Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois
Marcelo Zeri, Kristina Anderson-Teixeira, George Hickman, Michael Masters, Evan H Delucia, Carl Bernacchi
School of Integrative Biology
Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
Perennial grass biofuels may contribute to long-term carbon sequestration in soils, thereby providing a broad range of environmental benefits. To quantify those benefits, the carbon balance was investigated over three perennial grass biofuel crops - miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and a mixture of native prairie plants - and a row crop control (maize-maize-soy) in Central Illinois, USA, during the establishment phase of the perennial grasses (2008-2011). The eddy covariance technique was used to calculate fluxes of carbon dioxide and energy balance components, such as latent and sensible heat fluxes. Whereas maize attained the highest maximal carbon uptake rates, the perennial grasses had significantly extended growing seasons, such that their total carbon uptake rivaled that of corn in the second growing season and greatly exceeded that of soy in the third growing season. To account for the removal of carbon through harvest, net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) was combined with estimates of yields, resulting in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). After 2.5 years, NECB for the maize/soybean plot was positive (a source of carbon), while the grasses were a sink of carbon. Continuous measurements over the next years are required in order to confirm whether miscanthus, switchgrass and prairie can sustain a long-term sink of carbon if managed for biofuels, i.e., if harvested annually.
Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
energy crops
carbon sinks
net ecosystem exchange
eddy covariance
latent heat flux
sensible heat flux
Switchgrass
Zeri, M., Anderson-Teixeira, K., Hickman, G., Masters, M., Delucia, E. H., & Bernacchi, C. (2011). Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 144(1), 319-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois. / Zeri, Marcelo; Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina; Hickman, George; Masters, Michael; Delucia, Evan H; Bernacchi, Carl.
In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, Vol. 144, No. 1, 11.2011, p. 319-329.
Zeri, M, Anderson-Teixeira, K, Hickman, G, Masters, M, Delucia, EH & Bernacchi, C 2011, 'Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois', Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, vol. 144, no. 1, pp. 319-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
Zeri M, Anderson-Teixeira K, Hickman G, Masters M, Delucia EH, Bernacchi C. Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 2011 Nov;144(1):319-329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
Zeri, Marcelo ; Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina ; Hickman, George ; Masters, Michael ; Delucia, Evan H ; Bernacchi, Carl. / Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 2011 ; Vol. 144, No. 1. pp. 319-329.
@article{97a219ce927b4810942b0ebf924559d8,
title = "Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois",
abstract = "Perennial grass biofuels may contribute to long-term carbon sequestration in soils, thereby providing a broad range of environmental benefits. To quantify those benefits, the carbon balance was investigated over three perennial grass biofuel crops - miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and a mixture of native prairie plants - and a row crop control (maize-maize-soy) in Central Illinois, USA, during the establishment phase of the perennial grasses (2008-2011). The eddy covariance technique was used to calculate fluxes of carbon dioxide and energy balance components, such as latent and sensible heat fluxes. Whereas maize attained the highest maximal carbon uptake rates, the perennial grasses had significantly extended growing seasons, such that their total carbon uptake rivaled that of corn in the second growing season and greatly exceeded that of soy in the third growing season. To account for the removal of carbon through harvest, net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) was combined with estimates of yields, resulting in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). After 2.5 years, NECB for the maize/soybean plot was positive (a source of carbon), while the grasses were a sink of carbon. Continuous measurements over the next years are required in order to confirm whether miscanthus, switchgrass and prairie can sustain a long-term sink of carbon if managed for biofuels, i.e., if harvested annually.",
keywords = "Biofuels, Carbon balance, Eddy covariance, Maize, Miscanthus, Prairie, Switchgrass",
author = "Marcelo Zeri and Kristina Anderson-Teixeira and George Hickman and Michael Masters and Delucia, {Evan H} and Carl Bernacchi",
doi = "10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006",
journal = "Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment",
T1 - Carbon exchange by establishing biofuel crops in Central Illinois
AU - Zeri, Marcelo
AU - Anderson-Teixeira, Kristina
AU - Hickman, George
AU - Masters, Michael
AU - Delucia, Evan H
AU - Bernacchi, Carl
N2 - Perennial grass biofuels may contribute to long-term carbon sequestration in soils, thereby providing a broad range of environmental benefits. To quantify those benefits, the carbon balance was investigated over three perennial grass biofuel crops - miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and a mixture of native prairie plants - and a row crop control (maize-maize-soy) in Central Illinois, USA, during the establishment phase of the perennial grasses (2008-2011). The eddy covariance technique was used to calculate fluxes of carbon dioxide and energy balance components, such as latent and sensible heat fluxes. Whereas maize attained the highest maximal carbon uptake rates, the perennial grasses had significantly extended growing seasons, such that their total carbon uptake rivaled that of corn in the second growing season and greatly exceeded that of soy in the third growing season. To account for the removal of carbon through harvest, net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) was combined with estimates of yields, resulting in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). After 2.5 years, NECB for the maize/soybean plot was positive (a source of carbon), while the grasses were a sink of carbon. Continuous measurements over the next years are required in order to confirm whether miscanthus, switchgrass and prairie can sustain a long-term sink of carbon if managed for biofuels, i.e., if harvested annually.
AB - Perennial grass biofuels may contribute to long-term carbon sequestration in soils, thereby providing a broad range of environmental benefits. To quantify those benefits, the carbon balance was investigated over three perennial grass biofuel crops - miscanthus (Miscanthus×giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and a mixture of native prairie plants - and a row crop control (maize-maize-soy) in Central Illinois, USA, during the establishment phase of the perennial grasses (2008-2011). The eddy covariance technique was used to calculate fluxes of carbon dioxide and energy balance components, such as latent and sensible heat fluxes. Whereas maize attained the highest maximal carbon uptake rates, the perennial grasses had significantly extended growing seasons, such that their total carbon uptake rivaled that of corn in the second growing season and greatly exceeded that of soy in the third growing season. To account for the removal of carbon through harvest, net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) was combined with estimates of yields, resulting in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB). After 2.5 years, NECB for the maize/soybean plot was positive (a source of carbon), while the grasses were a sink of carbon. Continuous measurements over the next years are required in order to confirm whether miscanthus, switchgrass and prairie can sustain a long-term sink of carbon if managed for biofuels, i.e., if harvested annually.
KW - Biofuels
KW - Carbon balance
KW - Eddy covariance
KW - Maize
KW - Miscanthus
KW - Prairie
KW - Switchgrass
U2 - 10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
DO - 10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006
JO - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
JF - Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
10.1016/j.agee.2011.09.006