174-14 The Potential Influence of Frac Sand Mining on Above and Belowground Ecosystem Productivity.
See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soils & Environmental QualitySee more from this Session: Environmental Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, ISR U Mining, and Alternative Energy Production: Oral Presentations
In an effort to quantify total above and belowground carbon dynamics we conducted land cover analysis across Wisconsin’s 1,031 sandstone polygons with a total area of 60,761 km2. Forest and cultivated lands constitute the largest fraction of Wisconsin’s sandstone geology with respective values of 21,542 and 28,349 km2. The aforementioned forests generate 10.1-21.8 million tons of woody biomass per annum, 2.3 million tons of herbaceous carbon, 11.0-23.8 million tons of foliage, 614,477-1,331,247 tons of roots, and 140,444-303,400 tons of arbuscular mycorrhiza. Put another way productivity generates 72.7-113.6 million m2 of basal area. Turnover of the above generates 4.5-9.8 million and 9,646-20,898 tons of soil carbon and nitrogen. The latter has a fertilizer equivalent market value of $5.0-10.7 million. According to our analysis these sandstone polygons generate 27.8 million tons of crop biomass per year worth an estimated $4.9 billion. Finally, we conducted similar analysis for Minnesota and found that the Minnesota sandstone polygons supporting forests generate 4.1-4.9 million tons of woody biomass and 11.3-17.0 million m2 worth of basal area.
As Wisconsin – and Minnesota – considers the title of “Silica Arabia” bestowed upon it by industry journalists it will be important for regional planning commissions, state political figures, and regulatory agencies to consider the complete suite of costs and benefits associated with frac sand mining, reclamation best practices, forest fragmentation, and watershed dynamics integral to ecological resilience. These considerations will likely include the incorporation of the above estimates in ex ante and ex post decision making trajectories.
See more from this Session: Environmental Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing, ISR U Mining, and Alternative Energy Production: Oral Presentations