Abstract:

The number of plant species in a grassland provides a measure of how valuable it is as habitat for insect, bird, and other animals in a community. Plant species differ in how big they are (biomass production), but also in height (structure and habitat for nesting birds), flower and nectar production (resources for pollinators and other insects), flowering time (phenology), and seed production (food resources for birds). Biomass production is one component of measuring the value of different types of plant communities for biofuels; species diversity (the number of species present) is an additional value that we are measuring to determine how prairies, grasslands, and agricultural crops differ in their value as biofuel crops. Landowners can also assess which of these values they want to include in the production of a biofuel crop.The plant biodiversity team studied plant diversity and productivity in a variety of reconstructed prairie and switchgrass sites in southern Michigan to better understand how plant species diversity (number and abundance of different species) relates to the number of insects and birds in these sites and ultimately the 'ecosystem services' that each can provide. We determined the number of plant species present (species richness) in 10 corn, prairie and switchgrass sites in July, August and September 2009-the number of different species found in a defined area is an important component of biodiversity. We also harvested plots in several of these sites to determine the amount of biomass produced (productivity). Finally, we collected soil samples from a subset of the sites to determine how soil nutrients and fertility varied among sites and if this is related to productivity or diversity.

Citation:

Werling BP, Meehan TD, Robertson B, & Tuell JK (2010) "2009 Landownder Report: Plants, birds, and insects in three potential biofuel crops."  (GLBRC White Paper), p 10.