Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: Implications for Bioenergy Cropping Systems
Douglas A. Landis
Area 4.4 Biodiversity Responses Team Leader, GLBRC
Professor of Insect Ecology Department of Entomology, Michigan State University
GLBRC Madison
April 19, 2011
! Background on GLBRC Sustainability Research ! Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services ! Results from the Biodiversity Responses Team ! Implications for Bioenergy Landscapes
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Outline 2
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GLBRC Research Areas 3
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GLBRC Sustainability Research Roadmap
4
! Plants ! MI - Kay Gross, Carol Baker, Pam Mosley ! WI - Randy Jackson
! Microbes ! Tom Schmidt, Tracy Teal, Zarraz Lee ! Carolyn Malmstrom, Abby Schrotenboer, Collin Phillipo
! Insects ! MI - Doug Landis, Ben Werling, Rufus Isaacs, Julianna Tuell ! WI - Claudio Gratton, Tim Meehan, Hanna Gaines, Heidi Liere
! Birds ! MI - Bruce Robertson, Patrick Doran, Doug Schemske, ! WI - Tim Meehan
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Biodiversity Team 5
Tscharntke et al. Ecology Letters 2005
Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes
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7 Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
! Ecosystem Services – the benefits people obtain from ecosystems
! Supporting ! Nutrient cycling, soil formation…
! Provisioning ! Food, fuel…
! Regulating ! Pollination, pest suppression...
! Cultural ! Recreation, aesthetic…
Costanza et al. Nature 1997 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 Swinton et al. Am. J of Agric. Econ. 2006
• Human popula0on growth
The Challenge
• Human popula0on growth • Cropland & pasture/grazing occupies
35% of the ice-‐free land surface – Foley et al . 2007 PNAS
Cropland
Grazing
The Challenge
• Human popula0on • Cropland & pasture/grazing occupies
35% of the ice-‐free land surface – Foley et al . 2007 PNAS
• In many of these areas humans are already appropria0ng >50% of NPP
– Haberl et al. 2007 PNAS
Cropland
Grazing
The Challenge
Agricultural Intensification
! Can we deliver sustainable bioenergy systems that preserve the biodiversity on which agriculture depends?
• “Declines in species diversity due to agricultural intensifica0on have been documented for:
– birds (Donald et al. 2001) – mammals (Sotherton 1998) – insects (Benton et al. 2002) – plants (Aebischer 1991) at na0onal and landscape scales.”
Flynn et al. Ecology Letters. 2009
Low Diversity
High Diversity
Corn
Switchgrass
Mixed prairie
Poplar trees
Miscanthus Corn-Soybean-Canola
Native grasses
Early successional
Poten0al Produc0on Systems
Arlington, WI
Kellogg Biological Station, MI
Lower Biodiversity § Annual § Monoculture § Exotic § High input
Higher Biodiversity • Perennial • Polyculture • Native • Low input
Biofuel Crops and Biodiversity
Corn Switchgrass Mixed prairie
Landis & Werling Insect Science 2010 Gardiner et al. BioEnergy Research 2010
! Patterns of diversity ! Impact on ecosystem services ! Scale-up to regional models
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Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
14
Biodiversity Sampling
! Plant species richness consistently greatest in prairies and lowest in corn
! Above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) was highest in corn.
! Relative abundance of important species and functional groups differ
Plant Biodiversity & Yield
Michigan GLBRC Extensive Sites - 2009Annual Above-ground Production
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Corn Prairie Switchgrass
Bio
mas
s (g
/m2 )
Michigan GLBRC Extensive Sites - 2009Relative Abundance
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Corn Prairie Switchgrass
Other GrassSOSNUPANVIANOGEFORBSCORN
0
5
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Num
ber
of S
peci
es
Area (m2)
Michigan Extensive Sites - Species RichnessMean +/- Std Error Corn
Prairie
Switchgrass
Species composition was sampled over two years (2008, 2009), n=10
Gross & Baker unpub. data
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
AG ES SF MG DF
Microbes: Methanotrophs
CH4 consumption Methanotroph richness
Methanotroph richness is positively correlated with methane consumption
Net
met
hane
con
sum
ptio
n (g
CH
4-C
ha-
1 da
y-1 )
Methanotroph richness
(OTU
s)
Treatment 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Corn Switchgrass Prairie
Methanotroph diversity is higher in switchgrass and prairie sites than corn
Met
hano
troph
rich
ness
(O
TUs)
a
b b
Levine, Teal, Robertson and Schmidt (2011). The ISME Journal. In press Schmidt & Teal unpub. data
Schrotenboer, A.S., M. Allen, and C.M. Malmstrom. 2011. Global Change Biology Bioenergy (in press).
Differences in virus susceptibility most strongly related to biomass accumulation in switchgrass
Microbes: B/CYDV’s
Microbes: B/CYDV’s and Landscape
! Landscape diversity influences aphid load
! Aphid pressure decreases with
increasing landscape diversity within 1.5 km
! Consistent with patterns of B/
CYDV’s at landscape scales
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Corn Switch Prairie
No. o
f bee
s co
llect
ed in
pan
trap
s
OsmiaMegachileHylaeusHoplitisCeratinaPeponapisMelissodesLasioglossumHalictusEuceraDufoureaCalliopsisBombusAugochlorellaAnthophoraAndrenaAgapostemonApisStelisSphecodesNomada
Vertical striped bars indicate clepto-parasitic bees
Solid bars indicate ground-nesting bees
Diagonal striped bars indicate stem-nesting bees
mellifera
Corn Switchgrass Prairie
Bee Abundance by Family
Isaacs & Tuell unpub. data
0 20 40 60 80
100 120 140 160 180
2 3 4 5 Final
Cum
ulat
ive
wt.
gain
(g)
Week
corn prairie
Colony weight gain
Tuell, Rich, Meehan and Isaacs unpub. data 0 5
10 15 20 25 30
Corn Prairie
* P < 0.05
No. of queens
Pollinator colony health
0 20 40 60 80
100 120 140 160 180
2 3 4 5 Final
Cum
ulat
ive
wt.
gain
(g)
Week
corn prairie
Colony weight gain
Tuell, Rich, Meehan and Isaacs unpub. data
Pollinator colony health
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
Corn Prairie
* P < 0.05
Wt. per queen (g)
Fam
ily ri
chne
ss (p
artia
l res
idua
l) A
B
(A) Corn fields (B) High diversity prairie
! Predator family richness greatest in diverse grasslands
Predator Diversity
Werling, Meehan, Gratton, & Landis unpub. data
Predator Communities
Werling, Meehan, Gratton, & Landis. In review
Predation Services
Werling et al. 2011 Global Change Biology Bioenergy doi: 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01092.x
Gardiner et al. 2009 Ecological Applica0ons Landis et al. 2008 PNAS
Predators save soybean farmers $13-‐79 acre-‐1 yr -‐1 in reduced pes0cide applica0ons and yield loss
Increased corn in the landscape reduces key predators and biocontrol services in soybean
Cos0ng producers $58 – 671 M yr -‐1 in forgone biocontrol services (based on actual 2006-‐07 increase in corn in MI, MN, IA, WI)
Valuing Predation Services At Landscape Scales
Develop Empirical Models
1. Experimental results with multiple prey species lead to prediction model
2. Model predictions of current biocontrol
3. Validate model with USDA county insecticide data
Y = -0.40X + 0.45
Meehan et al. in prep.
Regional Forecasts
Meehan et al. in prep.
Expanding annual bioenergy crops on marginal lands reduces biocontrol services up to 55%
Expanding perennial bioenergy crops on marginal lands increases biocontrol services up to 127%
Spec
ies
State listed (MI) species found in biofuel crops:
Northern Harrier Henslow’s Sparrow Dickcissel Grasshopper Sparrow
Prairie Prairie Prairie Prairie Switchgrass
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Corn Switchgrass Prairie
Nes0ng
Foraging
Bird: Overall Results
Arthropod diversity--families by habitat
0
20
40
60
80
a
b
c
Mea
n #
arth
ropo
d fa
mili
es
Corn Switch Prairie
Arthropod Biomass (marginal means)
Bio
mas
s (g
)0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
a
b
Arth
ropo
d bi
omas
s (g
)
Corn Switch Prairie
c
a
Bird: Food Sources
Robertson et al. In prep.
Prairie Switchgrass Corn
Best model for breeding bird diversity
Log Patch Size (ha)
Spe
cies
rich
ness
Bird: Species-Area Relationship
Robertson et al. 2011. Global Change Biology Bioenergy
Do rela(onships between birds and bioenergy crops at the field scale hold at landscape and region scales?
Data • 2008 NA Breeding Bird Survey • 2008 Cropland Data Layer Results • Landscape-‐scaled bird diversity is nega0vely related to annual and posi0vely related to perennial landcover
Modeled (color map) and actual (points) bird diversity
Number of species
Bird: Landscape Results
Meehan, T.D., A.H. Hurlbert and C. Gratton. 2010. PNAS. 107:18533-18538.
How will breeding bird diversity change if marginal land goes from perennial to annual land cover, or vice versa?
Perennial to annual
Annual to perennial
Bird: Landscape Implications
Meehan, T.D., A.H. Hurlbert and C. Gratton. 2010. PNAS. 107:18533-18538.
• Increase biodiversity and ecosystem services
Win-Win Scenarios?
• Improve marginal lands
Win-Win Scenarios?
! Biodiversity supports critical ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes
! Protect and enhance that biodiversity through informed landscape
management ! Cellulosic biofuels offer a unique opportunity to rethink agriculture to
maximize ecosystem services and enhance sustainability
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Conclusions 36
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37
! Productive ! economically profitable ! favorable energy return ! land-conserving ! mitigating effect on greenhouse gas emissions
! Perennial ! cost less to maintain ! emit fewer greenhouse gases ! less prone to soil erosion and water pollution ! potential to conserve biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services.
! Polycultural ! pest and disease suppression ! nitrogen fixation ! nutrient and carbon conservation ! pollination services to surrounding crops
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Key Biofuel Crop Attributes 38
Insects: Landis, D.A., M.M. Gardiner, W. van der Werf and S.M. Swinton. 2008. Increasing corn for biofuel production reduces
biocontrol services in agricultural landscapes. PNAS. 105: 20552-20557. Landis, D.A. and B.P. Werling. 2010. Arthropods and Biofuel Production Systems in North America. Insect Science. 17:1–17,
DOI 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2009.01310.x Gardiner, M., J. Tuell, R. Isaacs, J. Gibbs, J. Ascher and D.A. Landis. 2010. Implications of three model biofuel crops for
beneficial arthropods in agricultural landscapes. BioEnergy Research. 3:6–19. DOI 10.1007/s12155-009-9065-7 Werling, B.P., T. Meehan, B. Robertson, C. Gratton and D. Landis. 2011. Biocontrol potential varies with changes in biofuel-
crop plant communities and landscape perenniality. Global Change Biology-Bioenergy. In press. Birds: Meehan, T.D., A.H. Hurlbert and C. Gratton. 2010. Bird communities in future bioenergy landscapes of the Upper Midwest.
PNAS. 107:18533-18538. Webster, C.R., D.J. Flaspohler, R.D. Jackson, T.D. Meehan and C. Gratton. 2010. Diversity, productivity and landscape-level
effects in North American grasslands managed for biomass production. Biofuels. 1:451-461. Fletcher Jr., R.J., B.A. Robertson, J. Evans, P.J. Doran, J.R.R. Alavalapati and D.W. Schemske, 2010. Biodiversity
conservation in the era of biofuels: Risks and opportunities. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. DOI:10.1890/090091
Robertson, B.A., P.J. Doran, J.R. Robertson, E.R. Loomis and D.W. Schemske. 2011. Perennial biomass feedstocks enhance avian diversity. Global Change Biology Bioenergy. In press.
Robertson, B.A., Doran, P.J., Loomis, E.R., Robertson J.R., & Schemske, D.W. 2011. Avian use of perennial biomass feedstocks as post-breeding and migratory stopover habitat. PLoS One. In press.
Microbes: Schrotenboer, A. S., Allen, M., and Malmstrom, C.M., (2011). Modification of native grasses for biofuel production may
increase virus susceptibility. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, DOI 10.1111/j.1757-1707.2011.01093.x Levine, U.Y., T.K. Teal, G.P. Robertson and T.M. Schmidt (2011) Agriculture’s impact on microbial diversity and associated
fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane. The ISME Journal. In press. www.glbrc.org
Biodiversity: Publications 39