Response of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) to nitrogen fertilization and soil water availability in semi-arid Mediterranean environment.

Abstract The aim of the present work was to evaluate the effect of soil water availability and nitrogen fertilization on yield, water use efficiency and agronomic nitrogen use efficiency of giant reed ( Arundo donax L.) over four-year field experiment. After the year of establishment, three levels for each factor were studied in the following three years: I 0 (irrigation only during the year of establishment), I 1 (50% ETm restitution) and I 2 (100% ETm restitution); N 0 (0 kg N ha −1 ), N 1 (60 kg N ha −1 ) and N 2 (120 kg N ha −1 ). Irrigation and nitrogen effects resulted significant for stem height and leaf area index (LAI) before senescence, while no differences were observed for stem density and LAI at harvest. Aboveground biomass dry matter (DM) yield increased following the year of establishment in all irrigation and N fertilization treatments. It was always the highest in I 2 N 2 (18.3, 28.8 and 28.9 t DM ha −1 at second, third and fourth year growing season, respectively). The lowest values were observed in I 0 N 0 (11.0, 13.4 and 12.9 t DM ha −1 , respectively). Water use efficiency (WUE) was significantly higher in the most stressed irrigation treatment (I 0 ), decreasing in the intermediate (I 1 ) and further in the highest irrigation treatment (I 2 ). N fertilization lead to greater values of WUE in all irrigation treatment. The effect of N fertilization on agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) was significant only at the first and second growing season. Giant reed was able to uptake water at 160–180 cm soil depth when irrigation was applied, while up to 140–160 cm under water stress condition. Giant reed appeared to be particularly suited to semi-arid Mediterranean environments, showing high yields even in absence of agro-input supply.

[1]  Cristiano Tozzini,et al.  Productivity of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) and miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus Greef et Deuter) as energy crops: growth analysis , 2011 .

[2]  W. Parton,et al.  Life-cycle assessment of net greenhouse-gas flux for bioenergy cropping systems. , 2007, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[3]  S. Cosentino,et al.  First results on evaluation of Arundo donax L. clones collected in Southern Italy , 2006 .

[4]  T. J. Butler,et al.  Biomass Yield and Nutrient Removal Rates of Perennial Grasses under Nitrogen Fertilization , 2011, BioEnergy Research.

[5]  L. Sollenberger,et al.  Water Use and Water-Use Efficiency of Three Perennial Bioenergy Grass Crops in Florida , 2012 .

[6]  S. Cosentino,et al.  Plant indicators of available soil water in the perennial herbaceous crop Miscanthus $\times$ giganteus Greef et Deu , 2003 .

[7]  J. Wallace.  Increasing agricultural water use efficiency to meet future food production , 2000 .

[8]  A. Fernando,et al.  Environmental impact assessment of energy crops cultivation in Europe , 2010 .

[9]  David C. Ditsch,et al.  A review of soil erosion potential associated with biomass crops , 1998 .

[10]  John Clifton-Brown,et al.  Water Use Efficiency and Biomass Partitioning of Three Different Miscanthus Genotypes with Limited and Unlimited Water Supply , 2000 .

[11]  Salvatore L. Cosentino,et al.  Bioconversion of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) hemicellulose hydrolysate to ethanol by Scheffersomyces stipitis CBS6054 , 2012 .

[12]  D. Scordia,et al.  Agamic propagation of giant reed ( Arundo donax L.) in semi-arid Mediterranean environment , 2013 .

[13]  Robert E. Perdue,et al.  Arundo donax—Source of musical reeds and industrial cellulose , 1958, Economic Botany.

[14]  J. Doorenbos,et al.  Guidelines for predicting crop water requirements , 1977 .

[15]  Enrico Bonari,et al.  Comparison of Arundo donax L. and Miscanthus x giganteus in a long-term field experiment in Central Italy: Analysis of productive characteristics and energy balance , 2009 .

[16]  S. Cosentino,et al.  Biomass yield and energy balance of three perennial crops for energy use in the semi-arid Mediterranean environment , 2009 .

[17]  G. C. Tucker.  The genera of Arundinoideae (Gramineae) in the southeastern United States , 1990 .

[18]  I. Lewandowski,et al.  Comparing annual and perennial energy cropping systems with different management intensities , 2008 .

[19]  G. Naidoo,et al.  Arundo donax L. (Poaceae) — a C3 Species with Unusually High Photosynthetic Capacity , 1998 .

[20]  Nader Katerji,et al.  Measurement and estimation of actual evapotranspiration in the field under Mediterranean climate: a review , 2000 .

[21]  F. V. Stappen,et al.  Direct and indirect land use changes issues in European sustainability initiatives: State-of-the-art, open issues and future developments , 2011 .

[22]  O. Shortall.  “Marginal land” for energy crops: Exploring definitions and embedded assumptions , 2013 .

[23]  S. Kushwaha,et al.  A comparative study of stand structure and standing crops of two wetland species, Arundo donax and Phragmites karka, and primary production in Arundo donax with observations on the effect of clipping , 1998 .

[24]  T. Jeffries,et al.  Dilute oxalic acid pretreatment for biorefining giant reed (Arundo donax L.) , 2011 .

[25]  Giorgio Ragaglini,et al.  Evapotranspiration, crop coefficient and water use efficiency of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) and miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu.) in a Mediterranean environment. , 2015 .

[26]  A. Monti,et al.  Root distribution and soil moisture retrieval in perennial and annual energy crops in Northern Italy , 2009 .

[27]  Arvin R. Mosier,et al.  Agriculture and the Nitrogen Cycle: Assessing the Impacts of Fertilizer Use on Food Production and the Environment , 2004 .

[28]  F. Giorgi,et al.  Climate change projections for the Mediterranean region , 2008 .

[29]  Thomas W. Jeffries,et al.  Enzymatic hydrolysis, simultaneous saccharification and ethanol fermentation of oxalic acid pretreated giant reed (Arundo donax L.). , 2013 .

[30]  Enrico Bonari,et al.  Biomass yield and energy balance of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) cropped in central Italy as related to different management practices , 2005 .

[31]  Hye-Jin Cho,et al.  Life cycle assessment of tractors , 2000 .

[32]  G. Reinhardt,et al.  Life cycle assessment of selected future energy crops for Europe , 2010 .

[33]  Stephen P. Long,et al.  Seasonal dynamics of nutrient accumulation and partitioning in the perennial C4-grasses Miscanthus × giganteus and Spartina cynosuroides , 1997 .

[34]  N. Roncucci,et al.  Seasonal Dynamics of Aboveground and Belowground Biomass and Nutrient Accumulation and Remobilization in Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.): A Three-Year Study on Marginal Land , 2013, BioEnergy Research.

[35]  A. A. Shatalov,et al.  Arundo donax L. reed: new perspectives for pulping and bleaching. 5. Ozone-based TCF bleaching of organosolv pulps. , 2008, Bioresource technology.

[36]  J. Ranney,et al.  Environmental considerations in energy crop production , 1994 .

[37]  M B Jones,et al.  Comparative responses to water stress in stay-green, rapid- and slow senescing genotypes of the biomass crop, Miscanthus. , 2002, The New phytologist.

[38]  Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy,et al.  Biomass production and nitrogen accumulation and remobilisation by Miscanthus × giganteus as influenced by nitrogen stocks in belowground organs. , 2011 .

[39]  S. Cosentino,et al.  Effects of soil water content and nitrogen supply on the productivity of Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu. in a Mediterranean environment , 2007 .

[40]  T. Dudley,et al.  Ecology and Impacts of the Large-Statured Invasive Grasses Arundo donax and Phragmites australis in North America , 2010, Invasive Plant Science and Management.

[41]  J. Araus,et al.  Plant breeding and drought in C3 cereals: what should we breed for? , 2002, Annals of botany.