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Production of selected short-rotation wood crop species and quality of obtained biomass

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Abstract

Short-rotation coppice (SRC) represents an important source of wood biomass. Many uncertainties create barriers to farmers establishing SRC plantations, especially under Mediterranean climate conditions. In this study, five species and respective genotypes were analyzed. The five species were Fraxinus angustifolia, Robinia pseudoacacia, Salix alba, Populus nigra (Limatola), and Populus × euroamericana, with the genotypes of the latter being Grimminge, Vesten, Hoogvorst, Muur. For the plantations studied, two different harvesting systems were replicated: the single machine pass, or cut-and-chip (CC); and the double machine pass, for which the tree are cut first, then chipped later (chip of stored trees CS). In the CC, fresh trees were harvested and chipped by Claas Jaguar 880. In the CS, dry trees were chipped by Farmi Forest CH 260. Within the same site, in climatic conditions and low-input management, the best result in terms of biomass yield was obtained from the black poplar Limatola. Both wood typologies and harvesting systems affected the chip quality. The disk chipper, when working on dried biomass, produced lower quality chips than the other chipping device in terms of particle size. In the chips obtained, there was an increase in the number of chips classified as being “larger size” and “oversized”, and a decrease in the percentage of those classified as “accept” (45–3 mm fraction). The chips obtained from dried trees were of better energy quality compared with the same biomass obtained from the fresh trees in terms of heating value and ash content.

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Acknowledgements

SRC plantation establishment, management and data collections were financially supported by the four research projects: “Produzione e stoccaggio di biomasse legnose derivanti da cedui a turno breve (CRAA, Regione Campania, SMA Campania), “Trasferimento di innovazioni nella filiera corta per la produzione, raccolta ed uso di legna da boschi cedui e SRF a fini energetici (Tra. Tec. F.U.L.En. UE-Regione Campania, PSR 2007–2013, misura 124), “Recupero e riutilizzo delle biomasse legnose in Campania” (Regione Campania-Sesirca) and “Sistemi Innovativi per la produzione di energia Rinnovabile attraverso la Gestione di Impianti di Arboricoltura a ciclo breve” (SINERGIA). Plant material was provided by “Alasia Franco vivai” (http://alasiafranco.com/).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l’analisi dell’economia agraria (Crea), Via Po n° 14, 00198, Rome, Italy

    Vincenzo Civitarese, Alberto Assirelli & Giulio Sperandio

  2. Department of Agriculture, University of Naples Federico II, Corso Umberto I 40, 80138, Naples, Italy

    Salvatore Faugno, Luigi Saulino, Mariano Crimaldi & Maura Sannino

  3. Department of Agriculture and Forest Sciences, University of Tuscia, Via San Camillo de Lellis, 01100, Viterbo, Italy

    Rodolfo Picchio

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  1. Vincenzo Civitarese
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  2. Salvatore Faugno
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  3. Rodolfo Picchio
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  4. Alberto Assirelli
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  5. Giulio Sperandio
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  6. Luigi Saulino
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  7. Mariano Crimaldi
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  8. Maura Sannino
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Correspondence to Rodolfo Picchio.

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Communicated by Martina Meincken.

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Civitarese, V., Faugno, S., Picchio, R. et al. Production of selected short-rotation wood crop species and quality of obtained biomass. Eur J Forest Res 137, 541–552 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-018-1122-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-018-1122-3

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