Designing landscapes for biomass production and wildlife

Replacing fossil with biomass-based sources of energy may help to reduce climate threats to biodiversity. However, some geographic areas with high potential value for producing biomass are also biodiversity hot spots. Guidance is needed to manage landscapes to successfully co-produce biomass for energy and habitat for wildlife. The land-sharing versus sparing (LSS) paradigm suggests a spectrum of approaches, but there are challenges with applying the paradigm to bioenergy production. Drawing on examples from biomass production systems spanning a latitudinal gradient from the prairies and southeast forests of North America to the savannas of the Cerrados and Amazonian forests of Brazil in South America, we extract recommendations for co-managing for wildlife and biomass production at the landscape scale and at the scale of individual parcels. At the landscape scale, setting-aside larger conservation reserves while zoning for smaller individual parcels in biomass production is recommended where biodiversity is high. Where ecosystems support wide-ranging species with poor gap-crossing abilities, corridors linking reserves are also recommended. At the scale of parcels managed by an individual owner, wildlife habitat quality can be improved by reducing the intensity of production in lands used to grow biomass for energy, i.e., land sharing. For example, retaining key structural elements that offer insect habitat and prey refuge, increasing vegetative diversity, and using natural pest control are three wildlife-friendly practices. In addition, dynamic management can facilitate time-sharing between production of biomass and wildlife. Finally, understanding and mitigating for negative wildlife interactions that cause damage to crops is central to finding solutions that are acceptable to land managers.