Hardwood energy crops and wildlife diversity: Investigating potential benefits for breeding birds and small mammals

摘要

Hardwood energy crops have the potential to provide a profit to growers as well as environmental benefits (for water quality, soil stabilization, chemical runoff, and wildlife habitat). Environmental considerations are important for both sustainable development of bioenergy technologies on agricultural lands, and for public support. The Environmental Task of the US DOE's Biofuels feedstock Development Program (BFDP) is working with industry, universities and others to determine how to plant, manage and harvest these crops to maximize environmental advantages and minimize impacts while economically meeting production needs. One research objective is to define and improve wildlife habitat value of these energy crops by exploring how breeding birds and small mammals use them. The authors have found increased diversity of birds in tree plantings compared to row crops. However, fewer bird and small mammal species use the tree plantings than use natural forest. Bird species composition on hardwood crops studied to date is a mixture of openland and forest bird species. Restricted research site availability to date has limited research to small acreage sites of several years of age, or to a few larger acreage but young (1--2 year) plantings. Through industry collaboration, research began this season on bird use of diverse hardwood plantings (different ages, acreages, tree species) in the southeast. Together with results of previous studies, this research will help define practical energy crop guidelines to integrate native wildlife benefits with productive energy crops.