Grass-shed: Place and process for catalyzing perennial grass bioeconomies and their potential multiple benefits

Williams, Carol L.; Charland, Paul; Radloff, Gary; Sample, David W.; Jackson, Randall D.

doi:10.2489/jswc.68.6.141a

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…, Williams et al. ). Contracting with third‐party growers that own the required planting, harvesting, and baling equipment may be a more viable option for some grass biomass producers than purchasing new specialized equipment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities

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Williams

Sample

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

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Increased demand and government mandates for bioenergy crops in the United States could require a large allocation of agricultural land to bioenergy feedstock production and substantially alter current landscape patterns. Incorporating bioenergy landscape design into land-use decision making could help maximize benefits and minimize trade-offs among alternative land uses. We developed spatially explicit landscape scenarios of increased bioenergy crop production in an 80-km radius agricultural landscape centered on a potential biomass-processing energy facility and evaluated the consequences of each scenario for bird communities. Our scenarios included conversion of existing annual row crops to perennial bioenergy grasslands and conversion of existing grasslands to annual bioenergy row crops. The scenarios explored combinations of four biomass crop types (three potential grassland crops along a gradient of plant diversity and one annual row crop [corn]), three land conversion percentages to bioenergy crops (10%, 20%, or 30% of row crops or grasslands), and three spatial configurations of biomass crop fields (random, clustered near similar field types, or centered on the processing plant), yielding 36 scenarios. For each scenario, we predicted the impact on four bird community metrics: species richness, total bird density, species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) density, and SGCN hotspots (SGCN birds/ha ≥ 2). Bird community metrics consistently increased with conversion of row crops to bioenergy grasslands and consistently decreased with conversion of grasslands to bioenergy row crops. Spatial arrangement of bioenergy fields had strong effects on the bird community and in some cases was more influential than the amount converted to bioenergy crops. Clustering grasslands had a stronger positive influence on the bird community than locating grasslands near the central plant or at random. Expansion of bioenergy grasslands onto marginal agricultural lands will likely benefit grassland bird populations, and bioenergy landscapes could be designed to maximize biodiversity benefits while meeting targets for biomass production.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Williams et al. ). As a consequence, there is little empirical information on the ecological consequences of perennial grass biomass production in agricultural landscapes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities

Blank

Williams

Sample

et al. 2016

Ecological Applications

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“…The substantial agricultural productivity of such grasslands creates potential for extensive adoption in agricultural regions, greatly increasing ecosystem services, such as conservation of soil, water and biodiversity (Williams et al . ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the central United States, semi-natural agricultural grasslands are of increasing interest to societal sectors involved in production and resource conservation in agricultural landscapes (Williams et al 2013). These grasslands are polycultures of native prairie perennials and can be components of multifunctional agroecosystems that produce a wide range of ecosystem services (Chen & Zhang 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a source of non-grain biomass, these native polycultures can produce yields similar to, or higher, than maize Zea mays L. (Tilman, Hill & Lehman 2006;Nichols et al 2014), with more beneficial environmental impacts Tilman, Hill & Lehman 2006). The substantial agricultural productivity of such grasslands creates potential for extensive adoption in agricultural regions, greatly increasing ecosystem services, such as conservation of soil, water and biodiversity (Williams et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soil conditioning affects interactions between native and invasive exotic perennials of semi‐natural grasslands

Vink

Jordan

Aldrich‐Wolfe

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Semi‐natural perennial grasslands are of increasing importance as components of multifunctional agroecosystems, combining biomass production with provision of other ecosystem services. Soil legacies from previous land use or exotic species can hinder their establishment, but might be overcome through a multi‐stage successional strategy, whereby certain species are used to facilitate native grassland species establishment. We tested this strategy via a feedback experiment examining soil‐conditioning effects on interference interactions between native and exotic species. Soils in a former maize–soybean production field in Minnesota, USA, were conditioned for 3 years with native or invasive exotic perennials or a maize–soybean crop rotation. Nitrogen (N) fertilization was an additional treatment in field plots. In a greenhouse, native and invasive exotic perennial grassland seedlings were grown on these soils, in monoculture and in native–exotic species pairs, with and without N fertilization. The impact of soil conditioning and field and greenhouse N fertilization on interactions between native and exotic seedlings in mixture was determined. Neighbouring plants suppressed biomass production in all native and exotic species. The maize–soybean rotation left a soil legacy that enhanced suppression of native species when grown with exotic species, while exotic species suffered no such disadvantage. The strong and specific disadvantage to native species of maize–soybean soils decreased with greenhouse N fertilization, but remained significant, while field N addition did not alter this effect. Synthesis and applications. We found that the negative soil legacy of the maize–soybean rotation for native plant performance in interaction with exotics was greatly diminished in soils conditioned by native or exotic perennial species, irrespective of nitrogen addition. This highlights the potential value of perennial species in conversion from row‐crop agriculture to grasslands, because all perennial species alleviated the enhanced suppression of natives observed on maize–soybean soils. We did not find strong evidence that these perennial species were capable of specifically facilitating native species over exotics, but a broader range of species should be evaluated.

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Functional roles of ants in a temperate grassland

Ohwada

Yamawo

2021

Sci Nat

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Grass-shed: Place and process for catalyzing perennial grass bioeconomies and their potential multiple benefits

Cited by 11 publications

References 37 publications

Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities

Alternative scenarios of bioenergy crop production in an agricultural landscape and implications for bird communities

Soil conditioning affects interactions between native and invasive exotic perennials of semi‐natural grasslands

Functional roles of ants in a temperate grassland

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