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- Title
Soil Responses to Bioenergy Crop Production in the North Carolina Piedmont.
- Authors
Zan Wang; Heitman, Joshua L.; Smyth, T. Jot; Crozier, Carl R.; Franzluebbers, Alan; Sage Lee; Gehl, Ronald J.
- Abstract
Bioenergy crops are potential alternatives to traditional rowcrop and pasture/hay systems. A trial comparing effects of bioenergy to traditional production on soil properties was established in 2012 under no-till in the North Carolina Piedmont. Five cropping systems included: giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), biomass sorghum (Sorghum bicolor spp.), tall fescue [Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.], and corn (Zea mays L.)/ wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)/soybean (Glycine max L.) rotation. Soil samples were collected before and 3 yr after trial establishment. Sorghum produced average yield of 21.5 Mg ha-1 in 2012 to 2015. Miscanthus and switchgrass reached yield plateaus of 21 and 15 Mg ha-1, respectively, and removed significantly less N, P, and K than other crops, due to their rhizome systems and lower fertilizer requirements. They did not, however, demonstrate advantages over annual crops in soil physical properties. Soils under miscanthus and switchgrass had the least macropores and lowest saturated hydraulic conductivity. Summed to 30-cm soil depth, miscanthus maintained similar soil organic C as with tall fescue (58.6 vs. 55.0 Mg C ha-1), whereas soil organic C under sorghum and switchgrass were lowest (average of 49.5 Mg ha-1). Microbial biomass soil C under miscanthus (0-12-cm depth) was significantly greater than under annual crops. Negative effects of switchgrass on soil physical properties and organic C and N might have been due to tillage required for establishment. Typical bioenergy crops do not appear to have major negative or positive effects on soil properties in the North Carolina Piedmont.
- Subjects
AGRICULTURAL productivity; BIOMASS energy
- Publication
Agronomy Journal, 2017, Vol 109, Issue 4, p1368
- ISSN
0002-1962
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2134/agronj2017.02.0068