Sustainable Biomass Value Chains Based on Poplar Plantations in European Rural Areas

Abstract

The present special issue highlights the chances and addresses the main challenges for short rotation coppices (SRC) with poplars (Populus spp.) as agricultural crops for the sustainable bio-economy. The current public perception of planting more trees on Earth as a climate mitigation action is accompanied by controversial discussions about sustainability and biodiversity of tree plantations. In contrast to many industrial plantations in the tropics, agricultural tree cropping with siteadapted tree species in the temperate zones of the world follows an agroforestry concept towards more sustainability. Disturbed land that needs remediation and underutilised agricultural land resources in rural areas can significantly benefit from SRC operations. Operated as low energy-input biomass production ecosystems, these crops can significantly improve the habitat value for flora and fauna due to their perennial character, acceptance of ground vegetation below trees, erosion control, and strong reduction of spraying and fertilising. Many processes and risks that occur along with land use change after the establishment of poplar SRC crops have been investigated throughout the last decades. An earlier special issue of BioEnergy Research [“Environmental Impacts of Short Rotation Coppice (SRC) Grown for Biomass on Agricultural Land”, Sept. 2012, vol. 5(3)] covered the topic areas of SRC effects on issues of water and soil, biodiversity, and the overall impact that these plantations may have on the environment and sustainability. In contrast, the current special issue is devoted to the: (1) challenges of generating adapted plant material in order to sustainably produce poplar biomass in northern regions and (2) implementation of bio-based value chains on the basis of poplar SRC for the sustainable bioeconomy. The project consortium Dendromass4Europe (D4EU—Securing Sustainable Dendromass Production with Poplar Plantations in European Rural Areas) has demonstrated how the gap between the sustainable development of agricultural landscapes and implementing value chains for economic sustainability can be bridged, through the collaboration of three industrial partners, an NGO for nature conservation, and science partners. The pivotal challenge for the implementation of SRC is the competition for cultivated land, a question which will likely persist in the future. Land access is affected by complex legal, ecological, and societal conditions. The contribution by Ranacher et al. has investigated the incentives and barriers that affect local farmers’ willingness to invest into SRC cropping in the project D4EU’s target region for SRC operations. Another challenge is the selection of adapted operational poplar clones and the achievement of economically viable growth results on mainly marginal land. The contribution by Heilig et al. describes SRC growth monitoring and compares the suitability of operational clones with regard to water deficits in D4EU’s target region, whilst Meyer et al. investigated the susceptibility of selected, legally approved poplar clones to dry post-planting conditions. Established SRC crops have access through their interconnected root system to topsoil water and groundwater. SRC can promote water retention in the landscape and groundwater recharge by enhancing infiltration. This way SRCs can increase flood protection, reduce nutrient export to surface waterbodies, and reduce soil erosion. The contribution by Virano Riquelme et al. describes differences between two selected SRC sites and * Matthias Meyer [email protected]