Bioenergy and Wildlife: Threats and Opportunities for Grassland Conservation

Abstract

Demand for land to grow corn for ethanol increased in the United States by 4.9 million hectares between 2005 and 2008, with wide-ranging effects on wildlife, including habitat loss. Depending on how biofuels are made, additional production could have similar impacts. We present a framework for assessing the impacts of biofuels on wildlife, and we use this framework to evaluate the impacts of existing and emerging biofuels feedstocks on grassland wildlife. Meeting the growing demand for biofuels while avoiding negative impacts on wildlife will require either biomass sources that do not require additional land (e.g., wastes, residues, cover crops, algae) or crop production practices that are compatible with wildlife. Diverse native prairie offers a potential approach to hioenergy production (including fuel, electricity, and heat) that is compatible with wildlife. Additional research is required to assess the compatibility of wildlife with different composition, inputs, and harvest management approaches, and to address concerns over prairie yields versus the yields of other biofuel crops.

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].…”

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.…”

“…Potential sources of biomass for bioenergy can be thought of as a continuum, ranging from low-input high-diversity (LIHD) crops, such as native prairie, to high-input low-diversity (HILD) crops, specifically corn and soybeans in this analysis (5,7,8). Current biofuel mandates in the United States require increasing production of biofuels to 136 billion L (36 billion gal) annually by 2022.…”

“…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).…”

“…The consequences of biofuels policy for conservation are largely unintended but are nonetheless predictable. For example, increased demand for row crops can lead to commodity price increases that are likely to result in reductions in the amount of land enrolled in conservation programs (5,13). A variety of financial and logistical factors currently limit the shift from firstto second-generation biofuels.…”