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Managing Conservation Grasslands for Bioenergy and Wildlife a Dissertation SUBMITTED to the FACULTY of UNIVERSITY of MINNESOTA

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Managing Conservation Grasslands for Bioenergy and Wildlife a Dissertation SUBMITTED to the FACULTY of UNIVERSITY of MINNESOTA Managing Conservation Grasslands for Bioenergy and Wildlife A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Jacob Michael Jungers IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Clarence Lehman February, 2014 © Jacob Michael Jungers 2014 Acknowledgements I would not have been able to complete this work without the support of family and friends, and to them I am forever thankful. The most influential person during my graduate education was Clarence Lehman. He has supported me in all aspects of life, going beyond the traditional roles of an intellectual mentor to offering advice and guidance to personal, political, and social challenges I have faced throughout this research. I thank Clarence for training me to be a better thinker, writer, and teacher, and for his dedication and confidence in me and so many other young minds. I am fortunate to have had an engaged and supportive committee. I thank Craig Sheaffer for his influence on my development as a writer and researcher. Craig exposed me to new perspectives on issues in conservation and agriculture, and taught me how to respond when fieldwork, manuscripts, or grant applications did not turn out as planned. I thank Joe Fargione for his lessons on how to interpret data, and for the piece of mind I gained knowing that he would quickly respond to my questions. I also thank Dean Current for serving as a committee member on short notice. His participation as a committee member has encouraged me to broaden my outreach as a researcher. I extend thanks to the staff at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. In particular, I owe Troy Mielke for his guidance through the political challenges of research. I am grateful for the friendship we have developed. I thank Kally Worm for hiring me as an i intern, which fueled my interest in plant ecology. I also thank Pam Barnes, Susan Barrott, Jim Krueger, and LuAnn Marotte for their help throughout this research. This research would not have been possible without the leadership and logistical support of Kevin Johnson and Melissa DonCarlos. Their help and companionship during fieldwork was extraordinary. I also thank Colleen Satyshur, Angela Rasmussen, Bob Dunlap, and Shelby Williams for their help with other components of this project. There were many interns who where essential to the completion of this project, and I thank them all. I am grateful for the logistic support provided by the MNDNR Talcot Lake Wildlife Management Area. Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family. Rudi Roeslein has been an influential figure in my life since starting graduate school. I thank him for passing on his passion for nature to me and all others he interacts with. Jennifer Keville has been essential in all components of my research and beyond. I thank her for technical help with writing, data analysis, fieldwork, and lab work. More importantly, this would not have been possible with out her personal support, encouragement, and understanding. I also thank my parents, Joe and Judy Jungers, as well as my brothers, Jamie and Jon Jungers, for their love and support. ii Abstract Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise while native grassland habitat continues to decline. A potential solution to both of these conservation priorities may exist in bioenergy. Various state and federal agencies maintain tracts of conservation grasslands, usually native perennial plants, for recreation and habitat. If biomass from conservation grasslands can be harvested without harming habitat and wildlife, then sales of grassland biomass to bioenergy producers may be the economic catalyst to expand conservation grassland acreage. This dissertation reports the bioenergy potential of conservation grasslands, how that potential can be improved, and possible effects of biomass harvest on grassland plants, ducks, and pheasants. Chapter one quantifies the bioenergy potential of biomass from conservation grasslands and identifies environmental characteristics that influence that potential. Chapter two reports an agronomically optimum nitrogen fertilization rate to increase bioenergy yields from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and mixed-species grasslands. Chapter three summarizes the effects of biomass harvest on plant diversity and species composition. Chapter four relates plant diversity and composition to duck and pheasant nest density and survival, and measures the effect of biomass harvest on both metrics of reproduction. Some major conclusion include: (1) Estimates of bioenergy potential suggest that 50% of the conservation grassland acreage within an 80 km radius of southwestern Minnesota could produce 75,700,000 liters of ethanol annually. (2) On average, bioenergy yields are predicted to increase by 52% when fertilized with agronomically optimum nitrogen rates ranging from 61 to 87 kg N ha-1. (3) Biomass harvest did not affect plant species richness, species or functional group iii diversity, nor change the relative abundance of the main plant functional groups in conservation grasslands. (4) Pheasant and duck nest success rates were similar in harvested and unharvested regions of conservation grasslands, but nest density was greater in unharvested regions. Overall, a substantial amount of renewable energy can be produced from harvested conservation grassland biomass without detrimental effects on plant communities or nesting pheasants and ducks. iv Contents Page Tables ix Figures xiii Preface 1 Chapter 1. Energy potential of biomass from conservation grasslands in Minnesota, USA 4 1.1 Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------- 5 1.2 Methods --------------------------------------------------------------- 9 1.2.1 Experimental design ------------------------------------------ 9 1.2.2 Field and laboratory methods ------------------------------- 11 1.2.3 Data analysis -------------------------------------------------- 14 1.3 Results ---------------------------------------------------------------- 16 1.3.1 Biomass yield ------------------------------------------------- 17 1.3.2 Biomass quality ----------------------------------------------- 17 1.3.3 Variance components analysis ------------------------------ 18 1.3.4 Bioenergy potential models --------------------------------- 18 1.4 Discussion ------------------------------------------------------------ 20 1.5 Conclusions ---------------------------------------------------------- 28 Chapter 2. The effect of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers on prairie biomass yield, ethanol yield, and nutrient harvest 41 2.1 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------- 42 v 2.2 Methods -------------------------------------------------------------- 45 2.2.1 Site description ----------------------------------------------- 46 2.2.2 Experimental design and field methods ------------------- 46 2.2.3 Statistical analysis -------------------------------------------- 48 2.2.4 Agronomically optimum nitrogen rate -------------------- 48 2.3 Results and discussion ---------------------------------------------- 51 2.3.1 Biomass yield ------------------------------------------------- 51 2.3.2 Theoretical ethanol potential -------------------------------- 53 2.3.3 Land ethanol yield -------------------------------------------- 54 2.3.4 Nutrient harvest ----------------------------------------------- 56 2.3.5 Nutrient use efficiency --------------------------------------- 59 2.4 Conclusions ---------------------------------------------------------- 60 Chapter 3. Short-term harvesting of biomass from conservation grasslands maintains plant diversity 73 3.1 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------- 74 3.2 Methods -------------------------------------------------------------- 76 3.2.1 Site description and experimental design ----------------- 77 3.2.2 Plant community measurements ---------------------------- 78 3.2.3 Statistical analysis -------------------------------------------- 79 3.3 Results ---------------------------------------------------------------- 82 3.3.1 Characterization of plant communities -------------------- 82 3.3.2 Variation in plant community composition by location - 83 vi 3.3.3 Changes in plant community composition through time 85 3.4 Discussion ------------------------------------------------------------ 86 3.4.1 No effect of harvest on functional group cover ---------- 86 3.4.2 No effect of harvest on non-native or weed proportions 89 3.4.3 No effect of harvest on richness, functional group diversity -------------------------------------------------------- 90 3.5 Conclusions ---------------------------------------------------------- 91 Chapter 4. Effects of grassland biomass harvest on nesting pheasants and ducks 102 4.1 Introduction -------------------------------------------------------- 103 4.2 Methods ------------------------------------------------------------ 105 4.2.1 Study site ---------------------------------------------------- 105 4.2.2 Data collection ---------------------------------------------- 106 4.2.3 Nest survival analysis -------------------------------------- 108 4.2.4 Nest density analysis --------------------------------------- 109 4.3 Results -------------------------------------------------------------- 111 4.3.1 Nest survival ------------------------------------------------ 113 4.3.2 Nest density ------------------------------------------------- 113 4.4 Discussion ---------------------------------------------------------- 114 4.5 Conclusion ---------------------------------------------------------
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