Environmental Impacts of Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) Grown for Biomass on Agricultural Land

Abstract

This issue of BioEnergy Research highlights the activitieswithin a European Union research project funded by ERA-NET Bioenergy, “Reducing environmental impact of SRCthrough evidence-based integrated decision support tools”(RATING-SRC). The project goal was to provide scientificevidence for evaluatingthe impacts —positiveandnegative—of short rotation coppice (SRC) plantations on soil, water,biodiversity, and landscape issues and also to propose waysto mitigate the negative and increase the positive impacts.Commercial SRC plantations are currently grown at limit-edscaleinsomecountries(e.g.,Sweden),buttheareaofSRCplantationshastoincreasedramaticallyinthefutureiftheyareto contribute significantly to the replacement of fossil energysources. Thus, a rapid increase of agricultural land dedicatedto SRC with willow (Salix spp.) or poplar (Populus spp.) forproduction of biomass for heat and/or electricity is projectedin the short-term in many regions of the world. A large-scaleshift from “conventional” arable crops to SRC will haveimplications on a range of environmental issues, and large-scale implementation of those crops for bio-energy purposemakes sense only if they prove to reduce negative effects onthe environment, especially when compared with other alter-natives for reduction of fossil energy sources. As a perennialcrop,SRCdiffersfrommostarablecropsinphysicaltraitsandmanagement practices. Results so far imply many positiveenvironmental benefits due to SRC implementation, but theeffects that SRC will have on the environment depend on theexisting or previous land use, the scale of planting and themanagement practices applied. In addition, SRC is a newproduction system for most regions in which it might begrown in future, and many uncertainties exist with respect tothe environmental impacts of those plantations on soil, water,biodiversity, and landscape issues.This special issue contains sevenpaperscoveringthetopicareasofSRCeffectsonissuesofwaterandsoil(twopapersbyDimitriou et al., Schmidt-Walter and Lamersdorf), biodiver-sity (Baum et al.), and the overall impact that these planta-tions may have on the environment and sustainability(Busch, Englund et al., Langeveld et al.). The paper on soilissues by Dimitriou et al. highlights the results for pH,organic carbon (C), and trace element concentrations in thesoil of 14 long-term (10–20 years) commercial willow SRCfields in Sweden when compared with those in adjacent,conventionally managed arable soils. The paper on waterissues by Dimitriou et al. reports the effects of SRC on waterquality by determining differences in leaching of nitrogenand phosphorus to groundwater of 16 commercial SRCstands in Sweden compared to adjacent arable fields grownwith “ordinary” crops. Schmidt-Walter and Lamersdorfdescribe effects on groundwater quality, specifically the po-tential effects of SRC grown under different managementregimes on groundwater recharge. Based on flora inventoriesin eight landscapes located in two European regions(Germany and Sweden), the paper by Baum et al. focus-es on the diversity of higher plants as an indicator ofbiodiversity in willow and poplar SRC, including variousscales ranging from habitat to landscape level diversity.The contribution by Busch is an attempt to assess theimpact of SRC on various landscape functions with thehelp of GIS-based tools. Englund et al. focus on thepotential effects of sustainability requirements within theEU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) on different stake-holders along SRC bioenergy supply chains, assessing theirusefulness in ensuring that SRC bioenergy is produced with