The Agricultural and Energy Policy Framework for Short Rotation Coppice in the EU and Its Implementation in the Member States

Manning, David Butler

doi:10.1002/9783527682973.ch26

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 6 publications

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“…At the end of the last century, Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) plantations -also known as short rotation woody crops (SRWC) or short rotation plantations (SRP) (Hoffmann and Weih 2005) -established for energy purposes rapidly expanded in European Union (EU) member countries with the aim to reduce fossil fuel dependence, greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions, and waste production (Verwijst and Telenius 1999;Huber et al 2018). Since the mid-80s, SRF plantations have been promoted by the EU to improve land management, use the surplus agricultural land, increase the production of wood raw material for industrial and energy uses (Bergez et al 1991;Butler Manning 2015;Hall 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of abandoned Short Rotation Forestry (SRF) plantations in plant carbon storage: a case study in Central Italy

Paletto

Ceotto

Becagli

et al. 2023

Preprint

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At the end of the last century, European Union (EU) energy policy encouraged the use of dedicated (Short Rotation Forestry or SRF) plantations in member countries in which fast-growing woody species are grown for energy purposes. Recently, in Italy some SRF plantations developed in the 90s have been abandoned or managed more extensively for economic and environmental reasons. However, these abandoned plantations can play a key role in biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. The present study is aimed to investigate the role of abandoned SRF plantations in climate change mitigation through the estimation of the plant carbon stock (C-stock) and fluxes (C-sequestration) in a case study in Central Italy. The C-stock and C-sequestration were estimated in three different 20-years SRF plantations (hybrid poplar, willow, black locust) located on the same site and unmanaged for 15 years. The results show a C-stock considering three of five C pools) equal to: 47.30 MgC ha− 1 for hybrid poplar (65.3% in biomass and 34.7% in deadwood respectively), 23.02 MgC ha− 1 for willow (77.6% and 22.4% respectively), and 80.41 MgC ha− 1 for black locust (95.9% and 4.1% respectively). The average C-sequestration for the period 2008–2021 is estimated in 2.22 MgC ha− 1 yr− 1 for hybrid poplar, 1.91 MgC ha− 1 yr− 1 for willow, and 3.29 MgC ha− 1 yr− 1 for black locust plantations. Outcomes of the present research offer support for the forest restoration practices of similar abandoned SRF plantations. The application of extensive management techniques and the development of the naturalization process will ensure the role of “stepping stone” of these plantations, helping their evolution toward semi-natural systems mainly oriented to biodiversity conservation, habitats provision and C sink.

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