@article{b79a11c90a2e455ba75436556f4a0b29,
title = "Evapotranspiration of advanced perennial bioenergy grasses produced on marginal land in the U.S. Midwest",
abstract = "The production of dedicated energy crops for biofuel and co-products can help develop a sustainable and viable bioeconomy under a changing climate. The co-production of perennial bioenergy and commodity crops in an agricultural landscape has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide numerous ecosystem services. However, as production of advanced, higher-yielding cultivars occurs, their impact on water resources needs to be considered. Estimates of evapotranspiration (ET) of perennial grasses compared to commodity crops are not always consistent in the literature. In this study, ET was estimated using an energy-balance model with Landsat satellite imagery and ground-based weather data to compare the large-scale production of advanced switchgrass cultivars ({\textquoteleft}Independence{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Liberty{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}Carthage{\textquoteright}), predecessor cultivars ({\textquoteleft}Shawnee{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Sunburst{\textquoteright}), and other perennial grasses (big bluestem and a low-diversity mixture) to corn grown continuously on marginal soils in the U.S. Midwest. Results showed significant differences in ET between corn and perennial grass treatments at four of the five field sites. However, differences between crop treatments were not consistent across sites, nor were the differences between advanced and predecessor switchgrass varieties. Production year played a large role in daily and cumulative ET across all sites. Differences in crop biomass yield between establishment and post-establishment years may contribute to these interannual differences. Site and interannual variations in precipitation and temperature may also be major contributing factors. Overall, the results of this study indicate that differences in ET between perennial bioenergy grasses and corn are likely dependent upon location of production and weather conditions.",
keywords = "Advanced cultivars, Evapotranspiration, Large-scale production, Remote sensing, Switchgrass",
author = "Zumpf, {Colleen R.} and Cacho, {Jules F.} and Grasse, {Nora F.} and Callie Walsh and Lee, {Daniel J.} and Lee, {Do Kyoung} and Negri, {M. Cristina}",
note = "The annual precipitation varied considerably between years. The two Illinois sites received the highest precipitation over the production years (1233 mm year−1 near Brighton, Illinois and 1110 mm year−1 near Urbana, Illinois) and cumulative ET was lower than annual precipitation (Fig. 4). In 2019, precipitation was greater than the average cumulative ET across crop types in Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota. However, in 2020 and 2021 the cumulative ET was higher than annual precipitation for these sites. During the study period, many of the sites received lower than average precipitation. Both Nebraska and South Dakota experienced drought conditions during the study after the establishment year. The observed higher cumulative ET relative to annual precipitation may be due to site conditions and the presence of shallow water tables that can support elevated ET when precipitation is limiting. No direct water table depth measurements were conducted at the field sites during the study period. However, the depth to water table dataset in the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) provides some indication of water table depths based upon redoximorphic features of the soil profiles. The average depth to water for the five sites was estimated to be less than 115 cm from the soil surface over a 12-month period, which is less than the expected rooting depth of the perennial grasses. Characteristics of the field sites and observed growing conditions support these findings. The Illinois-Brighton site contains artificial tile drainage on small sections of the field and several ponds are located on the property. Portions of the Iowa and Nebraska field sites were also located adjacent to a creek or drainage ditch, supporting the presence of a shallower water table. Furthermore, the reduced signs of water stress during periodic droughts also highlights the likely accessibility to groundwater resources.This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office, grant number DE-EE0036504. The authors would like to thank Nictor Namoi, Dr. Cheng-hsien Lin, Dr. Gaven Behnke, and Dr. Emily Heaton at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Dr. Nicholas Boersma, and Jacob Studt at Iowa State University; Dr. Virginia Jin, Dr. Rob Mitchell, Steve Masterson and David Walla at the USDA-ARS; and Dr. Arvid Boe and Al Heuer at South Dakota State University, along with all the other students and staff members from all partner organizations who assisted in data collection, site management, and coordination. A special thanks to Samantha Kelly and George Hotelling who greatly assisted in data preparation and revision edits. This manuscript has been created by UChicago Argonne, LLC, Operator of Argonne National Laboratory (“Argonne”). Argonne, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science laboratory, is operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357. The U.S. Government retains for itself, and others acting on its behalf, a paid-up nonexclusive, irrevocable worldwide license in said article to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government. This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Bioenergy Technologies Office , grant number DE-EE0036504 .",
year = "2023",
month = nov,
doi = "10.1016/j.biombioe.2023.106975",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "178",
journal = "Biomass and Bioenergy",
issn = "0961-9534",
publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",
}