Sustainable Development of Perennial Grass Bioenergy on Marginal Soils of New York (2011 - 2016)

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Overview

Marginal lands constitute the primary land base available for development of both grass and short-rotation woody perennial bioenergy crops in NY and the Northeast. Use of marginal lands for bioenergy can help defuse food vs. fuel competition for prime farmland, provide regionally-distributed sources of energy products, and can prevent reversion of idle lands to scrub. “Marginal” (a term whose meaning varies regionally) in NY commonly means seasonally wet, poorly drained, and sometimes susceptible to drought in summer. Perennial crops that require minimal soil disturbance once established are a good match for these soils. Unfortunately, the research base on bioenergy grass production and impacts on these soils is very thin, especially for NY and the Northeast. Our goal was to carry out research on marginal soils, assessing crops yields as well as soil and emission impacts for both switchgrass and reed canarygrass.

Brian Richards, PI, helping to drill groundwater depth monitoring wells

Principal Investigator: Brian Richards

Funding Source: USDA/NIFA Sustainable Bioenergy program.

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Resulting Publications:

  • Das, S., B. K. Richards, C. L. Grela, R. Crawford, M. F. Walter, and T. S. Steenhuis. “Soil Health Parameters of Wetness-Prone Marginal Soils of Northeastern United States: Influence of Five Years’ Perennial Grass Bioenergy Cropping” 2019 (December 1, 2019): B21F-2402.
  • Das, Srabani, Karin Teuffer, Cathelijne R. Stoof, Michael F. Walter, M. Todd Walter, Tammo S. Steenhuis, and Brian K. Richards. “Perennial Grass Bioenergy Cropping on Wet Marginal Land: Impacts on Soil Properties, Soil Organic Carbon, and Biomass During Initial Establishment.” BioEnergy Research 11, no. 2 (June 1, 2018): 262–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-018-9893-4.
  • Mason, Cedric W., Cathelijne R. Stoof, Brian K. Richards, David G. Rossiter, and Tammo S. Steenhuis. “Spring-Thaw Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Reed Canarygrass on Wetness-Prone Marginal Soil in New York State.” Soil Science Society of America Journal 80, no. 2 (2016): 428–37. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2015.05.0182.
  • Das, S., R. E. Thomas, T. S. Steenhuis, M. F. Walter, and B. K. Richards. “Soil Carbon Changes in a Wetness-Prone Perennial Grass Bioenergy Field of Northeastern United States.” 2015 (December 1, 2015): GC13A-1131.
  • Stoof, Cathelijne R., Brian K. Richards, Peter B. Woodbury, Eric S. Fabio, Alice R. Brumbach, Jerry Cherney, Srabani Das, et al. “Untapped Potential: Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Bioenergy Production from Marginal Lands in the Northeast USA.” BioEnergy Research 8, no. 2 (June 2015): 482–501. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9515-8.
  • Richards, Brian K., Cathelijne R. Stoof, Ian J. Cary, and Peter B. Woodbury. “Reporting on Marginal Lands for Bioenergy Feedstock Production: A Modest Proposal.” BioEnergy Research 7, no. 3 (September 2014): 1060–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9408-x.
  • Stoof, Cathelijne, Imtiaz Karim, Cedric Mason, Dhanya Tadipatri, Ian Cary, Ryan Crawford, Julie Hansen, Jamie Crawford, Hilary Mayton, and Tammo Steenhuis. “Effect of Fertilization on N2O Emissions from a Marginal Soil Used for Perennial Grass Bioenergy Production.” In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, 9512, 2014. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2014EGUGA..16.9512S/abstract.
  • Richards, B. K., C. R. Stoof, Cedric Mason, R. V. Crawford, S. Das, J. L. Hansen, H. S. Mayton, J. L. Crawford, T. S. Steenhuis, and M. T. Walter. “Carbon Sequestration and Gaseous Emissions in Perennial Grass Bioenergy Cropping Systems in the Northeastern US.” In Proceedings of the AAIC Meeting USDA-NIFA Session on Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Bioenergy Crops, Washington, DC, USA, Vol. 14, 2013. https://www.academia.edu/download/51619666/Carbon_sequestration_and_gaseous_emissio20170203-16272-1z0uvar.pdf.
  • Stoof, Cathelijne, Cedric Mason, Tammo Steenhuis, and Brian Richards. “Effect of Land Use Change for Bioenergy on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Wet Marginal Soil in New York State, USA.” In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, EGU2013-5843, 2013. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013EGUGA..15.5843S/abstract.

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