Long-term biomass productivity of willow bioenergy plantations maintained in southern Quebec, Canada

Maintaining the long-term productivity of short-rotation coppice plantations is very important to ensure the large-scale deployment of biomass as a renewable energy source. In Quebec (Canada), willow short rotation coppice has been studied since the early ‘90s, thereby allowing long-term analysis of the dynamic performance of several species and hybrids as well as management practices. In this study, we report on the long-term productivity of two trials maintained in southern Quebec and carried out to compare a) growth and biomass yield of willow Salix viminalis (cultivar 5027) grown for 15 years under fertilized and unfertilized conditions and b) growth of different willow cultivars over three successive rotations (10 years). The first trial showed that after four rotations, sludge-fertilized S. viminalis 5027 produced significantly more biomass, 19.2 odt ha−1 yr−1, whereas unfertilized plots yielded 13.8 odt ha−1 yr−1. The second trial showed that among the wide variety of commercial willow cultivars available, SX64 and SX61 along with some indigenous species (i.e. S25, S365, S546) were the most suitable for short-rotation forestry in southern Quebec.