Species Trials for Biomass Production on Abandoned Farmland

1985 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Laing ◽  
Paul E. Sendak ◽  
John Aleong
Keyword(s):  
Energy Use ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Intensive Culture ◽  
Hybrid Poplars ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Silver Maple ◽  
Species Trials ◽  
Hardwood Tree ◽  
High Yields ◽  
Two Hybrid

Abstract As part of a nationwide study of the potential for woody crops to supply biomass for energy use, we evaluated seven hardwood tree species and six hybrid poplar clones on four different sites in Vermont, with three fertilizer treatments on some sites. Not all species were evaluated on all sites. Plots containing 25 trees were replicated three or four times at each site. Trees were planted at a spacing of 0.6 x 0.6 m or 0.9 x 0.9 m and grown for 3 years. The application of fertilizer did have significant effect on height, diameter, and stem weight. Species with high yields (about 16 oven-dry t/ha/year) included four of the hybrid poplars. Silver maple, black locust, and the other two hybrid poplars yielded about 10 oven-dry t/ha/year. Based on growth alone, these species and clones were recommended for short-rotation intensive culture in areas with similar climate and growing sites. North J. Appl. For. 2:43-47, June 1985.

The nitrogen budget of a hybrid poplar plantation in Minnesota

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 1818-1822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen L. Updegraff ◽  
Donald R. Zak ◽  
David F. Grigal
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Organic N ◽  
Poplar Plantation ◽  
Intensive Culture ◽  
N Budget ◽  
N Dynamics ◽  
Total N ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Aboveground Tree Biomass

The nitrogen (N) dynamics within short-rotation intensive-culture forest plantations are poorly understood. We developed a N budget for a 3-year-old hybrid poplar plantation under short-rotation intensive-culture management in northwestern Minnesota. Measured pools and fluxes of N included plant content, atmospheric input, litter fall, microbial biomass, mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification. Total aboveground tree biomass represented only 1.6% of the total N capital. Stable soil organic N was the largest pool, 5670 kg N•ha−1, and constituted 93% of all N within the site. Labile soil organic N and microbial N represented 5.6 and 1.6% of stable soil organic N, respectively. Nitrogen mineralization averaged 56 kg N•ha−1•year−1, and 66% of that production was oxidized to NO3−. Losses of N by denitrification and leaching were small compared with the magnitude of the other fluxes. Results suggest that a relatively high rate of plant uptake and production maintained NH4+ and NO3− pools at low levels, minimizing N exports to the atmosphere and groundwater.

Kiln-drying lumber quality of hybrid poplar clones

Holzforschung ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyu-Young Kang ◽  
Slobodan Bradic ◽  
Stavros Avramidis ◽  
Shawn D. Mansfield
Keyword(s):  
Global Climate ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Solid Wood ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Kiln Drying ◽  
Wood Processing ◽  
Hybrid Poplars ◽  
Short Rotation

Abstract Hybrid poplars are currently used in North America primarily for the production of pulp fibre and in the manufacture of engineered solid wood products. Recently, the deployment of poplars as a short-rotation fibre crop has been of interest to mitigate the increasing amount of plantation-grown short fibre resources (hardwoods) derived from the Southern Hemisphere, as well as in the context of global climate change, both as a means to rapidly sequester carbon and as a feedstock for potential bioenergy production. Knowledge on the utility of hybrid poplars in the value-added secondary wood-processing sector, however, is very limited. To improve this situation, the variation in kiln-drying quality of five hybrid poplar genotypes of similar age, harvested from a common site in British Columbia, Canada, was evaluated for three different kiln-drying schedules. The results clearly demonstrate that the drying schedule has a greater effect on grade recovery and the degree of deformation than the hybrid poplar genotype. Furthermore, it was shown that many of the deformations inherently associated with wood derived from fast-grown trees can be reduced or removed with drying, in particular with an aggressive drying schedule.

Forecasting the deployment of short-rotation intensive culture of willow or hybrid poplar: Insights from a Delphi study

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvain Masse ◽  
Pierre P. Marchand ◽  
Michèle Bernier-Cardou
Keyword(s):  
Delphi Study ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Intensive Culture ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
Policies And Programs ◽  
Woody Crop

Short-rotation intensive culture (SRIC) of willow (Salix spp.) or hybrid poplar (Populus spp.) is currently at a precommercial stage with a potential to be applied economically across important areas to produce lignocellulosic biomass and environmental services in Canada. A two-round Delphi survey was conducted among 50 experts to assess the future deployment of SRIC in this country. The total area in 10 years (2011 base year) was forecasted as 1330, 4100, and 11 400 ha under pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic scenarios, respectively. The deployment of SRIC in the next decade depends mainly on the development of the demand for SRIC biomass and services, that of production technologies, and the establishment of policies and programs promoting its application. In the short term, research and development (R&D) and policy initiatives should be funded or implemented by various stakeholders to facilitate the deployment of the system. On average, respondents deemed that the potential for long-term (20 years) deployment of SRIC in Canada was good. Some of the conclusions and the methodological approach of this study could apply to short-rotation woody crop systems and to agroforestry systems in Canada and elsewhere.

scholarly journals Willows Used for Phytoremediation Increased Organic Contaminant Concentrations in Soil Surface

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2979
Author(s):  
Maxime Fortin Faubert ◽  
Dominic Desjardins ◽  
Mohamed Hijri ◽  
Michel Labrecque
Keyword(s):  
Soil Surface ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Soil Hydrology ◽  
Intensive Culture ◽  
Shrub Species ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Made In

The Salix genus includes shrub species that are widely used in phytoremediation and various other phytotechnologies due to their advantageous characteristics, such as a high evapotranspiration (ET) rate, in particular when cultivated in short rotation intensive culture (SRIC). Observations made in past field studies suggest that ET and its impact on soil hydrology can also lead to increases in soil pollutant concentrations near shrubs. To investigate this, sections of a mature willow plantation (seven years old) were cut to eliminate transpiration (Cut treatment). Soil concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), aliphatic compounds C10–C50, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and five trace elements (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn) were compared between the Cut and the uncut plots (Salix miyabeana ‘SX61’). Over 24 months, the results clearly show that removal of the willow shrubs limited the contaminants’ increase in the soil surface, as observed for C10–C50 and of 10 PAHs under the Salix treatment. This finding strongly reinforces a hypothesis that SRIC of willows may facilitate the migration of contaminants towards their roots, thus increasing their concentration in the surrounding soil. Such a “pumping effect” in a high-density willow crop is a prominent characteristic specific to field studies that can lead to counterintuitive results. Although apparent increases of contaminant concentrations contradict the purification benefits usually pursued in phytoremediation, the possibility of active phytoextraction and rhizodegradation is not excluded. Moreover, increases of pollutant concentrations under shrubs following migration suggest that decreases would consequently occur at the source points. Some reflections on interpreting field work results are provided.

scholarly journals Comparison of the Initial Growth of Different Poplar Clones on Four Sites in Western Slovakia—Preliminary Results

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dávid Heilig ◽  
Bálint Heil ◽  
Christoph Leibing ◽  
Heinz Röhle ◽  
Gábor Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Aridity Index ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Initial Growth ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Groundwater Availability ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Short Rotation

AbstractThis study was conducted to evaluate four hybrid poplar comparison tests along a groundwater availability gradient in Western Slovakia. The weather fluctuation during the 3-year study period was described with indices, such as the Forestry Aridity Index (FAI) or the hydrothermal coefficient (HTC). The soil chemical and physical parameters were determined from soil samples from the two upper horizons. The nutrient status and supply of the trees were categorized based on leaf elemental analysis. Altogether, 21 different clones from 6 genomic groups were compared. The survival (SRV), diameter at breast height (DBH), and height of the trees (H) had been measured annually since the plantations were established, and from these measurements, mean annual height increment (MAHI) values were derived. These weather, edaphic, and clonal factors were evaluated and compared. Significant effects of the site (edaphic factors) were found as the primary source of variance and clonal differences as secondary sources of variance among the growth of trees. The interaction of site × clone effects was not significant. The results showed that for short rotation forestry (SRF), the site parameters—especially groundwater availability—are key factors.

Species Trials of Short Rotation Woody Crops on Two Wastewater Application Sites in North Carolina, USA

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Dayson Shifflett ◽  
Dennis W Hazel ◽  
Douglas J Frederick ◽  
Elizabeth Guthrie Nichols
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Woody Crops ◽  
Short Rotation Woody Crops ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Species Trials

scholarly journals Greenhouse gas balance of cropland conversion to bioenergy poplar short-rotation coppice

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sabbatini ◽  
N. Arriga ◽  
T. Bertolini ◽  
S. Castaldi ◽  
T. Chiti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Hybrid Poplar ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Net Ecosystem Exchange ◽  
Short Rotation Coppice ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Balance ◽  
Short Rotation ◽  
Ch4 And N2o

Abstract. The production of bioenergy in Europe is one of the strategies conceived to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The suitability of the land use change from a cropland (REF site) to a short-rotation coppice plantation of hybrid poplar (SRC site) was investigated by comparing the GHG budgets of these two systems over 24 months in Viterbo, Italy. This period corresponded to a single rotation of the SRC site. The REF site was a crop rotation between grassland and winter wheat, i.e. the same management of the SRC site before the conversion to short-rotation coppice. Eddy covariance measurements were carried out to quantify the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 (FCO2), whereas chambers were used to measure N2O and CH4 emissions from soil. The measurements began 2 years after the conversion of arable land to SRC so that an older poplar plantation was used to estimate the soil organic carbon (SOC) loss due to SRC establishment and to estimate SOC recovery over time. Emissions from tractors and from production and transport of agricultural inputs (FMAN) were modelled. A GHG emission offset, due to the substitution of natural gas with SRC biomass, was credited to the GHG budget of the SRC site. Emissions generated by the use of biomass (FEXP) were also considered. Suitability was finally assessed by comparing the GHG budgets of the two sites. CO2 uptake was 3512 ± 224 g CO2 m−2 at the SRC site in 2 years, and 1838 ± 107 g CO2 m−2 at the REF site. FEXP was equal to 1858 ± 240 g CO2 m−2 at the REF site, thus basically compensating for FCO2, while it was 1118 ± 521 g CO2 m−2 at the SRC site. The SRC site could offset 379.7 ± 175.1 g CO2eq m−2 from fossil fuel displacement. Soil CH4 and N2O fluxes were negligible. FMAN made up 2 and 4 % in the GHG budgets of SRC and REF sites respectively, while the SOC loss was 455 ± 524 g CO2 m−2 in 2 years. Overall, the REF site was close to neutrality from a GHG perspective (156 ± 264 g CO2eq m−2), while the SRC site was a net sink of 2202 ± 792 g CO2eq m−2. In conclusion the experiment led to a positive evaluation from a GHG viewpoint of the conversion of cropland to bioenergy SRC.

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