Bioenergy: Challenge or support for the conservation of biodiversity?

Dauber, Jens; Bolte, Andreas

doi:10.1111/gcbb.12188

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…The production of woody biomass could lead to several types of landscape change, including more intensive forest management, conversion of existing agricultural lands to intensively managed forest, and conversion of marginal, or nonarable, forest and agricultural lands to woody crops (Wear et al ., ). The full set of effects of these types of changes are complex (Fletcher et al ., ; Dauber & Bolte, ) and are the subject of ongoing debate in the scientific community (e.g., see Dale et al ., ; and reply by Schlesinger, ). The actual landscape ecological effects of land‐use change due to woody biomass production for bioenergy will depend on the amount and types of land used for biomass production, the location of that land, and the amounts and types of feedstocks being used (Dale et al ., ; Pedroli et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy production and forest landscape change in the southeastern United States

et al. 2016

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Production of woody biomass for bioenergy, whether wood pellets or liquid biofuels, has the potential to cause substantial landscape change and concomitant effects on forest ecosystems, but the landscape effects of alternative production scenarios have not been fully assessed. We simulated landscape change from 2010 to 2050 under five scenarios of woody biomass production for wood pellets and liquid biofuels in North Carolina, in the southeastern United States, a region that is a substantial producer of wood biomass for bioenergy and contains high biodiversity. Modeled scenarios varied biomass feedstocks, incorporating harvest of 'conventional' forests, which include naturally regenerating as well as planted forests that exist on the landscape even without bioenergy production, as well as purpose-grown woody crops grown on marginal lands. Results reveal trade-offs among scenarios in terms of overall forest area and the characteristics of the remaining forest in 2050. Meeting demand for biomass from conventional forests resulted in more total forest land compared with a baseline, business-as-usual scenario. However, the remaining forest was composed of more intensively managed forest and less of the bottomland hardwood and longleaf pine habitats that support biodiversity. Converting marginal forest to purpose-grown crops reduced forest area, but the remaining forest contained more of the critical habitats for biodiversity. Conversion of marginal agricultural lands to purpose-grown crops resulted in smaller differences from the baseline scenario in terms of forest area and the characteristics of remaining forest habitats. Each scenario affected the dominant type of land-use change in some regions, especially in the coastal plain that harbors high levels of biodiversity. Our results demonstrate the complex landscape effects of alternative bioenergy scenarios, highlight that the regions most likely to be affected by bioenergy production are also critical for biodiversity, and point to the challenges associated with evaluating bioenergy sustainability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioenergy production and forest landscape change in the southeastern United States

et al. 2016

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“…Rowe et al ., ) or indirectly (e.g. Holland et al ., ) based on studies conducted on small, temporal (single samples within a single season), spatial (localized, experimental plots) scales, whilst sustainability concerns relate to longer term, landscape‐scale expansion (Fargione, ; Dauber & Bolte, ). Furthermore, many studies assess biodiversity taxa of one type of biomass crop, without drawing comparisons with the land uses they may replace (see review by Dauber et al ., ) and use coarse levels of identification (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

et al. 2015

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Suggestions that novel, non‐food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape‐scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional trait approach to quantify and contrast the consequences for biodiversity indicators of adopting dedicated biomass crops on land previously cultivated under annual, rotational arable cropping. The abundance and community compositions of biodiversity indicators in fields of break and cereal crops changed when planted with the dedicated biomass crops, miscanthus and short rotation coppiced (SRC) willow. Weed biomass was consistently greater in the two dedicated biomass crops than in cereals, and invertebrate abundance was similarly consistently higher than in break crops. Using canonical variates analysis, we identified distinct plant and invertebrate taxa and trait‐based communities in miscanthus and SRC willows, whereas break and cereal crops tended to form a single, composite community. Seedbanks were shown to reflect the longer term effects of crop management. Our study suggests that miscanthus and SRC willows, and the management associated with perennial cropping, would support significant amounts of biodiversity when compared with annual arable crops. We recommend the strategic planting of these perennial, dedicated biomass crops in arable farmland to increase landscape heterogeneity and enhance ecosystem function, and simultaneously work towards striking a balance between energy and food security.

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“…The growing demand for land for biomass production results in the conversion of land to agricultural use and/or improvement of productivity on existing farmland, thus causing direct and/or indirect LUC [432]. LUC is an important driver of increased GHG emissions and may lead to altered soil organic carbon [433][434][435] and changes in a host of ecosystem services [436].…”

Section: Sustainability Of Bioenergy Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The challenging paradigm of interrelated energy systems towards a more sustainable future

Soares

Martins

Carvalho³

et al. 2018

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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This paper brings together several contemporary topics in energy systems aiming to provide a literature review based reflection on how several interrelated energy systems can contribute together to a more sustainable world. Some directions are discussed, such as the improvement of the energy efficiency and environmental performance of the systems, the development of new technologies, the increase of the use of renewable energy sources, the promotion of holistic and multidisciplinary studies, and the implementation of new management rules and "eco-friendly and sustainable" oriented policies at different scales. The interrelations of the diverse energy systems are also discussed in order to address their main social-economic-environmental impacts. The subjects covered include the assessment of the electricity market and its main players (demand, supply, distribution), the evaluation of some urban systems (buildings, transportation, commuting), the analysis of the implementation of renewable energy cooperatives, the discussion of the diffusion of the electric vehicle and the importance of new bioenergy systems. This paper also presents relevant research carried out in the framework of both the Energy for Sustainability Initiative of the University of Coimbra and the Sustainable Energy Systems focus area of the MIT-Portugal Program. To conclude, several research topics that should be addressed in the near future are proposed.

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Bioenergy: Challenge or support for the conservation of biodiversity?

Cited by 18 publications

References 27 publications

Bioenergy production and forest landscape change in the southeastern United States

Bioenergy production and forest landscape change in the southeastern United States

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

The challenging paradigm of interrelated energy systems towards a more sustainable future

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