Impact of poplar on soil organic matter quality and microbial communities in arable soils

Baum, Christel; Eckhardt, Kai‐Uwe; Hahn, Jerold T.; Weih, Martin; Dimitriou, Ioannis; Leinweber, Peter

doi:10.17221/548/2012-pse

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The leaf litter quality influences litter decomposition and thereby the amount of soil carbon accumulation and also the composition of the accumulated carbon. The specific composition of soil carbon determines its longevity in the soil and thus the sustainability of any carbon accumulation seen in soils under energy crops (Baum et al, 2013). As for other agricultural and forest crops, plant genotype, and the interaction with symbiotic fungi affect the above and below ground carbon allocation pattern also for energy crops, which opens a potential avenue for breeding toward increased carbon accumulation.…”

Section: Carbon Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits to Ecosystems: The Ecological Sustainability Challenge When Developing Future Energy Crops

et al. 2014

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Today, we are undertaking great efforts to improve biomass production and quality traits of energy crops. Major motivation for developing those crops is based on environmental and ecological sustainability considerations, which however often are de-coupled from the trait-based crop improvement programs. It is now time to develop appropriate methods to link crop traits to production system characteristics set by the plant and the biotic communities influencing it; and to the ecosystem processes affecting ecological sustainability. The relevant ecosystem processes involve the net productivity in terms of biomass and energy yields, the depletion of energy-demanding resources (e.g., nitrogen, N), the carbon dynamics in soil and atmosphere, and the resilience and temporal stability of the production system. In a case study, we compared aspects of N use efficiency in various varieties of an annual (spring wheat) and perennial (Salix) energy crop grown under two nutrient regimes in Sweden. For example, we found considerable variation among crops, varieties, and nutrient regimes in the energy yield per plant-internal N (megajoule per gram per year), which would result in different N resource depletion per unit energy produced.

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Section: Carbon Dynamicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits to Ecosystems: The Ecological Sustainability Challenge When Developing Future Energy Crops

et al. 2014

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“…Non‐food, perennial, dedicated biomass crops, such as trees grown as short rotation coppice and grasses, are potentially integral to reducing CO 2 emissions and many studies have documented positive benefits of growing perennial biomass crops, including for ecosystem services (Berndes et al ., ; Baum et al ., ; Meehan et al ., ) and biodiversity (Haughton et al ., ; Rowe et al ., ; Dauber et al ., ; Baum et al ., ; Stanley & Stout, ; Bourke et al ., ). However, much of the ecological evidence is directly (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

et al. 2015

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Suggestions that novel, non‐food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape‐scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional trait approach to quantify and contrast the consequences for biodiversity indicators of adopting dedicated biomass crops on land previously cultivated under annual, rotational arable cropping. The abundance and community compositions of biodiversity indicators in fields of break and cereal crops changed when planted with the dedicated biomass crops, miscanthus and short rotation coppiced (SRC) willow. Weed biomass was consistently greater in the two dedicated biomass crops than in cereals, and invertebrate abundance was similarly consistently higher than in break crops. Using canonical variates analysis, we identified distinct plant and invertebrate taxa and trait‐based communities in miscanthus and SRC willows, whereas break and cereal crops tended to form a single, composite community. Seedbanks were shown to reflect the longer term effects of crop management. Our study suggests that miscanthus and SRC willows, and the management associated with perennial cropping, would support significant amounts of biodiversity when compared with annual arable crops. We recommend the strategic planting of these perennial, dedicated biomass crops in arable farmland to increase landscape heterogeneity and enhance ecosystem function, and simultaneously work towards striking a balance between energy and food security.

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“…Woody crops grown for bioenergy have a positive influence on SOC content and soil aggregation as compared to annual crops [e.g. [161][162][163]. This is due to the absence of soil disturbance (no tillage) when trees are grown and the greater root biomass of trees than annual crops.…”

Section: Woody Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Greater fungal:bacterial (F:B) ratio is reported for bioenergy poplar and aspen as compared to annual crops in cold-temperate climate [e.g. 162,164]. Yannikos et al…”

Section: Woody Cropsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustaining soil carbon in bioenergy cropping systems of northern temperate regions.

Gul

Winans²,

Leila³

et al. 2014

CABI Reviews

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Soil organic carbon (SOC) has an essential role in controlling ecosystem functions associated with soil physical, chemical and biological properties. Maintaining the SOC pool size in agroecosystems is important to sustain food security, protect soil biodiversity and buffer environmental impacts. The SOC pool is dynamic, with losses occurring due to CO 2 mineralization and gains from microbially mediated humification of organic substrates into stable C compounds. Bioenergy production from lignocellulosic feedstock implies that greater amounts of plant residues will be removed from agroecosystems and could deplete the SOC pool, based on empirical models and experimental results from long-term field trials. In northern temperate regions, several management practices are suggested to conserve the SOC pool, such as the application of biochar, judicious use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, crop rotations that include high biomass producing non-bioenergy crops or intercropping systems that combine perennial bioenergy crops with other crops (annuals or trees). Moreover, new technologies such as genetically modified (GM) bioenergy crops are recommended to enhance bioenergy production per unit energy input. Those modifications include GM crops with higher resource-use efficiency (i.e., for water, nutrients and light), GM crops with cellulase/ligninase enzyme systems for biofuel production and GM crops with higher calorific values that release more energy during combustion.

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Impact of poplar on soil organic matter quality and microbial communities in arable soils

Cited by 18 publications

References 25 publications

Traits to Ecosystems: The Ecological Sustainability Challenge When Developing Future Energy Crops

Traits to Ecosystems: The Ecological Sustainability Challenge When Developing Future Energy Crops

Dedicated biomass crops can enhance biodiversity in the arable landscape

Sustaining soil carbon in bioenergy cropping systems of northern temperate regions.

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