EFFECTS OF RIPARIAN BUFFERS ON STREAM ECOSYSTEMS IN OIL PALM PLANTATIONS IN BORNEO: A STUDY OF ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONING AND BIODIVERSITY

This thesis evaluated the impacts of converting tropical forests into oil palm plantations on stream ecosystem functioning and to assess the efficacy of riparian vegetation quality to mitigate impacts on i) stream physical and chemical properties ii) functional measure – rates of leaf litter decomposition, iii) structural measures - bacterial decomposer and macroinvertebrate communities.