TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of shrub willow buffers strategically integrated in an Illinois corn-soybean field on soil health and microbial community composition
AU - Zumpf, Colleen
AU - Cacho, Jules
AU - Grasse, Nora
AU - Quinn, John
AU - Hampton-Marcell, Jarrad
AU - Armstrong, Abigail
AU - Campbell, Patty
AU - Negri, M. Cristina
AU - Lee, D. K.
N1 - Funding Information:
This original work is modified from “Chapter 3: Soil Health and Ecosystem Services Under Perennial Willow Bioenergy Buffers Integrated in A Corn-Soybean Cropping System” in Colleen Zumpf's dissertation, “Assessment of Perennial Bioenergy Buffers within a Row Crop Production System.” Under the publication agreement with IDEALS through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the dissertation will not be publicly available until 2022. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), under Award No. DE-EE0022598 . Argonne National Laboratory is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the DOE under contract 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 publicity and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government. Special thanks are due to the wide number of collaborators and student interns (especially Jeanelle Grosvenor, Brian Rogers, and Sarah Owens) who made this project possible. Sequence data is available at DOI: 10.17038/EVS/1766076 .
Funding Information:
This original work is modified from “Chapter 3: Soil Health and Ecosystem Services Under Perennial Willow Bioenergy Buffers Integrated in A Corn-Soybean Cropping System” in Colleen Zumpf's dissertation, “Assessment of Perennial Bioenergy Buffers within a Row Crop Production System.” Under the publication agreement with IDEALS through the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the dissertation will not be publicly available until 2022. The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), under Award No. DE-EE0022598. Argonne National Laboratory is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC, for the DOE under contract 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 publicity and display publicly, by or on behalf of the Government. Special thanks are due to the wide number of collaborators and student interns (especially Jeanelle Grosvenor, Brian Rogers, and Sarah Owens) who made this project possible. Sequence data is available at DOI: 10.17038/EVS/1766076.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2021/6/10
Y1 - 2021/6/10
N2 - Soil serves many important ecological functions and is an integral part of our existence as a society. However, concerns for soil health are growing globally, in part due to the negative impacts of agricultural management on soil resources. The production of perennial bioenergy crops on marginal land in row-crop production systems is one solution that could improve land-use efficiency and address the sustainability of cropland management. Because the relationship between crop management and the environment is complex, more research is needed to evaluate the potential benefits perennial bioenergy crop production has on soil health, as well as other ecosystem services. In this study, shrub willow buffers were strategically integrated into a corn-soybean cropping system with the main objective of reducing nitrate-N leaching from grain crop production while producing biomass for bioenergy. Two buffer systems (defined by landscape positions) were included for comparison, one on marginal land with exposure to nitrate-N leaching from upslope grain (southern plots) and one on fertile soils with less nitrate-N leaching potential (northern plots). Evaluation of soil (chemistry, bulk density, microbial community) and shrub willow vegetation properties (fine roots, leaf litter decomposition, and nutrient uptake dynamics), showed that landscape position plays an important role in (1) the dynamics of soil chemical properties, (2) shrub willow's influence and productivity, and (3) the provision of additional ecosystem services such as reductions in nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate-N leaching. In addition, the combination of crop type and landscape position (N-grain, N-willow, S-grain, and S-willow) influenced the species composition of the soil microbial community, resulting in unique and identifiable communities. These results highlight the potential application of shrub willow buffers for ecosystem service provision and support of ecosystem processes; however, understanding the relationship between the microbial community, crop type, and landscape is important for understanding the sustainability of the design.
AB - Soil serves many important ecological functions and is an integral part of our existence as a society. However, concerns for soil health are growing globally, in part due to the negative impacts of agricultural management on soil resources. The production of perennial bioenergy crops on marginal land in row-crop production systems is one solution that could improve land-use efficiency and address the sustainability of cropland management. Because the relationship between crop management and the environment is complex, more research is needed to evaluate the potential benefits perennial bioenergy crop production has on soil health, as well as other ecosystem services. In this study, shrub willow buffers were strategically integrated into a corn-soybean cropping system with the main objective of reducing nitrate-N leaching from grain crop production while producing biomass for bioenergy. Two buffer systems (defined by landscape positions) were included for comparison, one on marginal land with exposure to nitrate-N leaching from upslope grain (southern plots) and one on fertile soils with less nitrate-N leaching potential (northern plots). Evaluation of soil (chemistry, bulk density, microbial community) and shrub willow vegetation properties (fine roots, leaf litter decomposition, and nutrient uptake dynamics), showed that landscape position plays an important role in (1) the dynamics of soil chemical properties, (2) shrub willow's influence and productivity, and (3) the provision of additional ecosystem services such as reductions in nitrous oxide emissions and nitrate-N leaching. In addition, the combination of crop type and landscape position (N-grain, N-willow, S-grain, and S-willow) influenced the species composition of the soil microbial community, resulting in unique and identifiable communities. These results highlight the potential application of shrub willow buffers for ecosystem service provision and support of ecosystem processes; however, understanding the relationship between the microbial community, crop type, and landscape is important for understanding the sustainability of the design.
KW - Bioenergy crops
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Landscape design
KW - Marginal land
KW - Nutrient cycling
KW - Row crop production systems
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101868439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85101868439&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145674
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145674
M3 - Article
C2 - 33663956
AN - SCOPUS:85101868439
VL - 772
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
SN - 0048-9697
M1 - 145674
ER -