Research Challenges
Identify biophysical constraints and limitations for ecological intensification; achieve carbon neutrality, and soil and water conservation.
Study the water, carbon and nutrient footprints of diverse grain-based and cellulosic biofuel production systems, and model the responses at field, landscape and regional scale.
Evaluate potential supply of bioenergy crop production systems and associated ecosystem services.
Bioeconomic modeling of land use change, trade-off analysis of associated changes in ecosystem services, econometric forecasts of market responses, and choice modeling of land owner intentions.
Identify attributes of high-performance cellulosic cropping systems and agronomic practices that are most valuable and likely to win farmer acceptance.
Test a range of model crops and management intensities likely to be involved in cellulosic and grain-based biofuel cropping systems.
Study effects of increased biofuel production on biodiversity and impacts on ecosystem services.
Identify changes in plant, insect, and bird diversity by focusing on a specific species population in various cropping systems.
Estimate environmental responses of growing biofuels at large scale from landscape to regional.
Use biophysical models and life cycle analysis to simulate and predict responses to biofuel cultivation at various scales. Identify possible alternative scenarios to optimize biophysical responses and environmental benefits.
Identify key microbial species and assess favorable growth conditions.
Use new genomic approaches to better understand plant-microbe interactions, and manipulation of microbial communities to optimize ecosystem services.
HIGHLIGHTS
Sustainable Biofuel Landscapes. GLBRC sustainability researchers found that growing more corn to produce ethanol—which results in less diverse landscapes—reduces the ability of beneficial insects to control pests. As land is converted to corn, the population of lady beetles declines, resulting in a population growth of soybean aphids, the most significant soybean pest. The calculated loss for this effect is about $58 million per year in the four states studied (Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin). Research is under way to collect data and apply these techniques to cellulosic feedstocks
