Bioenergy Crops and Breeding Bird Communities in the Upper Midwest

Meehan, T.D., A.H. Hurlbert, C. Gratton

Presented at the GLBRC Sustainability Retreat (2010-02-10 to 2010-02-12 )

A variety of bioenergy crops have been proposed for the Upper Midwest to meet future demands for liquid fuel and bioelectricity. In this study, we explored the effects of annual (corn, soybeans) and perennial (grassland, hay, alfalfa, fallow fields) bioenergy crops on breeding bird communities at a landscape scale using bird abundance data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and land cover data from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. We found that bird community composition varied significantly with the amount of annual and perennial bioenergy crops in the landscape. Specifically, communities in perennial-dominated landscapes had more individuals from species of conservation concern than communities in annual-dominated landscapes. Total species richness and the average conservation concern score across a community was also positively related to the amount of perennial bioenergy crop and negatively related to the amount of annual bioenergy crop in the landscape. We used an information-theoretic model-selection approach to produced model-averaged coefficients that demonstrate how conversion of perennial habitats to annual bioenergy crops will reduce overall bird diversity, while conversion of annual habitats to perennial bioenergy crops will increase overall bird diversity in Upper Midwest landscapes.

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