Consequences of land use changes on ecological plant traits and strategies in Sumatra Indonesia

The deforestation and altering land use in Sumatra, Indonesia, have resulted in significant ecological shifts, especially in tropical rainforest ecosystems that play a crucial role in global biodiversity and carbon cycling. Based on species distribution and their ecological traits, plants’ trait proportion, functional composition, and functional diversity across four land-use systems were calculated. The effects of land-use changes on each trait in species and individual plant levels, their variability, and functional diversity were observed using statistical tools such as Pearson’s chi-squared test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, Tukey’s HSD and post-hoc multiple comparisons to detect the effects and relationships. The similarities and dissimilarities of traits were observed using NMDS ordination-based dissimilarity of traits. By examining 1382 plant species and 156,005 individuals in forest, jungle rubber, rubber plantations, and oil palm plantations, we found variations in the number of species, individual counts, and the mix of functional traits. The findings indicated that forests and jungle rubber had more incredible species richness and trait diversity than monocultures, particularly in pollination and seed dispersal syndromes. A significant association was discovered between functional and taxonomic diversity at the species level, exhibiting declining benefits at the individual level. The study emphasizes the need for sustainable land-use strategies to mitigate biodiversity loss and maintain ecosystem services. published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES)