Impact of Willow Short Rotation Coppice on Water Quality

Dimitriou, Ioannis; Mola‐Yudego, Blas; Aronsson, Pär

doi:10.1007/s12155-012-9211-5

Cited by 68 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Although the NO 3 − leaching from poplar SRC fields is low or negligible compared to reference fields with cereals [15,50], the benefit of this production system is not fully recognised in agricultural practice yet.…”

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confidence: 99%

Environmental Effects over the First 2½ Rotation Periods of a Fertilised Poplar Short Rotation Coppice

et al. 2017

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A short rotation coppice (SRC) with poplar was established in a randomised fertilisation experiment on sandy loam soil in Potsdam (Northeast Germany). The main objective of this study was to assess if negative environmental effects as nitrogen leaching and greenhouse gas emissions are enhanced by mineral nitrogen (N) fertiliser applied to poplar at rates of 0, 50 and 75 kg N ha −1 year −1 and how these effects are influenced by tree age with increasing number of rotation periods and cycles of organic matter decomposition and tree growth after each harvesting event. Between 2008 and 2012, the leaching of nitrate (NO 3 − ) was monitored with self-integrating accumulators over 6-month periods and the emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) were determined in closed gas chambers. During the first 4 years of the poplar SRC, most nitrogen was lost through NO 3 − leaching from the main root zone; however, there was no significant relationship to the rate of N fertilisation. On average, 5.8 kg N ha −1 year −1 (13.0 kg CO 2equ ) was leached from the root zone. Nitrogen leaching rates decreased in the course of the 4-year study parallel to an increase of the fine root biomass and the degree of mycorrhization. In contrast to N leaching, the loss of nitrogen by N 2 O emissions from the soil was very low with an average of 0.61 kg N ha −1 year −1 (182 kg CO 2equ ) and were also not affected by N fertilisation over the whole study period. Real CO 2 emissions from the poplar soil were two orders of magnitude higher ranging between 15,122 and 19,091 kg CO 2 ha −1 year −1 and followed the rotation period with enhanced emission rates in the years of harvest. As key-factors for NO 3 − leaching and N 2 O emissions, the time after planting and after harvest and the rotation period have been identified by a mixed effects model.

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confidence: 99%

Environmental Effects over the First 2½ Rotation Periods of a Fertilised Poplar Short Rotation Coppice

et al. 2017

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“…Studies have shown that nitrogen leaching from willow is relatively low compared with that from other crops [4,50], which indicates that the default value of 30% used here might be too high to represent willow cultivation. However, the sensitivity analysis showed that the final result was not sensitive to changes in the amount of nitrogen leaching, indicating that using the default value had a very small effect on the final results.…”

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confidence: 94%

Climate Impact of Willow Grown for Bioenergy in Sweden

et al. 2014

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Short rotation coppice willow (SRCW) is a fast-growing and potentially high-yielding energy crop. Transition to bioenergy has been identified in Sweden as one strategy to mitigate climate change and decrease the current dependency on fossil fuel. In this study, life cycle assessment was used to evaluate and compare the climate impacts of SRCW systems, for the purpose to evaluate key factors influencing the climate change mitigation potential of SRCW grown on agricultural land in Sweden. Seven different scenarios were defined and analysed to identify the factors most influencing the climate. A carbon balance model was used to model carbon fluxes between soil, biomass and atmosphere under Swedish growing conditions. The results indicated that SRCW can act as a temporary carbon sink and therefore has a mitigating effect on climate change. The most important factor in obtaining a high climate change mitigating effect was shown to be high yield. Low yield gave the worst mitigating effect of the seven scenarios but it was still better than the effect of the reference systems, district heating produced from coal or natural gas.

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“…Extensive research has already been conducted to estimate the environmental performance of fast-growing tree species such as willows grown as short rotation coppice under controlled conditions [3,4], in commercial fields to assess groundwater and soil quality (e.g., as in [5,6]) or based on life cycle assessment (e.g., as in [7,8]). However, similar studies for poplars are scarce in Nordic conditions due to their limited area planted and their more recent establishment as a viable biomass production system for energy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the same time, there have been indications that leaching of phosphates from willow short rotation coppice is equal or higher than from adjacent reference fields [5], although there have been other authors suggesting that willow short rotation coppice reduces the phosphate leaching in agricultural landscapes [10,11]. Concerning leaching of phosphates in poplar plantations, research has, yet again, been rather limited; no phosphorus leaching when wastewater and sludge was applied to poplars grown in clay-soil lysimeters [3], and very low leaching via drainage water from sand-soil lysimeters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Populus Plantations on Water and Soil Quality

Dimitriou

Mola‐Yudego

2017

Bioenerg. Res.

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Trees of genus Populus (in our context primarily poplars) are predominantly grown in Sweden in small plantations on arable land in southern and central parts of the country to produce biomass for energy and other purposes. This study evaluated the effects (i) of poplar plantations on groundwater quality, by determining differences in leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus to groundwater, and (ii) of poplar and hybrid aspen plantations on soil quality in terms of carbon in the top-and subsoil. The study was conducted comparing Populus plantations in Sweden with adjacent fields with cereals and grasslands. The experiment concerning the groundwater leaching was conducted in eight poplar plantations along three growing seasons (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). For the soil carbon experiments, 19 poplar and two hybrid aspen plantations and the respective reference fields were sampled. NO 3 -N leaching from poplar plantations was significantly lower than that from reference fields with cereals, but not when compared with grasslands. Spring NO 3 -N leaching was significantly lower in poplars than in the reference fields, whereas leaching of NO 3 -N in autumn did not differ. Concentrations of PO 4 -P in the groundwater of poplar plantations were lower compared to the respective ones of the reference fields. There were no clear trends observed when comparing carbon concentrations in the topsoil of the poplar and hybrid aspen plantations compared to the respective adjacent reference fields. For the subsoil, the average carbon concentrations in the poplar and hybrid aspen plantations were equal to the respective ones of cereals, but were higher when compared to grassland.

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Impact of Willow Short Rotation Coppice on Water Quality

Cited by 68 publications

References 32 publications

Environmental Effects over the First 2½ Rotation Periods of a Fertilised Poplar Short Rotation Coppice

Environmental Effects over the First 2½ Rotation Periods of a Fertilised Poplar Short Rotation Coppice

Climate Impact of Willow Grown for Bioenergy in Sweden

Impact of Populus Plantations on Water and Soil Quality

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