Some aspects of the development of short-rotation coppice willow for biomass in Northern Ireland

SynopsisWork on short-rotation coppice willow as an alternative and renewable energy source began in Northern Ireland in the mid-1970s, prompted by the massive rise in oil prices during that period. Although in the short run oil prices have dropped in real terms, interest in short-rotation coppice willow has ben sustained because of the potential role it has in the development of agriculture, particularly in marginal areas. This is particularly relevant in the current situation of over production of a wide range of agricultural commodities within the European Community and the moves to reduce Government support in the form of farm and export subsidies.Although Salix cultivars have yielded in excess of 30 tonnes dry matter (DM) ha−1 annually under experimental conditions, it is considered that 10–12 tonnes DM ha−1 is a sustainable commercial yield.Melampsora spp. rust has emerged as one of the most important factors limiting the development of short-rotation coppice as a commercial crop. For economic and environmental reasons, the application of fungicide for rust control is not a possibility. Consequently, other disease control strategies have to be established. The main focus of this work is in the selection, for suitability for coppice application, of the widening range of genetic material becoming available from breeding programmes in Canada, Sweden and Finland with a view to their incorporation into mixed stands.End product utilisation is considered a priority area for investigation if short-rotation coppice is to make a contribution to land use and the development of agriculture in marginal areas. Currently two potential end uses are being investigated: firstly fractionation – to produce cellulose for paper manufacture, hemi-cellulose for the production of molasses and lignin for further processing into other industrial chemicals, and secondly the simultaneous generation of heat and power using gasification – ‘combined heat and power’.

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Poplar Short Rotation Coppice Plantations under Mediterranean Conditions: The Case of Spain

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11121352 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 1352

Author(s):

Nerea Oliveira ◽

César Pérez-Cruzado ◽

Isabel Cañellas ◽

Roque Rodríguez-Soalleiro ◽

Hortensia Sixto

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Genetic Material ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Pests And Diseases ◽

Short Rotation ◽

The Status ◽

Economic Analyses ◽

Many Sources ◽

Mediterranean Conditions

Developing a circular bioeconomy based on the sustainable use of biological resources, such as biomass, seems to be the best way of responding to the challenges associated with global change. Among the many sources, short rotation forest crops are an essential instrument for obtaining quality biomass with a predictable periodicity and yield, according to the areas of cultivation. This review aims to provide an overview of available knowledge on short rotation coppice Populus spp. plantations under Mediterranean conditions and specifically in Spain, in order to identify not only the status, but also the future prospects, for this type of biomass production. The analysis of available information was conducted by taking into consideration the following aspects: Genetic plant material; plantation design, including densities, rotation lengths and the number of rotations, and mixtures; management activities, including irrigation, fertilization, and weed control; yield prediction; biomass characterization; and finally, an evaluation of the sustainability of the plantation and ecosystem services provided. Despite advances, there is still much to be done if these plantations are to become a commercial reality in some Mediterranean areas. To achieve this aim, different aspects need to be reconsidered, such as irrigation, bearing in mind that water restrictions represent a real threat; the specific adaptation of genetic material to these conditions, in order to obtain a greater efficiency in resource use, as well as a greater resistance to pests and diseases or tolerance to abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity; rationalizing fertilization; quantifying and valuing the ecosystem services; the advance of more reliable predictive models based on ecophysiology; the specific characterization of biomass for its final use (bioenergy/bioproducts); technological improvements in management and harvesting; and finally, improving the critical aspects detected in environmental, energy, and economic analyses to achieve profitable and sustainable plantations under Mediterranean conditions.

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Short rotation coppice willow in Northern Ireland since 1973: development of the use of mixtures in the control of foliar rust (Melampsora spp.)

Forest Pathology ◽

10.1111/j.1439-0329.1998.tb01179.x ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 241-250 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

A. R. McCracken ◽

W. M. Dawson

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Short Rotation

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Impact of Storage Method on the Chemical and Physical Properties of Poplar Wood from Short-Rotation Coppice Stored for a Period of 9 Months

BioEnergy Research ◽

10.1007/s12155-020-10231-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Björn Günther ◽

Nicole Starke ◽

Armin Meurer ◽

C.-T. Bues ◽

Steffen Fischer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Moisture Content ◽

Wood Density ◽

Storage Period ◽

Wood Moisture Content ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Poplar Wood ◽

Wood Moisture ◽

Wood Processing ◽

Short Rotation ◽

Wide Range

AbstractIn addition to the use as biofuel, the utilization of poplar wood as a raw material from short-rotation coppice (SRC) became increasingly important in recent years. Because poplar SRCs are harvested during dormant season, wood storage is of particular importance to guarantee wood processing industries a continuous wood supply. The study focuses on the change of physical and chemical properties of poplar wood by the application of different storage strategies over a 9-month period. Therefore, a total amount of 60 m3 test log piles were set up in 2018 for six different storage variants: compact piles, compact piles with water sprinkling and oxygen exclusion, each with logs in bark and debarked. The effects on wood moisture content, equilibrium moisture content and wood density (ρ0) and the changes in the chemical components lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose and extracts were determined and evaluated. As expected, the wood moisture content changed in a wide range over the storage period, depending on the variant. The levels of equilibrium moisture (changes from − 4% to − 13.1%) as well as wood density (changes from − 2.61% to − 9.01%) decreased for all variants between start and end of storage. Changes in chemical composition were observed for all storage variants, which indicates microbial activity supporting the assumption that the observed mass loss is driven by wood decay. Overall, changes were more homogeneous for logs in compact piles compared to the other storage methods. Considering the weather conditions during the investigated period, the results indicate that storage in compact piles with debarked logs is the best method for the conservation of poplar wood from SRC.

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The Impact of Poplar Short Rotation Coppice on Topsoil Physical Properties and Related Water Conditions

BioEnergy Research ◽

10.1007/s12155-021-10269-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Virano Riquelme ◽

Gabriela Fontenla-Razzetto ◽

Filipa Tavares Wahren ◽

Karl-Heinz Feger ◽

Bálint Heil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soil Properties ◽

Hydraulic Properties ◽

Water Retention ◽

Sandy Loam ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Water Infiltration ◽

Agricultural Field ◽

Short Rotation ◽

Wide Range ◽

The Impact

AbstractIn Europe, the establishment of short rotation coppice (SRC) systems for biomass production has been expanding in the last decades. Several studies have considered the impacts of SRC on soil properties; many have focused on studying its effect on biochemical properties while only a few have addressed physical and hydraulic properties. This study reports the assessment of soil physical and hydraulic properties on two SRC sites on sandy soils planted with 3-year-old poplar trees and an adjacent conventional agricultural field in Western Slovakia. All sites contain a comparable sandy loam soil texture and both SRC fields differed only in the groundwater accessibility. Water infiltration experiments were conducted in the field with subsequent sampling of the upper topsoil (0–5 cm depth). The samples were further processed in the laboratory to obtain the water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions of the soil covering a wide range of soil pore saturation. These hydraulic functions were fitted by using the bimodal version of Kosugi-Mualem’s hydraulic model to estimate the pore-size distribution (PSD) of the soils. The comparison between the SRC field neighboring the agricultural field and the latter showed similar hydraulic soil properties such as the topsoil water retention. However, macropore content, bulk density (BD) and infiltration capacity differed under SRC particularly in the tree row. Analogously, the two SRC fields showed similar topsoil water contents. Other soil properties differed presenting an increased macropore content and higher BD in the SRC field with distant groundwater connection. Our findings suggest that the SRC management may influence the topsoil properties.

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Mortality of Different Populus Genotypes in Recently Established Mixed Short Rotation Coppice with Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Forests ◽

10.3390/f10050410 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 410 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jessica Rebola-Lichtenberg ◽

Peter Schall ◽

Peter Annighöfer ◽

Christian Ammer ◽

Ludger Leinemann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tree Species ◽

Black Locust ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽

Mortality Rates ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Mixed Stands ◽

Fast Growing ◽

Short Rotation ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia L ◽

Biomass For Energy

Short rotation coppices play an increasing role in providing wooden biomass for energy. Mixing fast-growing tree species in short rotation coppices may result in complementary effects and increased yield. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect on mortality of eight different poplar genotypes (Populus sp.) in mixed short rotation coppices with three different provenances of the N-fixing tree species black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.). Pure and mixed stands were established at two sites of contrasting fertility. Survival of poplar was assessed for each tree two times a year, for a period of three years. In the first two years, high variation in mortality was observed between the genotypes, but no significant differences between pure and mixed stands were identified. However, three years after planting, higher mortality rates were observed in the mixtures across all poplar genotypes in comparison to pure stands. The expected advantage on growth of combining an N-fixing tree with an N-demanding tree species, such as poplar, was overshadowed by the Robinia’s dominance and competitiveness.

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Comparison of the productivity of Populus nigra L. with an interspecific hybrid in a short rotation coppice in marginal areas

Biomass and Bioenergy ◽

10.1016/j.biombioe.2007.01.005 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 367-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Vojtěch Benetka ◽

Filip Vrátný ◽

Ivana Šálková

Keyword(s):

Interspecific Hybrid ◽

Populus Nigra ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Short Rotation ◽

Marginal Areas

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Which Large- and Medium-Sized Mammals Use Commercial Short-Rotation Coppice as Habitat?

BioEnergy Research ◽

10.1007/s12155-021-10345-6 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Felix Zitzmann ◽

Michael Reich

Keyword(s):

Roe Deer ◽

Late Summer ◽

Active Species ◽

Short Rotation Coppice ◽

Individual Species ◽

Mammal Species ◽

Study Region ◽

Short Rotation ◽

Habitat Value ◽

Wide Range

AbstractWe surveyed occurrence and activity of large- and medium-sized mammals on six commercial mini-rotation short-rotation coppice (SRC) plantations in northern Germany by camera trapping in different seasons (winter, late summer). In total, eleven species (6–9 per site) were detected. This corresponds to the majority of mammal species occurring in the study region. Roe deer, wild boar and red fox were found across all sites. All other species were detected on fewer sites and some in only one of the seasons. Roe deer was the most active species both in terms of visit frequency (days with detection) and use intensity (detection numbers). With few exceptions on individual sites, all other species showed significantly lower activity. Number of detected species and activity of most of the species did not differ between seasons. Furthermore, there were no differences between near-edge and central areas of the crops with regard to the activity of the occurring species. Activity of individual species on different sites, however, differed considerably in some cases. Our results show that a wide range of mammal species are basically able to include SRC into their habitat utilisation. However, the sporadic use by most species indicates a rather limited current habitat value of the surveyed plantations. Options to increase the habitat value of SRC for mammals are suggested, but their effectiveness needs to be tested in future studies. Since the spatial and temporal scope of our study was limited and only SRC of a uniform age-class were considered, our results are not immediately applicable to other landscapes, seasons or types and management phases of SRC. Therefore, further research is required that considers these aspects as well as species-specific patterns of habitat selection in comparison to other habitat types.

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Low-Energy Electron Damage to Condensed-Phase DNA and Its Constituents

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms22157879 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (15) ◽

pp. 7879

Author(s):

Yingxia Gao ◽

Yi Zheng ◽

Léon Sanche

Keyword(s):

Condensed Phase ◽

Genetic Material ◽

High Energy ◽

Dna Lesions ◽

Low Energy ◽

Experimental Investigations ◽

Experimental Conditions ◽

Strand Breaks ◽

Sequence Of Events ◽

Wide Range

The complex physical and chemical reactions between the large number of low-energy (0–30 eV) electrons (LEEs) released by high energy radiation interacting with genetic material can lead to the formation of various DNA lesions such as crosslinks, single strand breaks, base modifications, and cleavage, as well as double strand breaks and other cluster damages. When crosslinks and cluster damages cannot be repaired by the cell, they can cause genetic loss of information, mutations, apoptosis, and promote genomic instability. Through the efforts of many research groups in the past two decades, the study of the interaction between LEEs and DNA under different experimental conditions has unveiled some of the main mechanisms responsible for these damages. In the present review, we focus on experimental investigations in the condensed phase that range from fundamental DNA constituents to oligonucleotides, synthetic duplex DNA, and bacterial (i.e., plasmid) DNA. These targets were irradiated either with LEEs from a monoenergetic-electron or photoelectron source, as sub-monolayer, monolayer, or multilayer films and within clusters or water solutions. Each type of experiment is briefly described, and the observed DNA damages are reported, along with the proposed mechanisms. Defining the role of LEEs within the sequence of events leading to radiobiological lesions contributes to our understanding of the action of radiation on living organisms, over a wide range of initial radiation energies. Applications of the interaction of LEEs with DNA to radiotherapy are briefly summarized.

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