D3051: Cross-kingdom community responses to wildflower enhancements in an agrivoltaic system

Monday, November 11, 2024

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Joshua Adams Grant

Student/ANR Extension Agent
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Co-Author(s)

Jason M. Schmidt

Associate Professor
University of Georgia
Tifton, Georgia
SP

Svoboda Pennisi

University of Georgia
Griffin, Georgia
CK

Craig Kvien

University of Georgia
Tifton, Georgia
Jordan Macknick

Lead Energy-Water-Land Researcher
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Golden, Colorado

Agrivoltaics, a mixture of agriculture and solar production, can increase the value of land by creating multifunctional landscapes. In addition, it is possible to utilize enhanced biodiversity under solar panels to support local agriculture and ecosystem services, but optimization of approaches is needed. Thus, our study objectives were to assess the success of two wildflower seed mixes and their effect on arthropod as well as soil microflora communities. We estimated wildflower establishment using quadrats, assessed arthropod functional group responses using sweep nets, and microbial communities using DNA metabarcoding. Data collection occurred in sown wildflower plots at a solar park in Georgia, USA. The four plant species with the highest coverage all occurred in the high diversity seed mix (18 spp.) plots: Achillea millefolium, Elephantopus elatus, Eupatorium coelestinum, and Panicum anceps; with E. elatus also occurring in the low diversity (7 spp.) plots. Unfortunately, plots were inevitably mowed to allow solar electricians better access to arrays, which often removed flowers before setting seed. Herbivore and decomposer taxa exhibited significant variation over time, but not in relation to the treatment plots. Natural enemy counts increased over the season, but not in relation to seed treatments. Pollinator counts fluctuated over the season and were highest in plots planted with wildflower seed mixes compared to the frequently mowed industry standard. Soil microflora diversity was similar between plots but significantly different between years. Combined, wildflower integration into agrivoltaics shows benefits especially for promoting pollinators. Future optimization will work to balance human intervention with biodiversity provisioning.