Comparing predicted yield and yield stability of willow and Miscanthus across Denmark

Abstract

To achieve the goals of energy security and climate change mitigation in Denmark and the EU, an expansion of national production of bioenergy crops is needed. Temporal and spatial variation of yields of willow and Miscanthus is not known for Denmark because of a limited number of field trial data. The semi-mechanistic crop model BioCro was used to simulate the production of both short-rotation coppice (SRC) willow and Miscanthus across Denmark. Predictions were made from high spatial resolution soil data and weather records across this area for 1990-2010. The potential average, rain-fed mean yield was 12.1 Mg DM ha À1 yr À1 for willow and 10.2 Mg DM ha À1 yr À1 for Miscanthus. Coefficient of variation as a measure for yield stability was poorest on the sandy soils of northern and western Jutland, and the year-to-year variation in yield was greatest on these soils. Willow was predicted to outyield Miscanthus on poor, sandy soils, whereas Miscanthus was higher yielding on clay-rich soils. The major driver of yield in both crops was variation in soil moisture, with radiation and precipitation exerting less influence. This is the first time these two major feedstocks for northern Europe have been compared within a single modeling framework and providing an important new tool for decision-making in selection of feedstocks for emerging bioenergy systems.

Biomass production and energy balance of Miscanthus over a period of 11 years: A case study in a large‐scale farm in Poland

“…Biomass yields are influenced by the amount and distribution of rainfall, which suggests that water availability is a key yield-building factor in this grass species (Gauder et al, 2012). High precipitation levels (Gauder et al, 2012) and soils capable of accumulating water (Arundale, Dohleman, Heaton, et al, 2014;Larsen, Jaiswal, Bentsen, Wang, & Long, 2016;Miguez, Maughan, Bollero, & Long, 2012;Wang et al, 2015) minimize variations in biomass yield. In this study, abundant precipitation in years 10 and 11 (2016 and 2017) contributed to an increase in the biomass yield of giant miscanthus (19.0-20.0 Mg DM ha −1 year −1 ).…”

Poplar and shrub willow energy crops in the United States: field trial results from the multiyear regional feedstock partnership and yield potential maps based on the PRISM‐ELM model

“…There have been initiatives to develop a common process‐based model framework that can be applied to a range of different crops. For example, a common process‐based model approach has been developed using the BioCrop mechanistic modeling framework for willow (Wang et al ., ; Larsen et al ., ), switchgrass, and Miscanthus (Miguez et al ., , ), but as noted above, these models require large amounts of data input and this information was not collected as part of the Sun Grant Feedstock Regional Feedstock Partnership program.…”

Functional differences in the microbial processing of recent assimilates under two contrasting perennial bioenergy plantations

“…For example, whilst it is suggested that globally, ecosystems dominated by ericoid and EMF can hold more soil C than those dominated by AMF (Averill et al, 2014) no research has considered whether EMF association in SRC Willow processes and sequesters assimilated carbon differently to AMF associating miscanthus. Utilizing established plantations of miscanthus and SRC willow, which exhibit contrasting photosynthetic pathways, growth rates and environmental tolerances (Larsen et al, 2016;Quinn et al, 2012;Bellarby et al, 2010), we applied 13 C -pulse labelling to investigate C assimilation and the transfer, distribution and persistence of plant derived C within microbial communities. 13 Cpulse labelling has previously been applied to agricultural systems (Tavi et al, 2013), grasslands (De Deyn et al, 2011;Leake et al, 2006;Ostle et al, 2000), peatlands (Biasi et al, 2012;Fenner et al, 2004;Ward et al, 2009) and forest ecosystems Hogberg et al, 2008;Subke et al, 2009).…”