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ALBUQUERQUE—Cellulosic biofuels extracted from native switchgrass could lend a helping hand to imperiled birds that depend on vanishing prairies in the Midwest.

With palm oil plantations overrunning Indonesian rainforests and corn-based ethanol in the U.S. spurring new deforestation abroad, it may seem like biofuels and biodiversity don't mix. That's why ecologist Bruce Robertson at Michigan State University's W. K. Kellogg Biological Station and his colleagues wanted to know how birds and bugs would fare if the U.S. switches from corn-based ethanol production to cellulosic biofuels based on grasses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pushing these biofuels to help achieve further reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Switchgrass has been singled out for biofuel production because of its low water requirements and high nutrient efficiency, along with the fact that it is native to the U.S.

Robertson and his team went bird-watching in native prairie, switchgrass plantations and cornfields in Michigan. In the latter, bird diversity was limited to horned larks, killdeer and cowbirds. Large plots of switchgrass, on the other hand, supported 19 of the 20 bird species found on native prairie, including the Henslow's sparrow and the bobolink, and were used as a stopover by migratory birds. The team also found more insect species on switchgrass than on corn—although they still fared worse than those in the native prairie.

"Switchgrass production is going to have some measurable biodiversity benefits both for [insect] and grassland bird populations," Robertson said Tuesday at the Ecological Society of America meeting, held here this week. He added that the switchgrass harvest could occur in the fall, after the birds' breeding season, which would reduce its ecological impact.  "As a monoculture," he warns, "it may not be a good place for them to survive and reproduce in the long term."

Max Henschell of Michigan Technological University, who has also studied birds in switchgrass, agrees with the findings. "Switchgrass," he says, "will definitely be better than corn." He suggests that interspersing native broadleaf vegetation in switchgrass monocultures could boost bird numbers even further.

2 Comments

1. 1. hazmaq 06:50 PM 8/5/09

   Another positive idea to help restore bee populations: hummingbird feeders. (I use the recommended Audubon blend of 1/4 pure cane sugar, 3/4 parts water.)
   
   Here in in the mild north part of Arizona I noticed many years ago that huge numbers of honeybees were swarming in unusual places and werecoming to my feeders in the middle of winter -for several years in a row. As they ultimately disappeared altogether a round here a few years later, huge masses of yellow jackets replaced them. Swarming and feeding on my feeder, every bush and tree, every substance they could find they too suddenly disappeared last year.
   A few months ago I saw the first bees on my plants in a long time. Just a few and they were very small compared to their earlier brothers. Now in the drying heat they've come back to the feeders.
   Glad I have it there and hope it helps them return.

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2. 2. jenndonovanmtu 02:15 PM 10/5/09

   A new article published in the October 2009 issue of the journal BioScience further explores the impact on wildlife -- particularly birds -- of growing corn for ethanol on grasslands v. growing native prairie grasses as biofuel feedstock. Authors are from Michigan Technological University, The Nature Conservancy and the University of Minnesota. For more info, see http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2009/october/story19329.html
   
   Jennifer Donovan, Director of Public Relations
   Michigan Technological University

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