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Nonnative Species and Bioenergy: Are We Cultivating the Next Invader?
- Source :
-
BioScience . Jan2008, Vol. 58 Issue 1, p64-70. 7p. 1 Color Photograph, 1 Diagram, 2 Charts. - Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Biofuel feedstocks are being selected, bred, and engineered from nonnative taxa to have few resident pests, to tolerate poor growing conditions, and to produce highly competitive monospecific stands--traits that typify much of our invasive flora. We used a weed risk-assessment protocol, which categorizes the risk of becoming invasive on the basis of biogeography, history, biology, and ecology, to qualify the potential invasiveness of three leading biofuel candidate crops--switchgrass, giant reed, and miscanthus (a sterile hybrid)--under various assumptions. Switchgrass was found to have a high invasive potential in California, unless sterility is introduced; giant reed has a high invasive potential in Florida, where large plantations are proposed; miscanthus poses little threat of escape in the United States. Each biofuel crop shares many characteristics with established invasive weeds with a similar life history. We propose genotype-specific preintroduction screening for a target region, which consists of risk analysis, climate-matching modeling, and ecological studies of fitness responses to various environmental scenarios. This screening procedure will provide reasonable assurance that economically beneficial biofuel crops will pose a minimal risk of damaging native and managed environs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00063568
- Volume :
- 58
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- BioScience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 28754564
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1641/B580111