Biodiversity conservation in the era of biofuels: risks and opportunities

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dc.contributorVirginia Techen
dc.contributor.authorFletcher, R. J. Jr.en
dc.contributor.authorRobertson, B. A.en
dc.contributor.authorEvans, J.en
dc.contributor.authorDoran, P. J.en
dc.contributor.authorAlavalapati, J. R. R.en
dc.contributor.authorSchemske, D. W.en
dc.contributor.departmentForest Resources and Environmental Conservationen
dc.date.accessed2018-11-18en
dc.date.accessioned2013-12-03T15:09:39Zen
dc.date.available2013-12-03T15:09:39Zen
dc.date.issued2011-04en
dc.description.abstractGrowing 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.en
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Council on Science and the Environmenten
dc.description.sponsorshipDOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center DE-FC02-07ER64494en
dc.description.sponsorshipDepartment of Energyen
dc.description.sponsorshipMichigan State Universityen
dc.description.sponsorshipNature Conservancy's Great Lakes Fund for Partnership in Conservation Science and Economicsen
dc.identifier.citationRobert J Fletcher Jr, Bruce A Robertson, Jason Evans, Patrick J Doran, Janaki RR Alavalapati, and Douglas W Schemske 2011. Biodiversity conservation in the era of biofuels: risks and opportunities. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9: 161–168. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/090091en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1890/090091en
dc.identifier.issn1540-9295en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/24366en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.esajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1890/090091en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherEcological Society of Americaen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectUnited Statesen
dc.subjectagricultural landscapeen
dc.subjectplantation forestsen
dc.subjecthabitat lossen
dc.subjectland-useen
dc.subjectbioenergyen
dc.subjectcornen
dc.subjectmetaanalysisen
dc.subjectswitchgrassen
dc.subjectbiomassen
dc.titleBiodiversity conservation in the era of biofuels: risks and opportunitiesen
dc.title.serialFrontiers in Ecology and the Environmenten
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden

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