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First-Rotation Performance of Five Short-Rotation Willow Cultivars on Different Soil Types and Along a Large Climate Gradient

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Abstract

The establishment of short-rotation willow coppice plantations for bioenergy production is proposed as a land management practice to reduce the use of fossil fuels. However, there is little information on the performance of different willow (Salix spp.) cultivars on various types of soils and over climate gradients. This study aimed to determine which set of soil, climatic conditions, and cultivars are conducive to greater growth in eastern Canada. The performance of five willow cultivars was followed over three growing seasons on eight sites representing a large hydroclimatic gradient. Both geographic location and cultivar had a significant effect on annual yields. Annual yields were on average greater in the southern part of the climatic gradient. Across all cultivars, annual yields were positively correlated to average annual temperature (r = 0.23), total annual precipitation (r = 0.77), average growing season temperature (r = 0.21), average growing season precipitation (r = 0.47), and degree days (r = 0.18), as well as soil pH (r = 0.37) and soil extractible P (r = 0.38), and negatively correlated to soil clay content (r = 0.33). Cultivars of the SX group (i.e., Salix miyabeana SX61, SX64, and SX67) showed greater yield than did cultivars of the SV group (i.e., Salix × dasyclados SV1 and Salix viminalis SV5027). These results indicate that at the landscape level, climate variables, especially climate-related variables, largely explain the yield of the selected willow cultivars. Nonetheless, soil pH, extractable P, and clay content likely play an important role in plantation yield.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Francis Allard, Alice Chagnon, Marc-Olivier Gasser, Louis Roy, Guillaume Salvas, Marie-Hélène Perron, Isabelle Lemay, Robert Langlois, and François Tremblay for technical assistance in the field. This study was funded by the RPBQ (Québec Bio-industrial Crop Network) of the Québec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

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Author notes

  1. Benoit Lafleur

    Present address: Institut de Recherche sur les Forêts and Chaire Industrielle CRSNG-UQAT-UQAM en Aménagement Forestier Durable, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 445 boul. de l’Université, Rouyn-Noranda, QC, J9X 5E4, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101, Sherbrooke East Montreal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Benoit Lafleur & Michel Labrecque

  2. Centre de Recherche sur les Grains (CÉROM) Inc., 740 Chemin Trudeau, Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, QC, J3G 0E2, Canada

    Olivier Lalonde

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  1. Benoit Lafleur
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  3. Michel Labrecque
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Correspondence to Benoit Lafleur.

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Lafleur, B., Lalonde, O. & Labrecque, M. First-Rotation Performance of Five Short-Rotation Willow Cultivars on Different Soil Types and Along a Large Climate Gradient. Bioenerg. Res. 10, 158–166 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9785-4

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