Short-rotation Woody Crop Biomass Production for Bioenergy

2013 ◽  
pp. 205-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.C. Kiser ◽  
T.R. Fox
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Iulian Constantin Dănilă

Short rotation forestry (SRF) provides an important supply of biomass for investors in this area. In the NE (North-East) part of Romania at the present time are installed over 800 Ha of this kind of crops. The SRF enjoys the support through environmental policies, in relation to climate change and the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. A precise estimate of biomass production is necessary for the sustainable planning of forest resources and for the exchange of energy in ecosystems. The use of the terrestrial laser scanner (TLS) in estimating the production of above ground wood biomass (AGWB) of short rotation forestry (SRF) brings an important technological leap among indirect (non-destructive) methods. TLS technology is justified when destructive methods become difficult to implement, and allometric equations do not provide accurate information. The main purpose of the research is to estimate the biomass productivity on tree parts in short rotation forestry with TLS technology. Measuring the hybrid poplars crops by TLS may have the following consequences: (1) Higher accuracy of the estimate of biomass production in the SRF; (2) cost and time effective measurements over the biomass of tree parts; (3) new and validated allometric equations for SRF in NE Romania; (4) solid instrument for industry to estimate biomass. TLS technology gives accurate estimates for DBH, tree height and location, as much as the volume on segments, commercial volume or crown volume can be determined. The accuracy of these values depends on the original scan data and their co-registration. The research will contribute to the development of knowledge in the field of hybrid crops.


2021 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 103151
Author(s):  
Shelby C. McClelland ◽  
Keith Paustian ◽  
Stephen Williams ◽  
Meagan E. Schipanski

1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 727-729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Horst Weisgerber

Investigations so far on the suitability of poplars for biomass production in short rotation periods in Germany were conducted almost exclusively with clones conceived for conventional cultivation. To introduce improved plant material, a special breeding program was implemented in Hann. Münden. It takes into consideration the most important criteria of suitability for the new form of land utilization. A report is given on findings so far from the realization of this program. Comprehensive basic plant material is available for European, North American and East Asian species from the sections Aigeiros, Leuce and Tacamahaca. Interspecific crossings are being carried out mainly in order to make the best possible use of combination and heterosis effects. A period of at least 20 years is necessary to develop new cultivars with high yield performance and yield stability. First results are presented on hybrids of species which are site-tolerant, resistant and particularly fast-growing at the juvenile phase. Plans to produce multiclonal varieties, each with 5 to 10 suitable clones with the same growing rhythm are in place. Special cultivation recommendations advocate clonal mixtures for each of the most important site units and for different rotation periods of from 2 to 5, 6 to 10 and more than 10 years. Key words: poplar, breeding, biomass, short rotation


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Szczukowski ◽  
Józef Tworkowski ◽  
Mariusz J. Stolarski ◽  
Michał Krzyżaniak

Abstract Field experiments with willow (Salix L.) coppice cultivation and Eko-Salix systems have been conducted at the University of Warmia and Mazury since 1992. In that wider context, the aim of the work described here was to compare energy inputs involved in setting up a plantation and producing biomass, and to assess the efficiency of willow-chips production under the coppice and Eko-Salix systems. The energy gain determined in the experiments was several to more than twenty times as great as the inputs needed to operate the plantation and to harvest willow biomass, this leaving both systems of willow cultivation under study attractive where setting up short-rotation coppices is concerned.


2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie P Lounsbury ◽  
Nicholas D Warren ◽  
Seamus D Wolfe ◽  
Richard G Smith

AbstractHigh-residue cover crops can facilitate organic no-till vegetable production when cover crop biomass production is sufficient to suppress weeds (>8000 kg ha−1), and cash crop growth is not limited by soil temperature, nutrient availability, or cover crop regrowth. In cool climates, however, both cover crop biomass production and soil temperature can be limiting for organic no-till. In addition, successful termination of cover crops can be a challenge, particularly when cover crops are grown as mixtures. We tested whether reusable plastic tarps, an increasingly popular tool for small-scale vegetable farmers, could be used to augment organic no-till cover crop termination and weed suppression. We no-till transplanted cabbage into a winter rye (Secale cereale L.)-hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth) cover crop mulch that was terminated with either a roller-crimper alone or a roller-crimper plus black or clear tarps. Tarps were applied for durations of 2, 4 and 5 weeks. Across tarp durations, black tarps increased the mean cabbage head weight by 58% compared with the no tarp treatment. This was likely due to a combination of improved weed suppression and nutrient availability. Although soil nutrients and biological activity were not directly measured, remaining cover crop mulch in the black tarp treatments was reduced by more than 1100 kg ha−1 when tarps were removed compared with clear and no tarp treatments. We interpret this as an indirect measurement of biological activity perhaps accelerated by lower daily soil temperature fluctuations and more constant volumetric water content under black tarps. The edges of both tarp types were held down, rather than buried, but moisture losses from the clear tarps were greater and this may have affected the efficacy of clear tarps. Plastic tarps effectively killed the vetch cover crop, whereas it readily regrew in the crimped but uncovered plots. However, emergence of large and smooth crabgrass (Digitaria spp.) appeared to be enhanced in the clear tarp treatment. Although this experiment was limited to a single site-year in New Hampshire, it shows that use of black tarps can overcome some of the obstacles to implementing cover crop-based no-till vegetable productions in northern climates.


1988 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kopp ◽  
Wayne A. Geyer ◽  
William R. Lovett

Abstract Silver maple shows promise for use in short-rotation intensive culture energy plantings. A seed source study composed of trees from 26 midwest locations was established in south-central Nebraska in 1979 to determine where silver maple seed should be collected for use in the central Great Plains. Trees were evaluated for survival, height growth, and number of dominant stems per tree during their seventh growing season. Sources from eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, eastern Kansas, and northwest Missouri generally exhibited the greatest survival, height growth, and number of dominant stems. Height growth appears to be under stronger genetic control than stem number, suggesting that selection for height should take priority when selecting trees for biomass production. Geographic trends related to survival and height growth, but not stem number, were observed. Environmental or geographic factors that are strong predictors of seed source performance could not be identified. Planting the most locally produced seed is advisable for the central Plains. North. J. Appl. For. 5:180-184, Sept. 1988.


2020 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 488-502
Author(s):  
Scott X. Chang ◽  
Zheng Shi ◽  
Barb R. Thomas

Forest stand age can affect ecosystem carbon (C) cycling and net ecosystem productivity (NEP). In Canada, establishment of short-rotation plantations on previously agricultural lands has been ongoing, but the effect of stand development on soil respiration (Rs) and NEP in such plantations is poorly understood. These types of data are essential for constraining ecosystem models that simulate C dynamics over the rotation of a plantation. We studied Rs (including autotrophic, Ra, and heterotrophic, Rh) and NEP in 2008 and 2009 in a chronosequence of 5-, 8-, 14-, and 16-yr-old (ages in 2009) hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides × Populus × petrowskyana var. Walker) plantations in northern Alberta. The highest Rs and NEP were generally found in the 14-yr-old stand. Seasonal variations in Rs were similar among the plantations, with most of the variation explained by soil temperature at the 10 cm depth in 2008 with far less explained in 2009, a much drier year. In diurnal measurements, hysteresis was found between soil respiration and soil temperature, with the patterns of hysteresis different among stand ages. Soil respiration in the 14-yr-old plantation had the greatest sensitivity to temperature changes. Stand age did not affect the Rh:Rs ratio, whereas the NEP exhibited strong inter-annual variability. We conclude that stand age was a major factor affecting Rs and NEP, and such effects should be considered in empirical models used to simulate ecosystem C dynamics to evaluate potentials for C sequestration and the C source–sink relationship in short-rotation woody crop systems.


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