Plant tissue characteristics of Miscanthus x giganteus

Authors: Pisani, Oliva; Liebert, Daniel - Dan; Strickland, Timothy - Tim; Coffin, Alisa

Submitted to: Scientific Data
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/2022
Publication Date: 6/15/2022
Citation: Pisani, O., Liebert, D.P., Strickland, T.C., Coffin, A.W. 2022. Plant tissue characteristics of Miscanthus x giganteus. Scientific Data. 9:308. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01424-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01424-0

Interpretive Summary: Miscanthus x giganteus, or giant miscanthus, is an important bioenergy grass fueling the expanding "bioeconomy." However, this crop is relatively new and knowledge is needed about the characteristics of the plants and how they interact with insect pests and their natural enemies. As part of a study identifying responses of insects and spiders to the environment in a crop of giant miscanthus, plants were collected at 33 locations within a field in southeast Georgia, USA, in October 2016. At each location, one plant sample was collected every meter along a 5 m transect, resulting in 5 replicates per sampling site. The plant samples were separated into leaves and stems, air-dried, and ground. The chemical composition of the ground material was assessed by measuring total carbon and nitrogen, total macro- and micronutrients, and optical characteristics of the organic matter extracted from the plant tissues. The dataset describing giant miscanthus plant tissues is now publicly available. This paper describes the methods used to collect and analyze laboratory samples and summarizes the data. These plant characteristics, when combined with previously published datasets, will be used to in forthcoming integrated analyses of arthropod, plant, and environmental relationships.

Technical Abstract: As part of a study identifying relationships between environmental variables and insect distributions within a bioenergy crop, giant miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) samples were collected in October 2016 at 33 locations within a field in southeast Georgia, USA. At each location, one plant sample was collected every meter along a 5 m transect, resulting in 5 replicates per sampling location. The plant samples were separated into leaves and stems, air-dried, and ground. The chemical composition of the ground material was assessed by measuring total carbon and nitrogen, total macro- and micronutrients (aluminum, arsenic, boron, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, potassium, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, nickel, phosphorus, lead, sulfur, selenium, silicon, titanium, vanadium, and zinc) using Inductively Coupled Plasma with Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), and optical characteristics of the water extractable organic matter (WEOM) using UV-Visible and Fluorescence Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) spectroscopy. This dataset will be useful to identify relationships between the chemical composition of giant miscanthus tissues and pest distributions within a bioenergy crop field.