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This study was conducted with aim to reconstruct the late Holocene mangrove history and to investigate if mangroves can be resilient to current and projected sea-level rise (SLR). The palynological record from a sediment core in the Mendahara Ilir region (MI) in Sumatra was compared with available sea level reconstructions from sites close to MI (Malacca Strait and Singapore). The palynological results show that the mangrove swamp forest was already present in MI ca. 2300 years ago. At time, the sea-level was estimated to be ca. 2 m higher than the present level, thus indicating persistence of mangroves in MI for the current global increase scenario of more than 1 m SLR by 2100. However, the estimated rate of change from the MI core are ca. 2.2 mm/yr. These values are much lower than current (5.0 mm/yr) and future (7 mm/yr) estimates. Thus posing a threat on the resilience and the capacity to adapt of the mangrove swamp forest. Additionally, the palynological results indicate that the mangrove swamp forests were quickly moving seaward and landward following regression and transgression phases in MI. Without a clear inland free path, such migration will be impeded under current and future projections of SLR.

Understanding past forest dynamics and human influence is essential for future forest management and ecosystem conservation. This study aims to provide insights into the forest dynamics and agroforestry history in the highlands of Sumatra for the last 1800 years. We carried out palaeoecological multi-proxy analyses of pollen, spores, non-pollen palynomorphs, macro-charcoal, and X-ray fluorescence on a limnic sediment core taken from Danau Kecil in the submontane area of Kerinci Seblat National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia. Our results provide an 1800-year record of forest dynamics under climate change and human influence including the transition from forest opening to shifting cultivation and eventually permanent agroforestry. Indicators for forest openings and secondary forest formation have been present since the beginning of records (AD 200). This is followed by the possible initiation of sugar palm (Arenga) cultivation (AD 400). Since AD 500, potential agroforestry and forest gardening practices have promoted major timber trees such as Lithocarpus/Castanopsis, Bischofia, and Dipterocarpaceae combined with sugar palm (Arenga). Permanent agroforestry systems were possibly established since AD 1760, evinced by an increase in commodity trees such as Dipterocarpaceae for resin production. With the Dutch invasion ca. AD 1900, agroforestry intensified and expanded to the Kerinci Valley. This was followed by land use intensification and potential rice cultivation around Danau Kecil since the 1940s. This study provides the first details on past forest dynamics around Danau Kecil since AD 200, showing among others how appropriate forest management and a closed canopy could reduce fire vulnerability in submontane rainforest.

In the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 1 , large knowledge gaps persist on how to increase biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in cash crop-dominated tropical landscapes 2 . Here, we present findings from a large-scale, 5-year ecosystem restoration experiment in an oil palm landscape enriched with 52 tree islands, encompassing assessments of ten indicators of biodiversity and 19 indicators of ecosystem functioning. Overall, indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, as well as multidiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality, were higher in tree islands compared to conventionally managed oil palm. Larger tree islands led to larger gains in multidiversity through changes in vegetation structure. Furthermore, tree enrichment did not decrease landscape-scale oil palm yield. Our results demonstrate that enriching oil palm-dominated landscapes with tree islands is a promising ecological restoration strategy, yet should not replace the protection of remaining forests. A large-scale, five-year study in Indonesia finds that enriching oil palm-dominated landscapes with patches of trees bolsters biodiversity and ecosystem functioning without impairing oil palm yields but should not replace forest protection.