Biofuels and biodiversity: Challenges and opportunities

The use of biofuels can result on a decrease of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when compared to fossil fuels. However, the expansion of biofuels crops has been either based on direct or indirect displacement of natural ecosystems or on the use of degraded or marginal lands. The former results in dir...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Verdade, Luciano M., Piña, Carlos Ignacio, Rosalino, Luís Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/52163
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/52163
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Agricultural Landscapes
Agriculture Intensification
Agriculture Zoning
Bioenergy
Land Use Change (Luc)
Wildlife-Friendly Agricultural Techniques
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:The use of biofuels can result on a decrease of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when compared to fossil fuels. However, the expansion of biofuels crops has been either based on direct or indirect displacement of natural ecosystems or on the use of degraded or marginal lands. The former results in direct habitat loss, whereas the later results in usual agricultural impacts (e.g., soil and biotic contamination and water eutrophication). However, in some circumstances biofuels crops can result on an increase in biodiversity compared to other agricultural crops. Agricultural zoning can mitigate the impacts of land use change (LUC), either direct (dLUC) or indirect (iLUC), whereas the use of wildlife-friendly techniques can mitigate the impacts of agriculture intensification. However, in both cases long-term biodiversity monitoring programs should be established in order to help the decision making process concerning the conflict between the expansion of biofuels crops and the conservation of biodiversity.