects on whole-system respiration rates. There are, however, also many seemingly idiosyncratic, contingent responses, especially at the community level, both within and among habitat types. These similarities and differences in both the drivers and responses highlight the need for caution before making generalisations. Finally, we assess future directions and prospects for new methodological advances and the need for greater international coordination and interdisciplinarity.

Bird and bat predation services in tropical forests and agroforestry landscapes

Abstract: Understanding distribution patterns and multitrophic interactions is critical for managing bat- and bird-mediated ecosystem services such as the suppression of pest and non-pest arthropods Despite the ecological and economic importance of bats and birds in tropical forests, agroforestry systems, and agricultural systems mixed with natural forest, a systematic review of their impact is still missing A growing number of bird and bat exclosure experiments has improved our knowledge allowing new conclusions regarding their roles in food webs and associated ecosystem services Here, we review the distribution patterns of insectivorous birds and bats, their local and landscape drivers, and their effects on trophic cascades in tropical ecosystems We report that for birds but not bats community composition and relative importance of functional groups changes conspicuously from forests to habitats including both agricultural areas and forests, here termed 'forest-agri' habitats, with reduced representation of insectivores in the latter In contrast to previous theory regarding trophic cascade strength, we find that birds and bats reduce the density and biomass of arthropods in the tropics with effect sizes similar to those in temperate and boreal communities The relative importance of birds versus bats in regulating pest abundances varies with season, geography and management Birds and bats may even suppress tropical arthropod outbreaks, although positive effects on plant growth are not always reported As both bats and birds are major agents of pest suppression, a better understanding of the local and landscape factors driving the variability of their impact is needed