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Potential of the beneficial fungus Trichoderma to enhance ecosystem-service provision in the biofuel grass Miscanthus x giganteus in agriculture.

ABSTRACT: The sterile hybrid grass Miscanthus x giganteus (Mxg) can produce more than 30 t dry matter/ha/year. This biomass has a range of uses, including animal bedding and a source of heating fuel. The grass provides a wide range of other ecosystem services (ES), including shelter for crops and livestock, a refuge for beneficial arthropods, reptiles and earthworms and is an ideal cellulosic feedstock for liquid biofuels such as renewable (drop-in) diesel. In this study, the effects of different strains of the beneficial fungus Trichoderma on above- and below-ground biomass of Mxg were evaluated in glasshouse and field experiments, the latter on a commercial dairy farm over two years. Other ES benefits of Trichoderma measured in this study included enhanced leaf chlorophyll content as well as increased digestibility of the dried material for livestock. This study shows, for the first time for a biofuel feedstock plant, how Trichoderma can enhance productivity of such plants and complements other recent work on the wide-ranging provision of ES by this plant species.

SUBMITTER: Chirino-Valle I

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4846873 | biostudies-other | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Invasive species can positively, neutrally, or negatively affect the provision of ecosystem services. The direction and magnitude of this effect can be a function of the invaders' density and the service(s) of interest. We assessed the density-dependent effect of an invasive marsh grass, Phragmites australis, on three ecosystem services (plant diversity and community structure, shoreline stabilization, and carbon storage) in two oligohaline marshes within the North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NCNERR), USA. Plant species richness was equivalent among low, medium and high Phragmites density plots, and overall plant community composition did not vary significantly by Phragmites density. Shoreline change was most negative (landward retreat) where Phragmites density was highest (-0.40 ± 0.19 m yr-1 vs. -0.31 ± 0.10 for low density Phragmites) in the high energy marsh of Kitty Hawk Woods Reserve and most positive (soundward advance) where Phragmites density was highest (0.19 ± 0.05 m yr-1 vs. 0.12 ± 0.07 for low density Phragmites) in the lower energy marsh of Currituck Banks Reserve, although there was no significant effect of Phragmites density on shoreline change. In Currituck Banks, mean soil carbon content was approximately equivalent in cores extracted from low and high Phragmites density plots (23.23 ± 2.0 kg C m-3 vs. 22.81 ± 3.8). In Kitty Hawk Woods, mean soil carbon content was greater in low Phragmites density plots (36.63 ± 10.22 kg C m-3) than those with medium (13.99 ± 1.23 kg C m-3) or high density (21.61 ± 4.53 kg C m-3), but differences were not significant. These findings suggest an overall neutral density-dependent effect of Phragmites on three ecosystem services within two oligohaline marshes in different environmental settings within a protected reserve system. Moreover, the conceptual framework of this study can broadly inform an ecosystem services-based approach to invasive species management.

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Potential of the beneficial fungus Trichoderma to enhance ecosystem-service provision in the biofuel grass Miscanthus x giganteus in agriculture.

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