Impacts to biodiversity are considered one of the environmental consequences of converting land to biomass energy crop plantations. Scientists from the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University (United States) studied the impacts of biofuel production areas utilizing perennial grasses, on avian biodiversity. Their studies showed that compared to corn, bioenergy crop plantations using perennial grasses (a second-generation biofuel feedstock) provided benefits to grassland bird populations. This benefit can be realized if the bioenergy feedstocks (perennial grasses) "are cultivated in large patches within relatively unforested landscapes.  According to researcher, Bruce Robertson, "Native perennial grasses might provide an opportunity to produce biomass in ways that are compatible with the conservation of biodiversity and important ecosystem services such as pest control." He also said that their work "demonstrates that next-generation biofuel crops have potential to provide a new source of habitat for a threatened group of birds". The full study is published in the journal, Global Change Biology (GBC), Bioenery (URL above).