Assessing the Impacts of Pan American Bioenergy Development on Birds and Insect Pollinators

Bioenergy has the potential to help meet worldwide energy demands while reducing dependence on fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. As a result, global energy use from biomass is expected to increase two to six fold by 2050. In the U.S. and Argentina, biomass power plants require dedicated woody crops, and aspen and eucalyptus are possible fuel sources for each country, respectively. Brazil and Mexico are considering meeting increased bioenergy production goals through biodiesel made from palm oil. However, few studies have addressed the ecological impacts of the expansion and harvesting of these feedstocks. The biodiversity subteam of the National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education “Sustainability, Ecosystem Services, and Bioenergy Development across the Americas” grant will examine some of the impacts of the expansion bioenergy feedstocks on birds and insect pollinators in these four countries (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and the US). One of the most challenging questions for conservation is how species move in human-modified landscapes (HMLs) and select habitats, since species unwilling or unable to move through HMLs risk population decline and extinction. Many models attempting to predict the long-term persistence of species in HMLs rely on accurate estimates of the permeability of different landscape elements. The permeability of different agroforestry plantations is still poorly understood, even for well-studied species such as birds and insects. We will use radio-telemetry, point counts and pan traps to study bird and insect pollinator movements and habitat preferences within bioenergy plantations and surrounding lands in all four countries. In each country we will compare species’ richness, abundances, movement behaviors and habitat choice in the relevant possible feedstock plantation type (i.e., aspen, eucalyptus or oil palm) and two most likely alternative land-uses (e.g., cattle pasture and cropland), as well as native forest or grassland as a control. Both birds and insects deliver essential ecosystem services to native vegetation and agricultural crops, including pest control, pollination and seed dispersal. Further, birds and insects are commonly used as bio-indicators and proxies of overall biodiversity. This research is a vital part of the larger team’s effort to determine the socio-ecological impacts of Pan American bioenergy development that will serve as a foundation for sustainability modeling of complex systems.