Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Agronomy and Crop Sciences

Selected Works

Ecosystem services

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology

A Regional Comparison Of Water Use Efficiency For Miscanthus, Switchgrass And Maize, Andy Vanloocke, Tracy E. Twine, Marcelo Zeri, Carl J. Bernacchi May 2015

A Regional Comparison Of Water Use Efficiency For Miscanthus, Switchgrass And Maize, Andy Vanloocke, Tracy E. Twine, Marcelo Zeri, Carl J. Bernacchi

Andy VanLoocke

The production of cellulosic feedstocks for renewable fuels will increase over the coming decades. However, it is uncertain which feedstocks will be best suited for bioenergy production. A key factor dictating feedstock selection for a given region is water use efficiency (WUE), the trade-off between evapotranspiration (ET) and carbon uptake or productivity. Using an ecosystem model, two of the top candidate cellulosic feedstocks, Miscanthus × giganteus (miscanthus) and Panicum virgatum(switchgrass) were compared to Zea mays L. (maize), the existing dominant bioenergy feedstock, with 0 and 25% residue removal for the Midwest US. We determined productivity in three ways: harvested yield …


A Regional Comparison Of Water Use Efficiency For Miscanthus, Switchgrass And Maize, Andy Vanloocke, Tracy E. Twine, Marcelo Zeri, Carl J. Bernacchi Sep 2012

A Regional Comparison Of Water Use Efficiency For Miscanthus, Switchgrass And Maize, Andy Vanloocke, Tracy E. Twine, Marcelo Zeri, Carl J. Bernacchi

Andy VanLoocke

The production of cellulosic feedstocks for renewable fuels will increase over the coming decades. However, it is uncertain which feedstocks will be best suited for bioenergy production. A key factor dictating feedstock selection for a given region is water use efficiency (WUE), the trade-off between evapotranspiration (ET) and carbon uptake or productivity. Using an ecosystem model, two of the top candidate cellulosic feedstocks, Miscanthus × giganteus (miscanthus) and Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) were compared to Zea mays L. (maize), the existing dominant bioenergy feedstock, with 0 and 25% residue removal for the Midwest US. We determined productivity in three ways: harvested …