Forest soils amended with biochar made from forest residues have potential to modify tree growth, alter greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance long-term soil carbon storage. In our study, various biochar amendments did not affect forest tree growth or greenhouse gas emissions but did increase soil carbon content up to 41%. We conclude that biochar can be safely applied to forest soils for the purpose of sequestering carbon.

High-density linkage map of tetraploid switchgrass. Major QTL for spring green up, flowering, and vegetative growth period identified on each chromosome except 3N, 4N, 4K, and 8K.

Thirteen Miscanthus ×giganteus (M×g) genotypes, including the commercial standard M×g ‘1993-1780’, were evaluated in replicated field trials for three years at Urbana, IL; Dixon Springs, IL; and Jonesboro, AR. We observed substantial variation for overwintering ability and biomass yield among the M×g genotypes tested and identified ones with better overwintering ability and/or higher biomass yield than ‘1993-1780’.

Substantial variation was observed among and within three interconnected F₁ Miscanthus populations for overwintering ability and eight other adaptation traits. Large differences among the three populations for overwintering ability indicated that it should be highly advantageous to select cold-tolerant genotypes as parents.

There are different approaches to quantitatively estimate the climate change effects of bioenergy systems. In the present work, we review fifteen different methods and apply these to three hypothetical bioenergy case studies. Our analysis shows that the choice of method can have an important influence on the quantification of climate change effects of bioenergy. The use of different methods for the same purpose can lead to confusing and contradictory conclusions.