A full-day symposium entitled Reshaping Landscapes: Bioenergy and Biodiversity
was organized Thursday, April 8 at the annual meeting of the International Association of Landscape Ecology in Athens, Georgia
Session Objective: Bioenergy is a solution receiving considerable attention and government interest, both as a means of increasing energy security and reducing carbon emissions. Concerns have been raised about how this trend will change the landscape and how it can be guided to improve, rather than harm, natural ecosystems. Although this area has been dormant until recently, new research efforts are underway. This symposium brought together landscape ecologists only recently beginning research in this area with those who could remind us of what was learned in the past. This symposium brought together researchers studying bioenergy and its influences on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Research presented in this symposium address how these changes will alter habitat for birds and wildlife, and how changes in land cover will influence water quality and habitat for aquatic species. In addition, quantitative tools needed to manage ecological resources under future bioenergy scenarios, such as spatial optimization, uncertainty analysis, and ecological valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, were described. Presentations are below:
- Speaker 1: Elizabeth Smith and Randy Bruins, US EPA, National Exposure Research Laboratory;
Presented by Dr. Donald Catanzaro
Title: Estimating the effects of land-use change associated with biofuel production on ecosystem services related to biodiversity: EPA's future Midwestern landscapes study. presentation (flash) abstract
- Speaker 2: Lisa A Schulte Moore, Theo Gunther, Richard B Hall, Iowa State University
Title: Agronomic, environmental, and economic performance of alternative biomass cropping systems. project description abstract
- Speaker 3: Les D Murray, Pennsylvania State University Abington; Louis B Best, Iowa State University
Title: Bird use of switchgrass fields harvested for bioenergy in the Midwestern United States presentation (ppsx) presentation (flash) abstract
- Speaker 4: Laurence Eaton, Peter Schweizer, Rebecca Efroymson, Henriette Jager. Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: Assessing watershed benefits of bioenergy crops: Recreational and subsistence value of fishes presentation (ppt) presentation (flash) abstract
- Speaker 5: Peter Schweizer, Henriette Jager, Latha Baskaran, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: Forecasting changes in water quality and aquatic biodiversity in response to future bioenergy landscapes in the Arkansas-White-Red River basin presentation (ppt) presentation (flash) abstract
- Speaker 6: David Stoms, Theresa Nogeire, Frank Davis, and Stephen Kaffka. University of California Santa Barbara
Title: Tradeoffs between biofuel and biodiversity in California: where are the sweet spots? presentation abstract
- Speaker 7: Kristiina Vogt and Daniel Vogt, University of Washington
Title: Sustainable forest energy and ecosystem services by accounting for decomposition. presentation abstract
- Speaker 8: Xiaodong Chen, Andres Vina, Frank Lupi, and Jianguo Liu. Michigan State University
Title: Mitigating impacts of fuel wood collection on wildlife habitat through payments for ecosystem services. presentation abstract
- Speaker 9: Anita T Morzillo, Oregon State University; Ralph J Alig, USDA Forest Service
Title: Impacts of land-use conversion for bioenergy on wildlife habitat. abstract
- Speaker 10: Sam Riffell, Mississippi State University; Darren Miller, Weyerhaeuser, NR Company;
T. Bently Wigly & Jake Verschuyl, National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc.
Title: Biofuel harvests, coarse woody debris, and biodiversity ” what we know and what we need to know. presentation abstract
