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Clash of the Titans: Comparing Productivity Via Radiation Use Efficiency for Two Grass Giants of the Biofuel Field

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Abstract

The comparative productivity of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and Miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) is of critical importance to the biofuel industry. The radiation use efficiency (RUE), when derived in an environment with non-limiting soil water and soil nutrients, provides one metric of relative productivity. The objective of this study was to compare giant Miscanthus to available switchgrass cultivars, using established methods to calculate RUE of the two species at two disparate sites. Measurements of fraction intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and dry matter were taken on plots at Elsberry, MO (Miscanthus and the switchgrass cultivars Alamo, Kanlow, and Cave-in-Rock) and at Gustine, TX (Miscanthus and Alamo switchgrass, irrigated with dairy wastewater and a non-irrigated control). In MO, Miscanthus mean RUE (3.71) was less than Alamo switchgrass mean RUE (4.30). In TX under irrigation, Miscanthus mean RUE was 2.24 and Alamo switchgrass mean RUE was 3.20. In MO, the more northern lowland switchgrass cultivar, Kanlow, showed similar mean RUE (3.70) as Miscanthus. In MO, the northern upland cultivar Cave-in-Rock had a mean RUE (3.17) that was only 85% of that for Miscanthus at MO. Stress (water and nutrients) had a greater effect on Miscanthus RUE than on switchgrass RUE in TX. These results provide realistic RUE values for simulating these important biofuel grasses in diverse environmental conditions.

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Abbreviations

PAR:

Photosynthetically active radiation in MJ per m2 ground area

IPAR:

Intercepted photosynthetically active radiation in MJ per m2 ground area

FIPAR:

Fraction of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation

RUE:

Radiation use efficiency in g of dry biomass per MJ intercepted photosynthetically active radiation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grassland, Soil and Water Research Laboratory, USDA-ARS, 808 East Blackland Road, Temple, TX, 76502, USA

    James Robert Kiniry, Mari-Vaughn V. Johnson & R. Daren Harmel

  2. USDA-NRCS Elsberry Plant Materials Center, 2803 N. Highway 79, Elsberry, MO, 63343, USA

    Steve B. Bruckerhoff, Jerry U. Kaiser & R. L. Cordsiemon

Authors
  1. James Robert Kiniry
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  2. Mari-Vaughn V. Johnson
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  3. Steve B. Bruckerhoff
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  4. Jerry U. Kaiser
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  5. R. L. Cordsiemon
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  6. R. Daren Harmel
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Correspondence to James Robert Kiniry.

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Kiniry, J.R., Johnson, MV.V., Bruckerhoff, S.B. et al. Clash of the Titans: Comparing Productivity Via Radiation Use Efficiency for Two Grass Giants of the Biofuel Field. Bioenerg. Res. 5, 41–48 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-011-9116-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-011-9116-8

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