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Title: Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?

Abstract

Biodiversity experiments show that increases in plant diversity can lead to greater biomass production, and some researchers suggest that high diversity plantings should be used for bioenergy production. However, many methods used in past biodiversity experiments are impractical for bioenergy plantings. For example, biodiversity experiments often use intensive management such as hand weeding to maintain low diversity plantings and exclude unplanted species, but this would not be done for bioenergy plantings. Also, biodiversity experiments generally use high seeding densities that would be too expensive for bioenergy plantings. Here we report the effects of biodiversity on biomass production from two studies of more realistic bioenergy crop plantings in southern Michigan, USA. One study involved comparing production between switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) monocultures and species-rich prairie plantings on private farm fields that were managed similarly to bioenergy plantings. The other study was an experiment where switchgrass was planted in monoculture and in combination with increasingly species-rich native prairie mixtures. Overall, we found that bioenergy plantings with higher species richness did not produce more biomass than switchgrass monocultures. The lack of a positive relationship between planted species richness and production in our studies may be due to several factors. Non-planted species (weeds) were notmore » removed from our studies and these non-planted species may have competed with planted species and also prevented realized species richness from equaling planted species richness. Also, we found that low seeding density of individual species limited the biomass production of these individual species. Finally, production in future bioenergy plantings with high species richness may be increased by using a high density of inexpensive seed from switchgrass and other highly productive species, and future efforts to translate the results of biodiversity experiments to bioenergy plantings should consider the role of seeding density.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2]
  1. Univ. of Nebraska, Omaha, NE (United States). Dept. of Biology
  2. Michigan State Univ., Hickory Corners, MI (United States). W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Plant Biology Dept.
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Nebraska, Omaha, NE (United States); Michigan State Univ., Hickory Corners, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE); National Science Foundation (NSF) (United States) Univ. of Nebraska (United States); Michigan State Univ. (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
1325624
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05‐76RL01830; FC02-07ER64494; DEB 1027253
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
PLoS ONE
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 9; Journal ID: ISSN 1932-6203
Publisher:
Public Library of Science
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; seeds; biomass; planting; species diversity; biodiversity; bioenergy; invasive species; grasses

Citation Formats

Dickson, Timothy L., and Gross, Katherine L. Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135253.
Dickson, Timothy L., & Gross, Katherine L. Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?. United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135253
Dickson, Timothy L., and Gross, Katherine L. 2015. "Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?". United States. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135253. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1325624.
@article{osti_1325624,
title = {Can the Results of Biodiversity-Ecosystem Productivity Studies Be Translated to Bioenergy Production?},
author = {Dickson, Timothy L. and Gross, Katherine L.},
abstractNote = {Biodiversity experiments show that increases in plant diversity can lead to greater biomass production, and some researchers suggest that high diversity plantings should be used for bioenergy production. However, many methods used in past biodiversity experiments are impractical for bioenergy plantings. For example, biodiversity experiments often use intensive management such as hand weeding to maintain low diversity plantings and exclude unplanted species, but this would not be done for bioenergy plantings. Also, biodiversity experiments generally use high seeding densities that would be too expensive for bioenergy plantings. Here we report the effects of biodiversity on biomass production from two studies of more realistic bioenergy crop plantings in southern Michigan, USA. One study involved comparing production between switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) monocultures and species-rich prairie plantings on private farm fields that were managed similarly to bioenergy plantings. The other study was an experiment where switchgrass was planted in monoculture and in combination with increasingly species-rich native prairie mixtures. Overall, we found that bioenergy plantings with higher species richness did not produce more biomass than switchgrass monocultures. The lack of a positive relationship between planted species richness and production in our studies may be due to several factors. Non-planted species (weeds) were not removed from our studies and these non-planted species may have competed with planted species and also prevented realized species richness from equaling planted species richness. Also, we found that low seeding density of individual species limited the biomass production of these individual species. Finally, production in future bioenergy plantings with high species richness may be increased by using a high density of inexpensive seed from switchgrass and other highly productive species, and future efforts to translate the results of biodiversity experiments to bioenergy plantings should consider the role of seeding density.},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0135253},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1325624}, journal = {PLoS ONE},
issn = {1932-6203},
number = 9,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Sep 11 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 18 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Table 1. Table 1.: Site characteristics for the GLBRC field surveys. Details of each site and the average biomass collected from hand harvests in the two years of sampling; 1 Mg ha-1 = 892.2 pounds acre-1.

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Works referenced in this record:

Biomass Production in Switchgrass across the United States: Database Description and Determinants of Yield
journal, January 2010


A Consumer's Guide to Evenness Indices
journal, May 1996


What happens to the sown species if a biodiversity experiment is not weeded?
journal, May 2013


Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
journal, February 2008


Long-term enhancement of agricultural production by restoration of biodiversity: Restoring biodiversity enhances production
journal, November 2006


Restoration of biodiversity enhances agricultural production
journal, May 2001


Perennial grasslands enhance biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services in bioenergy landscapes
journal, January 2014


Influence of Plant Community Composition on Biomass Production in Planted Grasslands
journal, May 2015


Recent land use change in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands
journal, February 2013


Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity
journal, November 2007


Temporal and Spatial Variation in Switchgrass Biomass Composition and Theoretical Ethanol Yield
journal, January 2012


Carbon debt of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands converted to bioenergy production
journal, August 2011


Seed and microsite limitation of recruitment in plant populations
journal, September 1992


Profitability Analysis of Cellulosic Energy Crops Compared with Corn
journal, January 2010


The discrepancy between plot and field yields: Harvest and storage losses of switchgrass
journal, May 2009


Energy Potential of Biomass from Conservation Grasslands in Minnesota, USA
journal, April 2013


Effects of Biodiversity on Ecosystem Functioning: a Consensus of Current Knowledge
journal, February 2005


Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest
journal, January 2013


Biology, chance, or history? The predictable reassembly of temperate grassland communities
journal, February 2010


Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass
journal, December 2006


Plant species composition and biofuel yields of conservation grasslands
journal, December 2009


The role of biodiversity for element cycling and trophic interactions: an experimental approach in a grassland community
journal, January 2004


Rapid decay of diversity-productivity relationships after invasion of experimental plant communities
journal, January 2004


Grassland Bird Conservation: CP1 vs. CP2 Plantings in Conservation Reserve Program Fields in Missouri
journal, January 2001


A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change
journal, May 2012


Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning: Importance of Species Evenness in an Old Field
journal, April 2000


Data from: Can the results of biodiversity-ecosystem productivity studies be translated to bioenergy production?
dataset, September 2015

  • Dickson, Timothy L.; Gross, Katherine L.
  • Dryad Digital Repository-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135253, 1 CSV file (49.81 Kb)
  • https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6kd6g

Energy Potential of Biomass from Conservation Grasslands in Minnesota, USA
book, May 2015


Impacts of plant diversity on biomass production increase through time because of species complementarity
text, January 2007


Biology, chance, or history? The predictable reassembly of temperate grassland communities
text, January 2010


What happens to the sown species if a biodiversity experiment is not weeded?
text, January 2013


Effects of biodiversity on ecosystem functioning: a consensus of current knowledge
text, January 2005


Data from: Can the results of biodiversity-ecosystem productivity studies be translated to bioenergy production?
dataset, September 2015

  • Dickson, Timothy L.; Gross, Katherine L.
  • Dryad Digital Repository-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135253, 1 CSV file (49.81 Kb)
  • https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6kd6g

A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change
journal, May 2012


Restoration of biodiversity enhances agricultural production
journal, May 2001


Carbon debt of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands converted to bioenergy production
journal, August 2011


Recent land use change in the Western Corn Belt threatens grasslands and wetlands
journal, February 2013


Perennial grasslands enhance biodiversity and multiple ecosystem services in bioenergy landscapes
journal, January 2014


Comment on "Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass"
journal, June 2007


Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
journal, February 2008


Influence of Plant Community Composition on Biomass Production in Planted Grasslands
journal, May 2015


Plant species composition and biofuel yields of conservation grasslands
journal, December 2009


Works referencing / citing this record:

Habitat Type Influences Danaus plexippus (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) Oviposition and Egg Survival on Asclepias syriaca (Gentianales: Apocynaceae)
journal, May 2019


Cellulosic biofuel contributions to a sustainable energy future: Choices and outcomes
journal, June 2017


Data from: Can the results of biodiversity-ecosystem productivity studies be translated to bioenergy production?
dataset, September 2015

  • Dickson, Timothy L.; Gross, Katherine L.
  • Dryad Digital Repository-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135253, 1 CSV file (49.81 Kb)
  • https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6kd6g

Data from: Can the results of biodiversity-ecosystem productivity studies be translated to bioenergy production?
dataset, September 2015

  • Dickson, Timothy L.; Gross, Katherine L.
  • Dryad Digital Repository-Supplementary information for journal article at DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135253, 1 CSV file (49.81 Kb)
  • https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.6kd6g

Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.