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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Urbana, Illinois » Global Change and Photosynthesis Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #306664
Title: Mitigating the potential for invasive spread of the exotic biofuel crop, Miscanthus x giganteus

Author
item PITMAN, SHANNON - University Of Minnesota
item MUTHUKRISHNAN, RANJAN - University Of Minnesota
item West, Natalie
item JORDAN, NICHOLAS - University Of Minnesota
item Davis, Adam
item FORESTER, JAMES - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Biological Invasions
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/2015
Publication Date: 8/17/2015
Citation: Pitman, S.E., Muthukrishnan, R., West, N.M., Jordan, N.R., Davis, A.S., Forester, J.D. 2015. Mitigating the potential for invasive spread of the exotic biofuel crop, Miscanthus x giganteus. Biological Invasions. 17(11):3247-3261 doi 10.1007/s10530-015-0950-z.

Interpretive Summary: Herbaceous perennial bioenergy crops can produce large amounts of biomass efficiently, but the same traits that support high productivity also carry a risk of promoting the invasive spread of these crops. Miscanthus x giganteus is a sterile perennial grass native to Asia which generates high fuel yield in temperate latitudes. A fertile variety of M. x giganteus was developed by industrial partners in an effort to decrease the costs associated with planting rhizomes of the sterile variety. We used a modeling approach to explore how effective proposed management strategies are in limiting or slowing the spread of this species. We found that fertile M. x giganteus may spread rapidly outside of field margins, and the ability of field-level management strategies to limit spread depends strongly on habitat suitability for growth of this species. Our results suggest that proper siting of M. x giganteus within landscapes of low habitat suitability (such as within a large area of contiguous corn fields) is necessary to ensure prevention of spread into adjacent lands.

Technical Abstract: Herbaceous perennial crops are becoming a larger component of bioenergy production both in the United States and worldwide. However, there is growing concern that perennial crops pose a substantial risk of biological invasion as a result of the same traits that make them ideal for bioenergy production: low nutrient requirements, fast growth, and drought and cold tolerance. Miscanthus x giganteus is a sterile perennial grass native to Asia which generates high fuel yield in temperate latitudes. Because of its low nutrient requirements, M. x giganteus has been proposed as an ideal biofuel crop to be planted on lands marginal for food production. A fertile variety of M. x giganteus was developed by industrial partners in an effort to decrease the costs associated with planting rhizomes of the sterile variety. However, there are currently no management recommendations required by state or federal agencies to limit the probability of the fertile variety escaping bioenergy plantations. Because bioenergy production is expanding rapidly in area, and the few studies to quantify invasion risks have taken place at relatively small spatial scales, we used a modeling approach to explore a broader domain of scenarios ranging from the field to landscape scales. We implemented a spatially-explicit population model of fertile M. x giganteus to determine the efficacy of proposed management strategies in limiting or slowing the spread of this species. We found that fertile M. x giganteus may spread rapidly outside of field margins, and the ability of localized management strategies to curtail spread is highly context-dependent. Our results suggest that proper siting of M. x giganteus within landscapes of low habitat suitability (such as within a larger matrix of corn fields) is necessary to ensure prevention of spread into adjacent lands. Maximizing the net benefits of biofuels may entail planting species with either low dispersal capacity or species for which spread outside of planted fields is not problematic. However, if planted on marginal lands adjacent to potential habitat, the inclusion of buffer zones and early harvesting may substantially reduce the rate of invasive spread of fertile M. x giganteus. Strong imperatives for rapid commercialization of novel “bioeconomy crops”, such as fertile M. x giganteus, could substantially increase both production and resource conservation in agriculture; however, these crops may also produce major ecosystem disservices. Landscape-scale modeling that allows for the rapid design and testing of the interactions between new crop genotypes and innovative landscape configurations will be a powerful tool for exploring the ecological risks posed by new bioeconomy crops.