Planting crops for biofuel could improve biodiversity in the British countryside as well as helping soften the impact of human carbon dioxide emissions, according to new research. The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that crops like coppiced willow or miscanthus grass can support more wild species than traditional arable crops, particularly in the uncultivated margins around the edges of fields.
Planting crops for biofuel could improve biodiversity in the British countryside as well as helping soften the impact of human carbon dioxide emissions, according to new research. The paper, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, suggests that crops like coppiced willow or miscanthus grass can support more wild species than traditional arable crops, particularly in the uncultivated margins around the edges of fields.
The study was a collaboration between scientists at Rothamsted Research, the University of East Anglia, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the University of Exeter. It forms part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme.
Haughton A, Bond AJ, Lovett A A, Dockerty T Sünnenberg G, Clark S J, Bohan D A, Sage R B , Mallot M D, Mallott V E, Cunningham M D, Riche A B, Sheild I F, Finch J W, Turner M M, Karp A (2009). A novel, integrated approach to assessing social, economic and environmental implications of changing rural land-use: a case study of perennial biomass crops, Journal of Applied Ecology, Volume 46 Issue 2, Pages 315- 322 .
You can find the abstract here.
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