Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Juliana Vasco-Correa, Ana Zuleta-Correa, Javier Gomez-Leon, Jaime Andres Perez-Taborda
Summary: Perennial grasses have the potential to be valuable biomass sources for biorefineries, but their high resistance to degradation requires pretreatment. Microbial pretreatment, using microorganisms or their enzymes, can enhance the digestibility of perennial grasses and improve their potential for biorefining. This review explores recent advances and challenges in using microbial pretreatment, such as the use of microbial consortia, unsterilized systems, and cell-free systems based on microbial enzymes, with the aim of obtaining added-value products.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Megan J. Kelly-Slatten, Catherine E. Stewart, Malak M. Tfaily, Julie D. Jastrow, Abigail Sasso, Marie-Anne de Graaff
Summary: Recent studies have shown that switchgrass and big bluestem, two types of perennial bioenergy crops, can accumulate significant amounts of soil carbon due to their extensive root systems. The variability in plant traits, both within and between species, plays a role in this soil carbon accumulation, but the specific mechanisms behind this variability are still unclear. This study evaluated the root traits of different cultivars from switchgrass and big bluestem, and how they affected soil carbon accumulation. The findings suggest that both the root system and chemistry of the plants contribute to soil carbon gains, and species and cultivar selection can improve bioenergy management to lower CO2 emissions.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY BIOENERGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Weiguo Liu, Kui Wang, Hongke Hao, Yan Yan, Han Zhang, Huanling Zhang, Changhui Peng
Summary: In order to implement the Paris Agreement, perennial grasses have become a favorable energy resource. The contribution of perennial grasses-derived bioenergy to carbon neutrality in 2050 was analyzed by estimating biomass availability and yields under different climate change scenarios. The analysis revealed that global biomass yields would be highest under the SSP4-6.0 scenario, and the associated bioenergy could satisfy a significant portion of the global demand. The climate change impacts and mitigation effects were also assessed.
RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Paulo Pagliari, Fernando Shintate Galindo, Jeffrey Strock, Carl Rosen
Summary: Field studies often neglect the correlation between measurements taken on the same subject over time, leading to potential inference errors. Combining fixed, random, and repeated measurement effects in the same statistical model requires a more in-depth understanding of modeling error terms.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Colleen R. Zumpf, Jules F. Cacho, Nora F. Grasse, Callie Walsh, Daniel J. Lee, Dokyoung Lee, M. Cristina Negri
Summary: The production of dedicated energy crops is crucial for the development of sustainable bioeconomy. However, their impact on water resources needs to be considered. This study used satellite imagery and weather data to estimate evapotranspiration of different crop treatments and found that differences in evapotranspiration are influenced by location and interannual variations.
BIOMASS & BIOENERGY
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Ammar Shihan, Philippe Barre, Venera Copani, Rajae Kallida, Liv Ostrem, Giorgio Testa, Mark R. Norton, Jean-Paul Sampoux, Florence Volaire
Summary: Summer dormancy is a survival strategy for grasses adapted to hot and dry summers, and its induction is influenced by temperature. The expression of summer dormancy may expand in regions with increasing summer aridity under future climate warming scenarios.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Claudia Arias, Gladys Lino, Elena Sanchez, Salvador Nogues, Xavier Serrat
Summary: The impact of drought on the morpho-physiological parameters of different perennial rhizomatous grasses was studied. It was found that under rainfed conditions, Arundo donax was the best suited bioenergy crop for Mediterranean environments.
Article
Microbiology
Gui-Hua Lu, Kezhi Zheng, Rui Cao, Aliya Fazal, Zhiye Na, Yuanyuan Wang, Yonghua Yang, Bo Sun, Hongjun Yang, Zhong-Yuan Na, Xiangxiang Zhao
Summary: The fungal microbiota in rhizosphere soil and root samples showed significant differences between annual and perennial sweet sorghum cultivars. The beta diversity in rhizosphere soil of perennial sweet sorghum N778 was distinct from the control lines TP213 and TP60, while the beta diversity in root samples of N778 was distinct from TP213 but not TP60. The study also identified OTU4372 as an enriched taxon in the roots of perennial sweet sorghum N778.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Yingjin Song, Legeng Pei, Guanyi Chen, Lan Mu, Beibei Yan, Hongji Li, Teng Zhou
Summary: Perennial energy grasses (PEGs) have been recognized as a significant direction for the development of biomass energy due to their high yield, adaptability, and lack of competition with food crops. However, efficient digestion of PEGs faces challenges related to feedstock properties, such as recalcitrant structures. This review focuses on recent research on anaerobic digestion of PEGs and explores essential aspects for enhancing digestion performance, including grass types and properties, different pretreatments, co-digestion with various co-feedstocks, dosing of additives, and reactor improvements.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tang Cheng, Zahid Hussain, Yong Li, Chen Yao, Mingmin Li, Zhigang Huang
Summary: Stream Channel (SC) erosion leads to soil and nutrient losses, causing eutrophication of downstream waterbodies. This study examines the combined impact of perennial sugarcane plantation and grass cover on SC erosion and nutrient losses. The results show that increasing vegetative cover and grass root densities can effectively reduce SC erosion and associated nutrient losses.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Samuel Prieto-Benitez, Raquel Ruiz-Checa, Ignacio Gonzalez-Fernandez, Susana Elvira, Isabel Rucandio, Rocio Alonso, Victoria Bermejo-Bermejo
Summary: Climate warming and tropospheric ozone (O-3) are threats to plant species in Mediterranean mountains. This study examines the sensitivity of four Mediterranean perennial grasses to O-3 and temperature. Results show that water use efficiency and foliar nutrient composition are greatly affected by climate warming and O-3. Furthermore, these environmental factors can modify the adaptation capacity of Mediterranean grass species to global change. Air pollution should be considered as a driving factor of biodiversity changes in Mediterranean grassland habitats.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Pawan Kumar Maddhesiya, Kripal Singh, Devendra Kumar, Rana Pratap Singh
Summary: This study examined the effect of a consortium of PGPR on the yield and economics of perennial aromatic grasses grown on marginal lands. The results showed that the effect of PGPR consortium varied among different species, with V. zizanioides showing the highest increase in growth and productivity.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Cristina-Maria Iordan, Baptiste Giroux, Jan Sandstad Naess, Xiangping Hu, Otavio Cavalett, Francesco Cherubini
Summary: This study explores the potential and environmental impacts of cultivating perennial grasses on abandoned cropland in Europe through a spatially explicit life cycle assessment. The findings show that under rainfed conditions, there is potential for land-based negative emissions by storing carbon in soils while delivering renewable energy. The consideration of site-specific conditions for agricultural practices can identify the best practices for energy yields and negative emissions while reducing environmental trade-offs.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Dominika Janiszewska, Grzegorz Zurek, Danuta Martyniak, Wojciech Baleczny
Summary: This paper compares the physico-mechanical properties and formaldehyde contents of particleboards made with different grass species. The study finds that particleboards made with biomass from grasses utilizing the C-4 photosynthetic pathway have higher mechanical properties but higher formaldehyde contents. Conversely, particleboards made with biomass from grasses utilizing the C-3 photosynthetic pathway have lower mechanical properties but lower formaldehyde contents.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Danilo Scordia, Sebastiano Andrea Corinzia, Salvatore L. Cosentino, Giorgio Testa
Summary: Dryness leads to soil degradation and land abandonment, but low-iLUC risk biomass crops with drought-resilience traits and high biomass yield can utilize such land. This experiment examined the effect of modulating soil water availability on the biomass dry matter yield, water use efficiency, and water footprint of six warm-season perennial grasses in the semi-arid Mediterranean region.
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
(2022)
Review
Agronomy
Marcin Kozak, Hans-Peter Piepho
EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE
(2019)
Article
Agronomy
Rene Beuschel, Hans-Peter Piepho, Rainer Georg Joergensen, Christine Wachendorf
AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS
(2020)
Article
Statistics & Probability
Waqas Ahmed Malik, Carles Marco-Llorca, Kenneth Berendzen, Hans-Peter Piepho
COMMUNICATIONS IN STATISTICS-THEORY AND METHODS
(2020)
Article
Microbiology
Kezia Goldmann, Runa S. Boeddinghaus, Sandra Klemmer, Kathleen M. Regan, Anna Heintz-Buschart, Markus Fischer, Daniel Prati, Hans-Peter Piepho, Doreen Berner, Sven Marhan, Ellen Kandeler, Francois Buscot, Tesfaye Wubet
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
H. Iffland, R. Wellmann, S. Preuss, J. Tetens, W. Bessei, H. -P. Piepho, J. Bennewitz
Article
Agronomy
Alain Morau, Hans-Peter Piepho, Juergen Fritz
BIOLOGICAL AGRICULTURE & HORTICULTURE
(2020)
Article
Agronomy
Tomasz Lenartowicz, Hans-Peter Piepho, Marcin Przystalski
Article
Soil Science
Rene Beuschel, Hans-Peter Piepho, Rainer Georg Joergensen, Christine Wachendorf
APPLIED SOIL ECOLOGY
(2020)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Beate Stumpf, Margitta Kuenne, Lan Ma, Menglu Xu, Feng Yan, Hans-Peter Piepho, Bernd Honermeier
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS
(2020)
Article
Agronomy
S. Opderbeck, B. Kessler, W. Gordillio, H. Schrade, Hans-Peter Piepho, Eva Gallmann
Article
Agronomy
Svenja Opderbeck, Barbara Kassler, William Gordillio, Hansjoerg Schrade, Hans-Peter Piepho, Eva Gallmann
Summary: This study investigated the use of one floor cooling and two heating systems in piglet rearing, finding that while the heating systems did not significantly affect lying behavior, cooling had a clear impact on lying behavior, particularly in the later stages of rearing.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Matthias Wengert, Hans-Peter Piepho, Thomas Astor, Ruediger Grass, Jayan Wijesingha, Michael Wachendorf
Summary: The study utilized UAV imagery to predict crop parameters in agroforestry systems, showing high accuracy in predicting whole crop dry biomass yield and leaf area index. Key variables for prediction included normalized reflectance, vegetation indices, texture, and plant height.
Article
Agronomy
Fruzsina Schmidt, Herwart Boehm, Hans-Peter Piepho, Peer Urbatzka, Michael Wachendorf, Ruediger Grass
Summary: Traditional maize production can have negative side-effects on unprotected soil surfaces, but reducing soil disturbance can enhance system sustainability. However, implementation of such measures may be hindered in organic agriculture due to reduced nitrogen availability and increased weed infestation. A field experiment evaluating the yield potential of organic silage maize cropping systems identified management practices that improved maize yields and soil protection.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Paul Gruner, Anne Witzke, Kerstin Flath, Jakob Eifler, Brigitta Schmiedchen, Malthe Schmidt, Andres Gordillo, Doerthe Siekmann, Franz Joachim Fromme, Silvia Koch, Hans-Peter Piepho, Thomas Miedaner
Summary: This study screened several breeding populations for resistance to stem rust and leaf rust and identified multiple genetic loci associated with resistance.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Fruzsina Schmidt, Herwart Boehm, Ruediger Grass, Michael Wachendorf, Hans-Peter Piepho
Summary: The study aims to evaluate the weed control efficiency of 18 organically managed silage maize cropping systems, and the results suggest that using double cropping and mulching methods can effectively reduce weed groundcover and increase crop yield.