@article{9b47a7ea99c04d9eb0ec9fe1cacedd63,
title = "Measured and modelled effect of land-use change from temperate grassland to Miscanthus on soil carbon stocks after 12 years",
abstract = "Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important carbon pool susceptible to land-use change (LUC). There are concerns that converting grasslands into the C4 bioenergy crop Miscanthus (to meet demands for renewable energy) could negatively impact SOC, resulting in reductions of greenhouse gas mitigation benefits gained from using Miscanthus as a fuel. This work addresses these concerns by sampling soils (0–30 cm) from a site 12 years (T12) after conversion from marginal agricultural grassland into Miscanthus x giganteus and four other novel Miscanthus hybrids. Soil samples were analysed for changes in below-ground biomass, SOC and Miscanthus contribution to SOC (using a 13C natural abundance approach). Findings are compared to ECOSSE soil carbon model results (run for a LUC from grassland to Miscanthus scenario and continued grassland counterfactual), and wider implications are considered in the context of life cycle assessments based on the heating value of the dry matter (DM) feedstock. The mean T12 SOC stock at the site was 8 (±1 standard error) Mg C/ha lower than baseline time zero stocks (T0), with assessment of the five individual hybrids showing that while all had lower SOC stock than at T0 the difference was only significant for a single hybrid. Over the longer term, new Miscanthus C4 carbon replaces pre-existing C3 carbon, though not at a high enough rate to completely offset losses by the end of year 12. At the end of simulated crop lifetime (15 years), the difference in SOC stocks between the two scenarios was 4 Mg C/ha (5 g CO2-eq/MJ). Including modelled LUC-induced SOC loss, along with carbon costs relating to soil nitrous oxide emissions, doubled the greenhouse gas intensity of Miscanthus to give a total global warming potential of 10 g CO2-eq/MJ (180 kg CO2-eq/Mg DM).",
keywords = "land use change, bioenergy, miscanthus, pasture, soil organic carbon, life cycle assessment, Miscanthus, land-use change",
author = "Holder, {Amanda Jane} and John Clifton-Brown and Rebecca Rowe and Paul Robson and Dafydd Elias and Marta Dondini and Niall McNamara and Iain Donnison and Jon McCalmont",
note = "Funding Information: The trial used was planted with support from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, NF0426). This work was funded through the Institute of Biology, Environment and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) strategic funding for work on (grant numbers BB/CSP1730/1 and BBS/E/W/10963A01B), and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council‐funded MAGLUE project (EPSRC EP/M013200/1). The funding was also received from the European Commission under grant agreement 652615 and implemented under the FACCE SURPLUS ERA‐NET co‐fund project MISCOMAR, with national funding from NCBIR (Poland), BMBF (Germany) and DEFRA (UK). We thank Owen Lord for many hours of soil sample processing, and Daniel Forster, Jason Kam and Laurence Jones for help with soil core sampling and equipment maintenance. Miscanthus Funding Information: The trial used was planted with support from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA, NF0426). This work was funded through the Institute of Biology, Environment and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) strategic funding for work on Miscanthus (grant numbers BB/CSP1730/1 and BBS/E/W/10963A01B), and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council-funded MAGLUE project (EPSRC EP/M013200/1). The funding was also received from the European Commission under grant agreement 652615 and implemented under the FACCE SURPLUS ERA-NET co-fund project MISCOMAR, with national funding from NCBIR (Poland), BMBF (Germany) and DEFRA (UK). We thank Owen Lord for many hours of soil sample processing, and Daniel Forster, Jason Kam and Laurence Jones for help with soil core sampling and equipment maintenance. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 The Authors. GCB Bioenergy Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd",
year = "2019",
month = oct,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/gcbb.12624",
language = "English",
volume = "11",
pages = "1173--1186",
journal = "GCB Bioenergy",
issn = "1757-1693",
publisher = "Wiley",
number = "10",
}