Growing Plants for Fuel: Predicting Effects on Water, Soil, and the Atmosphere

This report looks at both the grain and cellulose-based “bioenergy landscapes” and review what is known about their biogeochemical impacts. This report will also explore the complexity of factors involved in calculating the benefits of particular cropping systems. In evaluating the benefits, the use of mathematics as a method to projecting performance and environmental outcomes is explained as a substitute for experimental studies of ecosystem models.

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Primary or BEN resource type	Report
Secondary resource type	Assignment/activity (non-laboratory)
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Format	pdf
Is Part Of	This report is one of a four-part series based upon scientific manuscripts initially presented at a conference hosted by the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and sponsored by a consortium of other scientific organizations, nongovernmental organizations, federal agencies, and the private sector in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2008. All four reports can be found at the the link below or the following web address: http://www.esa.org/biofuelsreports/
Collection Link	http://esa.org/ecoed/folders/0096/biofuels
Ecological Core Concept	Human impacts -- Agriculture and resource harvesting Landscapes and larger scales
Drought & Water-Ecosystem Services Collection	Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection	Off
Big Data Collection	Off
Editor's Choice	No
Audience	Undergraduate lower division 13-14 Undergraduate upper division 15-16
Pedagogical Use Description	This report can be used introduce students into exercising critical thinking regarding land appropriation and calculating benefits of multiple ecosystem models. Students will also be introduced to the economic and environmental undertakings of cultivating crops for biofuel production.
Keywords	agriculture, biofuel, ecosystem modeling, ethanol, cellulosic material, DAYCENT
Life science discipline (subject)	Ecology Botany & Plant Science Agriculture & Aquaculture Environmental Sciences
Primary Author Controlled Name	G. Philip Robertson Stephen Del Grosso Stephen Hamilton William Parton
Primary Author Affiliation	Michigan State University; Michigan State University; USDA Agricultural Research Service; Colorado State University
Primary Author email	N/A
Submitter Email	educationintern@esa.org
Rights	Ecological Society of America
Review Status	Accepted
Resource Editor	Unknown
Reviewer A	Unknown
Reviewer B	Unknown
Date Of Record Submission	2012-07-06

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