Nutrient Contribution of Litterfall in a Short Rotation Plantation of Pure or Mixed Plots of Populus alba L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L.

Abstract

This study aims to quantify the potential contribution of nutrients derived from leaf litter in a short rotation coppice plantation which includes monocultures of the species Populus alba (PA) and Robina pseudoacacia (RP) as well as a mixture of 50PA:50RP, in the middle of the rotation. The P. alba monoculture was that which provided the most leaf litter (3.37 mg ha−1 yr−1), followed by the 50PA:50RP mixture (2.82 mg ha−1 yr−1) and finally the R. pseudoacacia monoculture (2.55 mg ha−1 yr−1). In addition to producing more litterfall, leaves were shed later in the P. alba monoculture later (December) than in the R. pseudoacacia monoculture (October) or the mix (throughout the fall). In terms of macronutrient supply per hectare, the contributions derived from leaf litter were higher for K, P and Mg in the case of P. alba and for N in R. pseudoacacia, the mix presenting the highest Ca content and intermediate concentrations for the rest of the nutrients. In addition, other factors such as C:N or N:MO ratios, as well as the specific characteristics of the soil, can have an important impact on the final contribution of these inputs. The carbon contribution derived from leaf fall was higher in the P. alba monoculture (1.5 mg ha−1 yr−1), intermediate in the mixed plot (1.3 mg ha−1 yr−1) and slightly lower for the R. pseudoacacia monoculture (1.3 mg ha−1 yr−1). Given these different strategies of monocultures with regard to the dynamism of the main nutrients, species mixing would appear to be suitable option to achieve a potential reduction in mineral fertilization in these plantations.

Biomass Yield and Economic, Energy and Carbon Balances of Ulmus pumila L., Robinia pseudoacacia L. and Populus × euroamericana (Dode) Guinier Short-Rotation Coppices on Degraded Lands under Mediterranean Climate

“…The mineral nutrient contents in plants (Table 8) are within the ranges reported by other authors for these plant species and cultivation practices, and the soils are typical farmlands with intermediate characteristics (Tables 2 and 7), without any extreme value outside the normal range of a high-pH calcareous soil [41,80,[84][85][86]. Regarding the mineral composition of the three species evaluated, it should be noted that Robinia pseudoacacia, the N-fixing species, showed higher N and lower Ca contents than the other two taxa (Ulmus pumila and Populus × euroamericana "AF2").…”

“…Additional atmospheric C has been fixed, but has not yet been mineralized into soil layers as it is in the litterfall and roots [48,86,90]. This accumulation of litterfall is close to that reported by other authors for SRC, and a good proportion of the litter C and other mineral nutrients represents a reservoir that will slowly be released into the soil [10,11,86,91], which, when added to those provided by the fine roots [92], will support the productivity of the sites. Only in litterfall, between 0.40 (Mo1) and 0.54 (Ra4) t ha −1 year −1 of C were accumulated, which is equivalent to 1.48 and 1.97 t ha −1 year −1 of CO2, respectively, although without significant differences among field trials.…”

Effect of tree species and substrate properties on organic phosphorus forms in afforested technosols

“…As expected the foliage of N-fixing tree species contained significantly more N than the foliage of Scots pine and silver birch (Table 2). The measured N concentrations in leaves of black alder and black locust represented average or relatively high values compared to data reported for these species growing at the natural and the reclaimed mine sites (Rodríguez-Barrueco et al, 1984;Còte et al, 1989;Kuznetsova et al, 2011;Deng et al, 2019;González et al, 2020;Woś et al, 2020). The N-fixing trees contained also significantly more P in the foliage than non-N-fixing species.…”

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

“…A similar design mixing R. pseudoacacia with the euramerican genotype 'Dorskamp' in central France demonstrated interspecific competition in the mixture as the preponderant interaction, resulting in higher mortality and lower biomass production than the two monocultures [155]. However, this mixture would appear to be advantageous given the different strategies shown by the two species in terms of the amount of litter and the dynamics of the main nutrients [158]. Therefore, although mixing the species does not increase the biomass yield, it may provide a good strategy for reducing future requirements for nitrogen addition (with the consequent ecological and economic implications), given the differences between the two monocultures in terms of processing the main nutrients [158].…”

“…However, this mixture would appear to be advantageous given the different strategies shown by the two species in terms of the amount of litter and the dynamics of the main nutrients [158]. Therefore, although mixing the species does not increase the biomass yield, it may provide a good strategy for reducing future requirements for nitrogen addition (with the consequent ecological and economic implications), given the differences between the two monocultures in terms of processing the main nutrients [158]. Furthermore, both species-P. alba and R. pseudoacacia-are considered to be relatively tolerant to possible drought scenarios [111,159].…”