This report explores the potential impacts on ecology and biodiversity associated with reallocating land use for biofuel production as well as how economics and farm policies may influence the land available for biofuel harvest. This report also discusses other factors relevant to designing bioenergy systems for optimum social, economic and ecological benefits. This report is one of a...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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This report examines how forest products could be used as biofuel and the availability of these products. To study the sustainability of this bioenergy source, this report reviews some of the forest practices and certification programs which have proven successful in other regions of the world. This report is one of a four-part series based upon scientific manuscripts initially presented at a...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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This report explores how switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a native perennial cellulosic grass, may become the center of biofuel production in some parts of the Great Plains and Midwest. This report will address the sustainability of growing biofuels in the US grassland regions, the environmental and ecological changes that have occurred in these areas already, and how the cultivation of biofuel...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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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...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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In this exercise, students first work in small groups to collect background information on what mosquitofish and bullfrogs consume and then modify a food web based on that knowledge. Students then develop hypotheses of how these two invasive species may affect native amphibian species, snails, and zooplankton. Following, students work individually to analyze experimental mesocosm data to determine...

Publisher: EcoEd Digital Library

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