97th ESA Annual Meeting (August 5 -- 10, 2012)

OOS 22 - The Ecological Intersection of Biofuels and Food Production

Wednesday, August 8, 2012: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
A105, Oregon Convention Center
Organizer:
David Rosenthal
Co-organizer:
Sarah Davis
Moderator:
David Rosenthal
Land use for multiple resources has long been an ecological problem with direct impacts on societal welfare and environmental quality. The expansion of bioenergy feedstocks (i.e. biofuels) has sparked debate about sustainable land use practices, especially for developing countries that have limited resources. Approximately 925 million people are undernourished and almost 90% of these people live in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Asia and the Pacific. The threat of substantial changes in climate raises concerns about our future capacity to sustainably maintain current levels of food security because climate change will impact food security most severely in regions where undernourishment is already problematic. At the same time, biofuel agriculture is expected to expand in both the developing and developed world as a way to mitigate climate change caused by fossil fuel energy use. This may offset some of the risks for food crops in regions with vulnerable climate regimes, but may introduce competition that causes new risks for the economic viability of food crops. While there have been initiatives by many governments, including the US, to develop biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, the regional costs and benefits of bioenergy vary across the globe. Resistance to biotechnology for increasing both food and fuel crop sustainability is one major issue that affects many countries. Improvements in crop productivity can be achieved through sustainable agro-ecological management and/or biotechnological innovations. Also, while bioenergy development has been the source of much concern because of the potential impacts on food security, this conflict does not exist in all regions and causation of this conflict varies regionally. Another problem that varies by region is the potential risk of agricultural expansion of both food and fuel onto sensitive ecosystems that have poorly defined economic values. Therefore, the purpose of this symposium is to address the ecological interface of food security and bioenergy development.
8:00 AM
Ecophysiology of Arundo donax, an invasive energy feedstock
Lloyd L. Nackley, University of Washington; Soo-Hyung Kim, University of Washington
8:20 AM
Developing soybeans as a source of sustainable food and energy
Anne B. Alerding, Virginia Military Institute; Matthew R. Waalkes, Virginia Military Institute
8:40 AM
Trade-offs between biofuel production, agricultural production, and conservation of biodiversity
Kathrine D. Behrman, USDA-ARS; James R. Kiniry, USDA-ARS; Timothy H. Keitt, The University of Texas at Austin; Thomas Juenger, University of Texas at Austin
9:00 AM
Palm oil carbon footprints across scales and the limits of industry self-regulation in response to consumer pressure
Meine van Noordwijk, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Suseno Budidarsono, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Niā€™matul Khasanah, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Sonya Dewi, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF); Fahmuddin Agus, Indonesian Soil Research Institute
9:40 AM
9:50 AM
Use of low productivity land to grow biofuel crops in the U.S
William Parton, Colorado State University; Benjamin D. Duval, University of Illinois; Evan DeLucia, University of Illinois; Sarah Davis, Ohio University; Melannie Hartman, Colorado State University; Steven DelGrosso, USDA/ARS; Madhu Khanna, University of Illinois
10:10 AM
Carbon balance of converting conservation reserve program (CRP) grasslands to agriculture
Ilia Gelfand, Michigan State University; Terenzio Zenone, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606; Poonam Jasrotia, Michigan State University; Jiquan Chen, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606; Stephen K. Hamilton, Michigan State University; G. Philip Robertson, Michigan State University
10:30 AM
Impacts of growing perennial grasses for biofuel in the U.S. corn belt
Evan H. DeLucia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira, University of Illinois; Benjamin D. Duval, University of Illinois; Sarah Davis, Ohio University; Carl J. Bernacchi, University of Illinois; William Parton, Colorado State University
See more of: Organized Oral Session