Breeding Underutilized Native Grasses for Biofuel and Ecological Uses on Marginal Lands

The successful adoption of dedicated perennial herbaceous biomass feedstocks for bioenergy production requires that candidate species be highly adapted to marginal land that is unsuitable for profitable and sustainable production of conventional grain, forage, oil, and other crops. For example, prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) has high tolerances for abiotic stresses, such as slow-permeability and/or salt-affected soils, which occupy thousands of hectares in the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains. Our approach to the development of new cultivars of biofuel crops is to first identify native grass and forb species that are well adapted to those positions on the landscape that are marginal for conventional crop production. The current emphasis is on crop land depressions that are classified as temporary or seasonal wetlands and on upland areas that are too dry and infertile for conventional crop production. Germplasm collections have been made from natural populations for prairie cordgrass and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium). Large differences were found among populations. Selected populations are currently being evaluated for within population variation utilizing half-sib families. Superior families will be used to develop the first generation of new cultivars for bioenergy purposes.