Growth of intact plants and coppice in short rotation eucalypt plantations

Abstract

The growth of intact plants and coppice of juvenile plants of eight eucalypt clones (3 9 3 m spacing) was evaluated in the savanna region, Brazil (17°36 0 09 00 S and 46°42 0 02 00 W), aiming for biomass production for energy in short rotations. The treatments included intact plants and juvenile plant coppice (cut at 13 months of age). Coppice was managed either with thinning to two sprouts/stump at 9 months after harvesting or without sprout thinning. The diameter of the intact plants was greater than that of coppice for clones 58, GG100, 26 and 8B, and no differences were noted between treatments for the other clones. Yield did not differ between the thinned and unthinned sprouts for most clones. At younger ages, the coppice yield was greater than that of the intact plants for most clones. Later, there was a decline in the coppice yield, and intact plants surpassed coppice. Then, the maximum coppice mean annual increment was achieved at younger ages than for the intact plants, which resulted in coppice rotation age shortening. The greatest differences between the coppice and intact plants yield was between 38 and 40 months, when the coppice yield was 59, 56, 127, 149 and 75 % greater than that of the intact plants, for the clones 58, GG100, 1000, 36 and 910, respectively. Clone GG100 revealed the highest yield estimation among the intact and coppice plants. The results indicate that by coppicing juvenile eucalypt clone plants, in dense stands, it is possible to produce biomass for energy, without sprout thinning, if rotation age is shortened.

Biomass production and characteristics of short rotation plantations of clones of Gmelina arborea in three spacings

“…The development of clonal reforestation programs is a practical and effective strategy for increasing productivity of the plantations is (Li et al, 2017). Various authors have studied the uses of clones in the establishing of SRWC whereas some of the most frequently utilized genera are Populus spp (Fang et al, 1999;Paris et al 2011), Salix spp (Stolarski et al, 2011) and Eucalyptus spp (Souza et al, 2015;Eufrade Junior et al, 2016). A characteristic that is common to the development of clones of these species in SRWC was that these clones are sourced from reforestation programs that focus on wood production or pulp industries (Zamora et al, 2015).…”

Growth, Yield and Economic Analysis of an Eucalypt-Soybean Consortium: Effect of the Distance Between Trees Within the Row1

“…The soil of the site is Dystrophic Dark-Red Latosol, with clayey texture, cerrado phase, with low fertility, and high acidity. The climate of the region is Aw (Köppen), with dry winter and rainy summer, a mean annual temperature of 26.5°C, mean annual precipitation of 1,350 mm, and a high water defi cit between April and October (Souza et al, 2016).…”

Rescue and vegetative propagation of Eremanthus erythropappus (DC.) MacLeish in natural stand

“…These values are similar to those reported by Stuepp et al (2016) for Ilex paraguariensis St. Hill, with mean values of 19.95 cm in length, and 3.7 mm in diameter, registered in matrices of over 17 years, to 180 DAI. Souza et al (2016) reported that the initial growth of sprouts in Eucalyptus contributes for carbohydrate reserves of the remaining parts of the tree. However, Klimeš and Klimešová (1999) found no evidence of nutritional support among root-linked Rumex acetosella (L.) shoots subjected to different nutritional conditions.…”