The lignocellulose in forage crops represents a second generation of biomass feedstock for conversion into energy-related end products. Some of the most extensively studied species for cellulosic feedstock production include forages such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). An advantage of using forages as bioenergy ...

Perennial grain production will likely present unique challenges for managing diseases that affect the productivity and longevity of crops being considered. Typical cultural practices effective at reducing soiland residue-borne pathogens, such as annual crop rotations, delayed fall planting, and tillage, are not feasible in perennial systems. Consequently, soiland residue-borne pathogens, and p...

Abstract Woody species have been introduced in many parts of the world to provide economic benefits, but some those are now among worst invaders, causing widespread and environmental damage. Management woody restore original ecosystem services, such as biodiverse grassland that can fodder sequester carbon, needed limit impacts alien species. However, best management methods, i.e., most economic...

Suggestions that novel, non-food, dedicated biomass crops used to produce bioenergy may provide opportunities to diversify and reinstate biodiversity in intensively managed farmland have not yet been fully tested at the landscape scale. Using two of the largest, currently available landscape-scale biodiversity data sets from arable and biomass bioenergy crops, we take a taxonomic and functional...

Soybean (Glycine max L. Mer.), like many cultivated crops, has a relatively narrow genetic base and lacks diversity for some economically important traits. Glycine latifolia (Benth.) Newell & Hymowitz, one of the 26 perennial wild Glycine species related to soybean in the subgenus Glycine Willd., shows high levels of resistance to multiple soybean pathogens and pests including Alfalfa mosaic vi...

Perennial woody crops have the potential to contribute significantly to the production of bio-fuels while simultaneously helping to provide a wide range of conservation benefits. Among these benefits are increased biological diversity in the landscape, conservation of soil and water resources, maintenance of forest ecosystem productivity and health, contribution to the global carbon cycle, and ...