Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Bioenergy Feedstocks at Low Risk for Invasion in the USA: a “White List” Approach

BioEnergy Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Proposed introductions of non-native bioenergy feedstocks have resulted in disagreements among industry, regulators, and environmental groups over unintended consequences, including invasion. Attempting to ban or “black list” known or high probability invasive species creates roadblocks without offering clear alternatives to industry representatives wishing to choose low invasion risk feedstocks. Therefore, a “white list” approach may offer a proactive policy solution for federal and state agencies seeking to incentivize the cultivation of promising new feedstocks without increasing the probability of non-native plant invasions in natural systems. We assessed 120 potential bioenergy feedstock taxa using weed risk assessment tools and generated a white list of 25 non-native taxa and 24 native taxa of low invasion risk in the continental USA. The list contains feedstocks that can be grown across various geographic regions in the USA and converted to a wide variety of fuel types. Although the white list is not exhaustive and will change over time as new plants are developed for bioenergy, the list and the methods used to create it should be immediately useful for breeders, regulators, and industry representatives as they seek to find common ground in selecting feedstocks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Heaton EA, Dohleman FG, Long SP (2008) Meeting US biofuel goals with less land: the potential of Miscanthus. Glob Chang Biol 14:2000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Raghu S et al (2006) Adding biofuels to the invasive species fire? Science 313:1742

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Cousens R (2008) Risk assessment of potential biofuel species: an application for trait-based models for predicting weediness? Weed Sci 56:873

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. ISAC (2009) Biofuels: cultivating energy, not invasive species, National Invasive Species Council, Available at URL: http://www.invasivespecies.gov/global/ISAC/ISAC_whitepapers.html. Accessed 11 January 2012

  5. Lockwood JL, Cassey P, Blackburn T (2005) The role of propagule pressure in explaining species invasions. Trends Ecol Evol 20:223

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Barney JN, DiTomaso JM (2008) Nonnative species and bioenergy: are we cultivating the next invader? Bioscience 58:64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Buddenhagen CE, Chimera C, Clifford P (2009) Assessing biofuel crop invasiveness: a case study. PLoS One 4:e5261

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Gordon DR, Tancig KJ, Onderdonk DA, Gantz CA (2011) Assessing the invasive potential of biofuel species proposed for Florida and the United States using the Australian Weed Risk Assessment. Biomass Bioenergy 35:74

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gordon DR, Flory SL, Cooper AL, Morris SK (2012) Assessing the invasion risk of eucalyptus in the United States using the Australian weed risk assessment. Int J For Res 2012:1

    Google Scholar 

  10. Glaser A, Glick P (2012) Growing risk: addressing the invasive potential of bioenergy feedstocks. National Wildlife Federation, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  11. GISP (2007) Assessing the risk of invasive alien species promoted for biofuels. Global Invasive Species Programme white paper. Available at http://www.gisp.org/whatsnew/docs/biofuels.pdf. Accessed 20 June 2012

  12. Simberloff D (2008) Invasion biologists and the biofuels boom: cassandras or colleagues? Weed Sci 56:867

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Foster JM (2012) Invasive grasses as biofuel? scientists protest. The New York Times Green Blog Available online at http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/invasive-grasses-as-biofuel-scientists-protest/. Accessed 21 May 2013

  14. Mack RN et al (2000) Biotic invasions: causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecol Appl 10:689

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gordon DR, Thomas KP (1997) In: Simberloff D, Schmitz DC, Brown TC (eds) Strangers in paradise: impact and management of nonindigenous species in Florida. Island Press, Washington, pp 21–37

    Google Scholar 

  16. Hulme PE et al (2008) Grasping at the routes of biological invasions: a framework for integrating pathways into policy. J Appl Ecol 45:403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Hulme PE (2011) Addressing the threat to biodiversity from botanic gardens. Trends Ecol Evol 26:168

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Reichard SH (1997) Prevention of invasive plant introductions on national and local levels. In: Luken J, Thieret J (eds) Assessment and management of plant invasions. Springer, New York, pp 215–222

  19. Reichard SH, White P (2001) Horticulture as a pathway of invasive plant introductions in the United States. Bioscience 51:103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Pimentel D, Zuniga R, Morrison D (2005) Update on the environmental and economic costs associated with alien-invasive species in the United States. Ecol Econ 52:273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Wilcove DS, Rothstein D, Dubow J, Phillips A, Losos E (1998) Quantifying threats to imperiled species in the United States. Bioscience 48:607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Federal Register (2013) Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Additional Qualifying Renewable Fuel Pathways Under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program; Final Rule Approving Renewable Fuel Pathways for Giant Reed (Arundo donax) and Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum). July 11, 2013. 78, 41703

  23. Lewis KC, Porter RD (2014) Global approaches to addressing biofuel-related invasive species risks and incorporation into U.S. laws and policies. Ecol Monogr 84:171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Endres AB, McCubbins JSN, Quinn LD (2012) Definitional debates and uncertainty for would-be biofuel producers. Farm Doc Daily Available online: http://www.farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2012/05/definitional_debates_and_uncer.html. Accessed 9 July 2013

  25. Quinn LD et al Resolving regulatory uncertainty: legislative language for potentially invasive bioenergy feedstocks. GCB Bioenergy, (In Press)

  26. IUCN (2009) Guidelines on biofuels and invasive species. IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), Gland, p 20

    Google Scholar 

  27. McCubbins JSN, Endres AB, Quinn L, Barney JN (2013) Frayed seams in the “patchwork quilt” of American federalism: an empirical analysis of invasive plant species regulation. Environ Law 43:35

    Google Scholar 

  28. Quinn LD, Barney JN, McCubbins JSN, Endres AB (2013) Navigating the “noxious” and “invasive” regulatory landscape: suggestion for improved regulation. Bioscience 63:124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Low T, Booth C (2008) The weedy truth about biofuels. The Invasive Species Council, Melbourne

    Google Scholar 

  30. DiTomaso JM, Barney JN, Fox AM (2007) Biofuel feedstocks: the risk of future invasions. CAST Commentary QTA 2007-1. The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST), Ames

    Google Scholar 

  31. Sanford SD et al (2009) Feedstock and biodiesel characteristics report. Renewable Energy Group, Inc., http://www.regfuel.com

  32. Halford NG, Karp A (2010) Energy crops. Royal Society of Chemistry, London

    Book  Google Scholar 

  33. DiTomaso JM et al (2010) Biofuel vs bioinvasion: seeding policy priorities. Environ Sci Technol 44:6906

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Quinn LD, Allen DJ, Stewart JR (2010) Invasiveness potential of Miscanthus sinensis: implications for bioenergy production in the U.S. GCB Bioenergy 2:310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Smith JE, Hunter CL, Smith CM (2002) Distribution and reproductive characteristics of nonindigenous and invasive marine algae in the Hawaiian Islands. Pac Sci 56:299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Snow AA, Smith VH (2012) Genetically engineered algae for biofuels: a key role for ecologists. Bio Sci 62:765

    Google Scholar 

  37. National Research Council (2012) Sustainable Development of Algal Biofuels in the United States. The National Academies Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  38. PIER (2013) US Forest Service, Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER). Online resource at http://www.hear.org/pier/. Accessed 16 April 2013

  39. IFAS Invasive Plant Working Group (2013) IFAS Assessment of non-native plants in Florida’s natural areas. Available at http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/assessment/, Accessed 1 February 2014

  40. National Weeds Management Facilitator (2013) Australian National Weed Risk Assessment Database. Available at http://www.weeds.org.au/riskassessment.htm. Accessed 1 May 2013

  41. Barney JN, DiTomaso JM (2010) Bioclimatic predictions of habitat suitability for the biofuel switchgrass in North America under current and future climate scenarios. Biomass Bioenergy 34:124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Barney JN, DiTomaso JM (2011) Global climate niche estimates for bioenergy crops and invasive species of agronomic origin: potential problems and opportunities. PLoS One 6:e17222

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Matlaga DP, Schutte BJ, Davis AS (2012) Age-dependent demographic rates of the bioenergy crop Miscanthus × giganteus in Illinois. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 5:238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Matlaga DP, Davis AS (2013) Minimizing invasive potential of Miscanthus × giganteus grown for bioenergy: identifying demographic thresholds for population growth and spread. J Appl Ecol 50:479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Gordon DR, Onderdonk DA, Fox AM, Stocker RK (2008) Consistent accuracy of the Australian Weed Risk Assessment system across varied geographies. Divers Distrib 14:234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Pheloung PC, Williams PA, Halloy SR (1999) A weed risk assessment model for use as a biosecurity tool evaluating plant introductions. J Environ Manag 57:239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Chong KY, Corlett RT, Yeo DCJ, Tan HTW (2011) Towards a global database of weed risk assessments: a test of transferability for the tropics. Biol Invasions 13:1571

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Daehler CC, Denslow JS, Ansari S, Kuo H-C (2004) A risk-assessment system for screening out invasive pest plants from Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. Conserv Biol 8:360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Onderdonk DA, Gordon DR, Fox AM, Stocker RK (2010) Lessons learned from testing the Australian weed risk assessment system: the devil is in the details. Plant Prot Q 25:79

    Google Scholar 

  50. Simberloff D, Souza L, Nuñez MA, Barrios-Garcia MN, Bunn W (2011) The natives are restless, but not often and mostly when disturbed. Ecology 93:598

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. USDA APHIS (2010) Federal Noxious Weed List. Available online: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/weedlist.pdf. Accessed 24 February 2014

  52. Rockwood DL, Rudie AW, Ralph SA, Zhu JY, Winandy JE (2008) Energy product options for Eucalyptus species grown as short rotation woody crops. Int J Mol Sci 9:1361

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Sinche M, Kannan B, Corsato C, Altpeter F (2013) Breeding of Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) for Improved Biomass/Biofuel Yield and Enhanced Biosafety. American Society of America (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) International Annual Meetings: Water, Food, Energy & Innovation for a Sustainable World. Tampa, FL, pp. 88

  54. Kannan B, Valencia E, Altpeter F (2013) Interspecific hybridization between elephantgrass and pearl millet and selection of hybrids with high-biomass production and enhanced biosafety. American Society of America (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) International Annual Meetings: Water, Food, Energy & Innovation for a Sustainable World. Tampa, FL, pp. 165

  55. Barney JN, Smith LL, Tekiela DR (2014) Using weed risk assessments to parse the weeds from the crops. In: Quinn LD, Matlaga DP and Barney JN (eds.) Bioenergy and Biological Invasions: Ecological, Agronomic and Policy Perspectives on Minimising Risk. CABI Oxfordshire, UK

  56. Andersson MS, de Vicente MC (2010) Gene flow between crops and their wild relatives. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  57. Davis AS et al (2010) Screening bioenergy feedstock crops to mitigate invasion risk. Front Ecol Environ 8:533

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Davis MA et al (2011) Don’t judge species on their origins. Nature 474:153

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. USDA NRCS (2013) (National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA)

  60. Carey MP, Sanderson BL, Barnas KA, Olden JD (2012) Native invaders—challenges for science, management, policy, and society. Front Ecol Environ 10:373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Simberloff D (2011) Native invaders. In: Simberloff D, Rejmanek M (eds) Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions. University of California Press, Los Angeles, CA

  62. Rejmanek M, Richardson DM (1996) What attributes make some plant species more invasive? Ecology 77:1655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. McGregor K, Watt M, Hulme P, Duncan R (2012) How robust is the Australian Weed Risk Assessment protocol? A test using pine invasions in the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Biol Invasions 14:987

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Dougherty RF (2013) Ecology and niche characterization of the invasive ornamental grass Miscanthus sinensis. Master’s Thesis. Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, & Weed Science. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

  65. Anderson NO, Gomez N, Galatowitsch SM (2006) A non-invasive crop ideotype to reduce invasive potential. Euphytica 148:185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. USDA Farm Service Agency (2011) Proposed BCAP giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus) establishment and production in Arkansas, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania: environmental assessment. USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program pp 321

  67. RSB (2013) RSB principles & criteria for sustainable biofuel production. Round table on sustainable biomaterials. RSB reference code: [RSB-STD-01-001 (Version 2.0)] Geneva, Switzerland

  68. Barney JN (2012) Best management practices for bioenergy crops: reducing the invasion risk. Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication PPWS-8P

  69. Federal Register (1999) Executive Order 13112 of February 3, 1999: Invasive Species. Available at: http://www.invasivespecies.gov/home_documents/EO%2013112.pdf

  70. USDA APHIS (2012) Weed risk assessment for Arundo donax L. (Poaceae)—Giant reed. (Plant Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Laboratory. Plant Protection and Quarantine program of USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Available at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/weeds/downloads/wra/Arundo_donax_WRA.pdf Accessed 26 June 2014, Raleigh, NC

  71. Goolsby JA, Moran P (2009) Host range of Tetramesa romana Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), a potential biological control agent of giant reed, Arundo donax L in North America. Biol Control 49:160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Dvorak W (2012) Water use in plantations of Eucalypts and pines: a discussion paper from a tree breeding perspective. Int For Rev 14:110

    Google Scholar 

  73. Richardson DM (1998) Forestry trees as invasive aliens. Conserv Biol 12:18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Crosti R, Cascone C, Cipollaro S (2010) Use of a weed risk assessment for the Mediterranean region of Central Italy to prevent loss of functionality and biodiversity in agro-ecosystems. Biol Invasions 12:1607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Dawson W, Burslem D, Hulme PE (2009) The suitability of weed risk assessment as a conservation tool to identify invasive plant threats in East African rainforests. Biol Conserv 142:1018

    Article  Google Scholar 

  76. Gordon DR, Onderdonk DA, Fox AM, Stocker RK, Gantz C (2008) Predicting invasive plants in Florida using the Australian Weed Risk Assessment. Invasive Plant Sci Manag 1:178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. HPWRA (2014) Hawaii Pacific Weed Risk Assessment database. Online resource at https://sites.google.com/site/weedriskassessment/assessments. Accessed 24 February 2014

  78. Kato H, Hata K, Yamamoto H, Yoshioka T (2006) Effectiveness of the weed risk assessment system for the Bonin Islands. In: Koike F, Clout MN, Kawamichi M, et al. (eds.) Assessment and Control of Biological Invasion Risk. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp. 65–72.

  79. Krivanek M, Pysek P (2006) Predicting invasions by woody species in a temperate zone: a test of three risk assessment schemes in the Czech Republic (Central Europe). Divers Distrib 12:319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  80. Randall R, Lonsdale WM, Cooke D (2013) Australian dataset, Pacific Island ecosystems at risk. Available at: http://www.hear.org/Pier/wra.htm Accessed 19 August 2013

Download references

Acknowledgments

This concept was developed during a December 2012 meeting on legislative and policy tools to address the risks posed by potentially invasive bioenergy feedstocks. We thank the host organizations (National Wildlife Federation and University of Illinois) and the participants for their perspectives and insights. Aimee Cooper assisted with completion of risk assessments. Comments from B. Endres and J. Sibbing improved the manuscript. We also acknowledge funding support from the Energy Biosciences Institute, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, the University of Florida Dean for Research and Dean for Extension, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lauren D. Quinn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Quinn, L.D., Gordon, D.R., Glaser, A. et al. Bioenergy Feedstocks at Low Risk for Invasion in the USA: a “White List” Approach. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 471–481 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9503-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9503-z

Keywords

Navigation