TY - JOUR

T1 - Pennycress-corn double-cropping increases ground beetle diversity

AU - Groeneveld, Janna H.

AU - Klein, Alexandra Maria

PY - 2015/6/1

Y1 - 2015/6/1

N2 - Pennycress has been suggested as an alternative feedstock for bioenergy. Especially its cultivation in a double-cropping system with corn seems promising for a sustainable production. In this study we investigated the effect of a pennycress-corn double-cropping system on ground beetle diversity as an aspect of its sustainability. In a randomized block design we used 60 pitfall traps to compare the system's ground beetle diversity to that of three commonly applied corn rotations: mustard-corn, green fallow-corn and bare fallow-corn. Sampling was conducted from March 13th to July 10th and included the corresponding cultivation changes to corn. We found that the pennycress-corn system harbored a higher ground beetle abundance, richness, Shannon index and evenness than the other three systems. Plant cover over winter seemed to be a driving factor. Predatory species, the largest group in both abundance and richness, were only affected early in the year, whereas herbivorous species showed a positive response throughout the sampling period. We conclude that pennycress cultivation in the proposed double-cropping system does not have detrimental, but potentially positive effects on ground beetle diversity.

AB - Pennycress has been suggested as an alternative feedstock for bioenergy. Especially its cultivation in a double-cropping system with corn seems promising for a sustainable production. In this study we investigated the effect of a pennycress-corn double-cropping system on ground beetle diversity as an aspect of its sustainability. In a randomized block design we used 60 pitfall traps to compare the system's ground beetle diversity to that of three commonly applied corn rotations: mustard-corn, green fallow-corn and bare fallow-corn. Sampling was conducted from March 13th to July 10th and included the corresponding cultivation changes to corn. We found that the pennycress-corn system harbored a higher ground beetle abundance, richness, Shannon index and evenness than the other three systems. Plant cover over winter seemed to be a driving factor. Predatory species, the largest group in both abundance and richness, were only affected early in the year, whereas herbivorous species showed a positive response throughout the sampling period. We conclude that pennycress cultivation in the proposed double-cropping system does not have detrimental, but potentially positive effects on ground beetle diversity.

KW - Abundance

KW - Bioenergy

KW - Carabidae

KW - Species richness

KW - Thlaspi arvense

KW - Ecosystems Research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84926199575&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.03.018

DO - 10.1016/j.biombioe.2015.03.018

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84926199575

VL - 77

SP - 16

EP - 25

JO - Biomass and Bioenergy

JF - Biomass and Bioenergy

SN - 0961-9534

ER -