Grasslands have an underground biomass component that serves as a carbon (C) storage sink. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has potential as a biofuel crop. Our objectives were to determine biomass and C partitioning in aboveground and belowground plant components and changes in soil organic C in switchgrass. Cultivars Sunburst and Dacotah were field grown over 3 yr at Mandan, ND. Aboveground biomass was sampled and separated into leaves, stems, senesced, and litter biomass. Root biomass to 1.1‐m depth and soil organic C to 0.9‐m depth was determined. Soil C loss from respiratory processes was determined by measuring CO2 flux from early May to late October. At seed ripe harvest, stem biomass accounted for 46% of total aboveground biomass, leaves 7%, senesced plant parts 43%, and litter 4%. Excluding crowns, root biomass averaged 27% of the total plant biomass and 84% when crown tissue was included with root biomass. Carbon partitioning among aboveground, crown, and root biomass showed that crown tissue contained approximately 50% of the total biomass C. Regression analysis indicated that soil organic C to 0.9‐m depth increased at the rate of 1.01 kg C m−2 yr−1 Carbon lost through soil respiration processes was equal to 44% of the C content of the total plant biomass. Although an amount equal to nearly half of the C captured in plant biomass during a year is lost through soil respiration, these results suggest that northern Great Plains switchgrass plantings have potential for storing a significant quantity of soil C.

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Seasonal variability in climate within and between the major spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growing regions of the world causes large differences in plant development patterns. A major need of models attempting to describe crop growth as a dynamic process is an evaluation of phenological development. Researchers modeling growth and yield would benefit from a meteorologically-based phenological index that accurately and reliably predicts the development stage. The objective of this study was to develop capability to estimate leaf growth rate and crop growth stage from planting to an thesis under variabie management and climatic conditions. Aboveground morphological entities of 16 hard red spring (HRS) and 3 durum (T. durum Desf.) wheats were rated in Haun scale designations in seven field trials grown on Williams loam (fine-loamy, mixed Typic Argiboroll). These designations were regressed with growing degreedays (GDD), ph()ltothermal units (PTU), and days (DAYS) after emergence. Time to emergence did not differ among cultivars within a trial. Among the seven trials, emergence occurred 7 to 15 days after planting; accumulated GDD ranged from 94 to 138, and averaged 106. Eighteen of the cultivars produced eight leaves, 'James' produced seven. Main-stem phyllochron interval was 73 GDD for the HRS cvs. Butte and Waldron combined for analysis, and about fl1 GDD for either "other" eight-leaved HRS cultivars or for the durums combined for analysis, and for James. The R 2 value for any combined analysis was no less than 0.970**, significant at the 0.01 level. Soil water level and fertilizer N rate had no effect on main stem development rate, but did affect the maximum number of tillers produced per plant. The GDD accumulated per plant growth unit from emergence to anthesis (leaves plus four stages after expansion of the flag leaf) was the same as from emergence through full expansion of the flag leaf. Precision of estimatiag growth rates and stages with GDD was the same as with PTU, and both were superior to DAYS.

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Grasslands and agroecosystems occupy one-third of the terrestrial area, but their contribution to the global carbon cycle remains uncertain. We used a set of 316 site-years of CO₂ exchange measurements to quantify gross primary productivity, respiration, and light-response parameters of grasslands, shrublands/savanna, wetlands, and cropland ecosystems worldwide. We analyzed data from 72 global flux-tower sites partitioned into gross photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration with the use of the light-response method (Gilmanov, T. G., D. A. Johnson, and N. Z. Saliendra. 2003. Growing season CO₂ fluxes in a sagebrushsteppe ecosystem in Idaho: Bowen ratio/energy balance measurements and modeling. Basic and Applied Ecology 4:167-183) from the RANGEFLUX and WORLDGRASSAGRIFLUX data sets supplemented by 46 sites from the FLUXNET La Thuile data set partitioned with the use of the temperature-response method (Reichstein, M., E. Falge, D. Baldocchi, D. Papale, R. Valentini, M. Aubinet, P. Berbigier, C. Bernhofer, N. Buchmann, M. Falk, T. Gilmanov, A. Granier, T. Grunwald, K. Havrankova, D. Janous, A. Knohl, T. Laurela, A. Lohila, D. Loustau, G. Matteucci, T. Meyers, F. Miglietta, J.M. Ourcival, D. Perrin, J. Pumpanen, S. Rambal, E. Rotenberg, M. Sanz, J. Tenhunen, G. Seufert, F. Vaccari, T. Vesala, and D. Yakir. 2005. On the separation of net ecosystem exchange into assimilation and ecosystem respiration: review and improved algorithm. Global Change Biology 11: 1.424-1439). Maximum values of the quantum yield (alpha = 75 mmol.mol(-1)), photosynthetic capacity (A(max) = 3.4 mg CO₂ . m(-2).s-1), gross photosynthesis (P-g,P-max = 1.16 g CO₂ . m(-2).d(-1)), and ecological light-use efficiency (epsilon(ecol) = 59 mmol . mol(-1)) of managed grasslands and high-production croplands exceeded those of most forest ecosystems, indicating the potential of nonforest ecosystems for uptake of atmospheric CO₂. Maximum values of gross primary production (8 600 g CO₂ . m(-2).yr(-1)), total ecosystem respiration (7 900 g CO₂ . m(-2).yr(-1)), and net CO₂ exchange (2 400 g CO₂ . m(-2).yr(-1)) were observed for intensively managed grasslands and high-yield crops, and are comparable to or higher than those for forest ecosystems, excluding some tropical forests. On average, 80% of the nonforest sites were apparent sinks for atmospheric CO₂, with mean net uptake of 700 g CO₂ . m(-2).yr(-1) for intensive grasslands and 933 g CO₂ . m(-2).d(-1) for croplands. However, part of these apparent sinks is accumulated in crops and forage, which are carbon pools that are harvested, transported, and decomposed off site. Therefore, although agricultural fields may be predominantly sinks for atmospheric CO₂, this does not imply that they are necessarily increasing their carbon stock