Fermilab

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Study Goals

The goal of this study is to understand how greater biodiversity of grassland plants could improve two processes that will be key contributors to the emerging clean energy economy: biomass production for energy and the capture and storage of greenhouse gases by plants and soils (biological carbon sequestration).

We will determine the biomass feedstock yields and carbon sequestration rates in a native perennial bioenergy plots along a gradient of biodiversity, both within and between species diversity. While a number of large, long-term ecological studies have shown benefits of increased species richness on biomass production and soil carbon sequestration, none have investigated whether within-species biodiversity (that is, genetic diversity) can contribute similar improvements.

Collaborators: Argonne Terrestrial Ecology group lead by Julie Jastrow and Michael Miller (project summary by Michael Miller)

Experimental Site: Fermilab

• 13.5 acres site located on Batavia Rd (between Eola Rd and Sauk Blvd) in Batavia IL (Map of field site)
• Site was previously planted in smooth brome (Bromus inermis) and Poa, and maintained with 2-4-D from 1971 to early 1990s
  
• There are 42 plots of 20m X 36m each (~1/6 acre)
  
• Separated by strips of no-mow turf (Poa sp.), vertical can be driven through, horizontal walked through
  
• Additional ~1-1.5 acre "panhandle" (W side) has been planted in the Fermilab prairie matrix to create a new time point in the 30+ year chronosequence of prairie reconstruction. (More on prairie reconstruction at Fermilab)
  
• Site preparation, planting, mowing by Applied Ecological Services
• Hay harvest (cut and baled) in 2009 by Steve Berning at Galusha Farms
  

Large plot experiment

Two treatment levels for fertilization:

1. U: Unfertilized
   
2. F: fertilized at 60 lbs/acre (starting in 2nd year)

Seven treatment levels for biodiversity:

1. KA: Lowland switchgrass
•  Kanlow (Oklahoma)
  
2. CR: Intermediate switchgrass
•  Cave-in-Rock (Southern Illinois)
  
3. SL: Upland switchgrass
• Southlow (Southwest Michigan)
  
4. SG: Switchgrass mix
• 3 switchgrass cultivars
  
5. BB: Warm season grass mix
• Switchgrass mix (3 cultivars)
• 3 Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) cultivars; Southlow, Rountree, and Epic
  
6. CW: Warm and cool season grass mix
• Switchgrass mix (3 cultivars)
• Canada wildrye (Elymus canadensis)
  
7. PR: Prairie Mix
• Switchgrass mix (3 cultivars)
• Big bluestem mix (3 cultivars)
• Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans, warm season)
  
• Canada wildrye
• Legumes: Showy tick trefoil (Desmodium canadense), Round-headed bush clover (Lespedeza capitata), Purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea)
  
• Composites: Tall tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris), Smooth oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides), Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), New England aster (Aster nova-angliae),
  
• Other forbs: Culver's root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
  

Small plot experiment

• Goals
  
• (1) Determine response to productivity to within-species genetic diversity (switchgrass and big bluestem)
  
• (2) Compare this to the response within-functional group (warm-season tallgrass; switchgrass plus big bluestem)
  
• Treatment: 4 diversity levels - 1, 2, 4, 6 cultivars per 2m x 3m plot
• Replication: 4x for each mono-cultivar, 12x diversity level (random cultivar selection)

• Blocking: Complete random block design, geared to maximize statistical control of edge effects:

Switchgrass

1. Kanlow - Cultivar, from central Oklahoma
   
2. Cave-In-Rock - Cultivar, from southern Illinois on the Kentucky border
   
3. Southlow - Ecopool, from southern Michigan
   
4. Blackwell - Cultivar, from single plant near northern border of Oklahoma
   
5. Forestburg - Cultivar, from central South Dakota
   
6. Sunburst - Cultivar, from seeds collected near Yankton, southeastern South Dakota; selected for large seed size, higher seedling survival, and better stand establishment
7. Dacotah - Cultivar, from near Breien North Dakota
   

Big bluestem

1. Southlow - Southern Michigan ecopool; Assembled from 22 native stands across the southern half of the lower peninsula
2. Rountree - Cultivar, from west-central Iowa; Early maturity
   
3. Epic - Cultivar, Missouri Plant Materials Center
   
4. Bonanza - Cultivar, three generations of selection from Pawnee
5. Champ - Cultivar, hybrid of big bluestem from Iowa and southeast Nebraska with sand bluestem from northern Nebraska
6. Pawnee - Cultivar, from southeastern Nebraska
   
7. Suther - Cultivar, from North Carolina