Final answer:
In Southeast Asia, land use has shifted dramatically from native forests to oil palm plantations due to high global demand for vegetable oils and biofuels.
Step-by-step explanation:
The land use changes occurring in Southeast Asian countries, particularly oil-palm growing regions such as Malaysia and Indonesia, are significant. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations is a direct consequence of global demand for vegetable oils and biofuels. This shift in land use from native forest to agricultural land for oil palm cultivation is leading to considerable loss of biodiversity.
Expansion of oil palm cultivation often leads to deforestation, where the valuable and diverse tropical forests are replaced by monocultures of oil palm. These oil palm plantations are unable to support the rich variety of species that original forests do. As per studies, plantation areas contain on average only 15 percent of species found in primary forests. This is even lower than the species diversity found in other types of tree crops. Habitats formed by oil palm cultivation tend to be dominated by generalist species, invasive aliens, pests, and their predators, such as rats and pythons.
Furthermore, the biodiversity threat is exacerbated by ambiguous land-tenure laws and the intertwining of oil palm expansion with other enterprises, such as the timber industry. Conservation efforts are becoming more important in the face of oil palm expansion, with some studies suggesting avenues for making plantations more hospitable for native wildlife.