Biodiversity conservation in the era of biofuels: risks and opportunities

Abstract

Growing demand for alternative energy sources has contributed to increased biofuel production, but the effects on biodiversity of land‐use change to biofuel crops remain unclear. Using a meta‐analysis for crops being used or considered in the US, we find that vertebrate diversity and abundance are generally lower in biofuel crop habitats relative to the non‐crop habitats that these crops may replace. Diversity effects are greater for corn than for pine and poplar, and birds of conservation concern experience greater negative effects from corn than species of less concern. Yet conversion of row‐crop fields to grasslands dedicated to biofuels could increase local diversity and abundance of birds. To minimize impacts of biofuel crops on biodiversity, we recommend management practices that reduce chemical inputs, increase heterogeneity within fields, and delay harvests until bird breeding has ceased. We encourage research that will move us toward a sustainable biofuels economy, including the use of native plants, development of robust environmental criteria for evaluating biofuel crops, and integrated cost–benefit analysis of potential land‐use change.

Agroenergy Crops Influence the Diversity, Biomass, and Guild Structure of Terrestrial Arthropod Communities

“…The ecological sustainability of dedicated agriculturally based biomass crops (agroenergy) will depend on the ability of crops to support native biodiversity and sponsor important ecosystem services [1][2][3]. The historical focus on maximizing agricultural production without accounting for trade-offs with economically important ecosystem services [4] has resulted in degradation of water, soil quality, and biodiversity; increases in arthropod crop pests; and reductions in populations of pollinating insects [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…These mandates provide the USA, in particular, with a unique opportunity to design new agroenergy production systems that incorporate biodiversity conservation and the delivery of ecosystem services into production goals [1,14] with potential to impact large geographic regions. In this regard, there remains a critical need for empirical data capable of guiding the design implementation of these new agroenergy production systems [2,3,15,16].…”

Habitat as Architecture: Integrating Conservation Planning and Human Health

“…Agricultural ecosystems may be perceived as sustainable if they produce organic products, yet the most extensive certified organic farms have many of the same homogenous landscape characteristics as non-organic industrial farms (reviewed in Bengtsson et al 2005). Industrial production of biofuels threatens vast areas of native grasslands and forests (Groom et al 2008;Fletcher et al 2010). Likewise, green housing developments typically use only structural or aesthetic aspects of nature at the expense of protecting habitat (Milder 2007).…”

Is bioenergy for the birds? An evaluation of alternative future bioenergy landscapes

“…The consequences of increased demand for land associated with bioenergy crops initially gained attention because of the implications for carbon emissions associated with land clearing (2,3), but, more recently, the potential impacts of bioenergy's land demand on biodiversity have gained increased attention (4)(5)(6). The study by Meehan et al (7) in PNAS provides a quantitative look at predicted landscapescale biodiversity impacts under alternative bioenergy cropping scenarios.…”

“…Expansion of corn for ethanol is expected to exacerbate issues associated with nutrient pollution (10), air quality (11), greenhouse gas emissions from land use change (3), and habitat for biodiversity (4)(5)(6) in contrast to cellulosic ethanol, which offers the potential for environmental benefits in these areas (2,6,8,11,12).…”