Establishment and Short-term Productivity of Annual and Perennial Bioenergy Crops Across a Landscape Gradient

Wilson, Danielle M.; Heaton, Emily A.; Schulte, Lisa A.; Gunther, Theodore P.; Shea, Monika E.; Hall, Richard B.; Headlee, William L.; Moore, Kenneth J.; Boersma, Nicholas N.

doi:10.1007/s12155-014-9409-9

Cited by 29 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Greater M. × giganteus growth (tiller counts, basal circumference, and end-of-season biomass) at the backslope was not expected because eroded backslopes can sometimes produce less grain crop yield and switchgrass yield than other landscape positions (Thelemann et al, 2010;Yost et al, 2015) with deeper topsoil and higher plant available water (Jiang et al, 2007). Furthermore, switchgrass establishment (i.e., stand counts or frequency mea- surement) was not influenced by landscape position in Iowa, USA (Wilson et al, 2014).…”

Section: End-of-season Biomassmentioning

confidence: 92%

Impact of rhizome quality on Miscanthus establishment in claypan soil landscapes

Randall

Yost

Kitchen

et al. 2016

Industrial Crops and Products

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Thousands of eroded-soil hectares in the U.S. Midwest have been planted to Miscanthus × giganteus as an industrial or bioenergy crop in recent years, but few studies on factors affecting crop establishment have been performed on these soils. The objective of this study was to quantify how both rhizome quality and depth of soil from the surface to the first argillic horizon (or depth to claypan (DTC1)) affected M. × giganteus establishment. Rhizome quality (i.e., mass, length, diameter, viable buds, score), emergence, growth, and winter survival were measured on rhizomes planted in 2013 at Columbia and 2014 at Centralia, Missouri on clay loam soils with a range of DTC. Rhizome emergence and early tillering slightly increased as DTC increased, but these effects on growth diminished as the season progressed. Rhizome emergence and growth were more influenced by some metrics of rhizome quality; the odds of a rhizome emerging increased by 25 and 40% with each 1 cm and 1 bud increase in rhizome length and active bud count, respectively. Furthermore, late tiller counts, basal circumference, and end-of-season biomass increased as rhizome length and mass increased. Winter survival could not be estimated as well as emergence, but the odds of survival across sites increased by 5% with each 1 cm increase in rhizome length. When DTC was categorized as soil erosion class or landscape position, only the backslope at Centralia caused greater M. × giganteus growth than other positions. These findings demonstrate the resiliency of M. × giganteus for early growth and establishment on even the most degraded parts of the claypan soil landscape and indicate that propagating larger rhizomes will improve establishment. a b s t r a c tThousands of eroded-soil hectares in the U.S. Midwest have been planted to Miscanthus × giganteus as an industrial or bioenergy crop in recent years, but few studies on factors affecting crop establishment have been performed on these soils. The objective of this study was to quantify how both rhizome quality and depth of soil from the surface to the first argillic horizon (or depth to claypan (DTC 1 )) affected M. × giganteus establishment. Rhizome quality (i.e., mass, length, diameter, viable buds, score), emergence, growth, and winter survival were measured on rhizomes planted in 2013 at Columbia and 2014 at Centralia, Missouri on clay loam soils with a range of DTC. Rhizome emergence and early tillering slightly increased as DTC increased, but these effects on growth diminished as the season progressed. Rhizome emergence and growth were more influenced by some metrics of rhizome quality; the odds of a rhizome emerging increased by 25 and 40% with each 1 cm and 1 bud increase in rhizome length and active bud count, respectively. Furthermore, late tiller counts, basal circumference, and end-of-season biomass increased as rhizome length and mass increased. Winter survival could not be estimated as well as emergence, but the odds of survival across sites increased by 5% with each 1 cm increase in ...

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Section: End-of-season Biomassmentioning

confidence: 92%

Impact of rhizome quality on Miscanthus establishment in claypan soil landscapes

Randall

Yost

Kitchen

et al. 2016

Industrial Crops and Products

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“…Prior to establishment, the land use of the majority of the site was agriculture in a maize-soybean rotation with tillage, while approximately one half of the riparian floodplain plots were in mixed grasses. A full description of the experiment can be found in Wilson et al [27].…”

Section: Site Description and Experiments Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Five Biomass Cropping Systems on Soil-Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Across a Topographic Gradient

et al. 2017

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Understanding the environmental impact of bioenergy crops is needed to inform bioenergy policy development. We determined the effects of five biomass cropping systems-continuous maize (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max)-triticale (Triticosecale ×)/soybean-maize, maize-switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), triticale/sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and triticale-aspen (Populus alba × P. grandidentata)-on soilsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K S ) across a toposequence in central Iowa, USA. We compared data from the time of cropping system establishment in 2009 to 4 years post-establishment. Both our 2009 and 2013 data confirmed that cropping system impacts on K S vary by landscape position. We found that differences in cropping system impacts were more likely to occur at lower landscape positions, specifically, within footslope and floodplain positions. Previous research on cropping system impacts suggested that grass and woody systems were associated with a general increase in K S over time, with greater changes likely occurring at landscape positions with a higher erosive potential or lower SOC content. Our results confirmed that the triticale-aspen woody system was associated with a significant increase in K S across all landscape positions. In contrast, we did not observe an increase in K S under maize-switchgrass, which we attributed to the high density of switchgrass roots by the fourth year of study, but expect an increase in K S under switchgrass under longer measurement periods. We also found a significant increase in K S in the annual systems, likely due to the conversion to no-till soil management with cropping system establishment. We expect such differences to become more apparent over longer time scales as cropping systems continue to impact soil hydraulic properties. RightsWorks produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted. Abstract Understanding the environmental impact of bioenergy crops is needed to inform bioenergy policy development. We determined the effects of five biomass cropping systems-continuous maize (Zea mays), soybean (Glycine max)-triticale (Triticosecale ×)/soybean-maize, maize-switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), triticale/sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), and triticale-aspen (Populus alba × P. grandidentata)-on soilsaturated hydraulic conductivity (K S ) across a toposequence in central Iowa, USA. We compared data from the time of cropping system establishment in 2009 to 4 years post-establishment. Both our 2009 and 2013 data confirmed that cropping system impacts on K S vary by landscape position. We found that differences in cropping system impacts were more likely to occur at lower landscape positions, specifically, within footslope and floodplain positions. Previous research on cropping system impacts suggested that grass and woody systems were associated with a general increase in K S over time, with greater changes likely occurring at landscape positions with a higher erosiv...

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“…Relatively few other agronomic studies have examined the effect of landscape position on perennial grassland biomass yield, and most of those studies have examined monoculture grasslands. For example, switchgrass yield reductions of 14% to 54% have been recorded in wet, depositional areas compared to well-drained uplands [12,16,35]. In warmer, drier regions, water is often limiting to prairie production [15], particularly in upland landscape locations [14].…”

Section: Prairie Biomass Production Is Viable In Seasonally Saturatedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When water availability is a limiting factor, diverse perennial grassland biomass production is greatest in moist, lowland landscape positions [14,15]. In contrast, when moisture is excessive, perennial grassland yields are substantially reduced in poorly drained lowlands, at least in monoculture switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) systems [12,16]. However, in polyculture grasslands, soil hydrology plays an important role in structuring plant species assemblages, and plant species with adaptations to anaerobic stress are more likely to occur in inundated soils [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prairies Thrive Where Row Crops Drown: A Comparison of Yields in Upland and Lowland Topographies in the Upper Midwest US

Haden

Dornbush

2016

Agronomy

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Cellulosic biofuel production is expected to increase in the US, and the targeted establishment of biofuel agriculture in marginal lands would reduce competition between biofuels and food crops. While poorly drained, seasonally saturated lowland landscape positions are marginal for production of row crops and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), it is unclear whether species-diverse tallgrass prairie yield would suffer similarly in saturated lowlands. Prairie yields typically increase as graminoids become more dominant, but it is uncertain whether this trend is due to greater aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) or higher harvest efficiency in graminoids compared to forbs. Belowground biomass, a factor that is important to ecosystem service provisioning, is reduced when switchgrass is grown in saturated lowlands, but it is not known whether the same is true in species-diverse prairie. Our objectives were to assess the effect of topography on yields and live belowground biomass in row crops and prairie, and to determine the mechanisms by which relative graminoid abundance influences tallgrass prairie yield. We measured yield, harvest efficiency, and live belowground biomass in upland and lowland landscape positions within maize silage (Zea mays L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and restored tallgrass prairie. Maize and winter wheat yields were reduced by more than 60% in poorly drained lowlands relative to well-drained uplands, but diverse prairie yields were equivalent in both topographic settings. Prairie yields increased by approximately 45% as the relative abundance of graminoids increased from 5% to 95%. However, this trend was due to higher harvest efficiency of graminoids rather than greater ANPP compared to forbs. In both row crops and prairie, live belowground biomass was similar between upland and lowland locations, indicating consistent biomass nutrient sequestration potential and soil organic matter inputs between topographic positions. While poorly drained, lowland landscape positions are marginal lands for row crops, they appear prime for the cultivation of species-diverse tallgrass prairie for cellulosic biofuel.

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Establishment and Short-term Productivity of Annual and Perennial Bioenergy Crops Across a Landscape Gradient

Cited by 29 publications

References 43 publications

Impact of rhizome quality on Miscanthus establishment in claypan soil landscapes

Impact of rhizome quality on Miscanthus establishment in claypan soil landscapes

The Effect of Five Biomass Cropping Systems on Soil-Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Across a Topographic Gradient

Prairies Thrive Where Row Crops Drown: A Comparison of Yields in Upland and Lowland Topographies in the Upper Midwest US

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