Trade-offs between rubber production and maintenance of diversity: the structure of rubber gardens in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Efforts to achieve both conservation and sustainable rural development by incorporating rubber cultivation into agroforestry gardens in Indonesia to is discussed. The structure and species composition in 11 rubber gardens in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, were studied. Rubber dominated, but its dominance varied, as did plot richness. The importance of rubber in a garden was negatively correlated with the number of morphotypes present, suggesting that tree diversity may limit the potential productivity of a garden. Diversity may be acceptable on the scale of a single garden, but diversity is lost when owners reduce species richness in a garden. The current rubber agroforestry system is not well suited to matching rural development needs and conservation.