Land Use Competition Related to Woody Biomass Production on Arable Land in Germany

Abstract

As land is a limited resource, diverging demands drive competition between land uses. The pressure on arable land is increasing. In Germany, about 80 ha of arable land are converted daily (2009–2012), mainly to housing and transport uses. A small portion is also lost each year to reforestation and to ecological compensation measures. The boom in biomass production for energetic purposes in particular is serving to heighten the pressure on arable land and is increasingly competing for land with food and feed production. Over the last decade, the demand for woodfuel has also increased remarkably. Germany aims to cover 14 % of its heat demand with renewable energy by the year 2020, with wood to play a leading role. To meet this target, novel systems of land use will need to be added to the current land use spectrum in order to increase the wood supply. The cultivation of fast-growing trees, such as poplar and willow, represents one means to address the increasing demand while, at the same time, fostering the provision of a range of beneficial ecosystem services. Systems that mix annual crop production and fast-growing trees on the same site constitute an especially promising pathway to achieve synergies between different land use types and to reduce land use competition. This chapter explores the benefits, potentials, limitations and challenges of cropping systems using fast-growing trees in Germany. Special emphasis is placed on the capacity of agroforestry systems to mitigate land use competition by combining wood with food production and conservation on the same plot. Trade-offs and synergies with ecosystem services such as food production, aesthetic values and other regulating and supporting services are discussed at different spatial and temporal scales. Finally, some conclusions for sustainable land management are drawn.