Evaluation of morphological traits, winter survival and biomass potential in wild Japanese Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. populations in northern Japan

Abstract

AbstractMiscanthus ×giganteus has potential as a biomass feedstock for bioenergy production in cold environments. However, its sterility, high cost propagation and relative lack of cold tolerance constrain its cultivation especially during its first winter. Diploid Miscanthus sinensis is a closely related species with substantial genetic diversity, amenable to seed propagation and broadly distributed across a range of environments in eastern Asia including Japan. Forty‐three wild Japanese M. sinensis populations collected across a range of latitudes (from N31°30′ in southern to N44°30′ northern Japan) and altitudes (0–1375 m) were evaluated in Sapporo (N43°; 56 m), Japan to assess morphological traits, winter survival and biomass productivity (BP). Seventy percent of M. sinensis from Hokkaido Island and 67% from other areas of Japan survived over three winter seasons in Sapporo. M. sinensis populations from cooler climates and higher elevations in other areas of Japan showed greater number of tillers, plant height and leaf length whose characteristics were associated with high BP. BP varied among accessions with higher potential productivity in plants from other areas of Japan than from Hokkaido, but annual biomass yield increase is less in the other Japan group. The present study concludes that wild M. sinensis populations from other areas of Japan could be used for domestication as an energy crop in cold environment areas such as Hokkaido. With the observed variability that exists among wild populations, further genetic improvement of M. sinensis for high yield and stability in BP is feasible.