Abstract
Biomass from forestry is one of the largest components of Sweden’s renewable resources. Poplars are currently the highest producing tree species available and are therefore natural choices for biomass-oriented production. Growing poplars has been of most interest on agricultural land, but the knowledge and experience about their cultivation is still limited. Factors that have a large impact on the regeneration results are plant material, competing vegetation, browsing and damage caused by voles or climatic factors. Due to large establishment costs, there is a need to find methods to secure the establishment both biologically and economically. In this study the effect of plastic mulch in combination with three different plant types (short cuttings, long cuttings and rooted plants) were tested at three different sites. Five years after planting, the overall effect of mulch was an improved plant survival and growth. In most cases, long cuttings outperformed short cuttings and rooted plants. Clonal differences were present, indicating the importance of using plant material adapted to site conditions. All sites were heavily affected by browsing and during the experimental period 100% of the plants were damaged at some point. Planting poplars without fencing is therefore doubtful. Results from this study conclude that poplars can be established with success on agricultural land if proper measures are used depending on the site to be planted.
Highlights
The Nordic countries have announced the goal to develop carbon neutral energy systems by 2050, where woody biomass from the forest sector will be a major source of renewable energy and products in the future society (IEA 2013)
The greatest survival was found for long cuttings, irrespective of mulch treatment, with over 90% survival, while short cuttings showed about 10% lower survival (Fig. 3)
At Dal, mulch had a positive effect on survival, and long cuttings and rooted plants had an advantage compared with short cuttings
Summary
The Nordic countries have announced the goal to develop carbon neutral energy systems by 2050, where woody biomass from the forest sector will be a major source of renewable energy and products in the future society (IEA 2013). There are large areas used for forestry in Sweden and other neighbour countries. Almost 58% of the land area is classified as productive forest land in Sweden (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 2017). Agricultural land has been converted to forest land in the country, but there are still large areas, 300,000–500,000 ha, of abandoned agricultural land that can be used for producing biomass (Larsson et al 2009). Since the use of woody biomass is expected to increase, an important task is to achieve a sustainable production. One suggested option was to introduce and use new tree species. The area-based productivity could be enhanced significantly by changing to fast-growing tree species on forest land and for afforestation of abandoned agricultural land
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