Integrating Short Rotation Woody Crops into Conventional Agricultural Practices in the Southeastern United States: A Review

Abstract

One of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal’s (SDGs) aims is to enhance access to clean energy. In addition, other SDGs are directly related to the restoration of degraded soils to improve on-farm productivity and land management. Integrating Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) for bioenergy into conventional agriculture provides opportunities for sustainable domestic energy production, rural economic development/diversification, and restoration of soil health and biodiversity. Extensive research efforts have been carried out on the development of SRWC for bioenergy, biofuels, and bioproducts. Recently, broader objectives that include multiple ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, and land mine reclamation are being explored. Yet, limited research is available on the benefits of establishing SRWC on degraded agricultural lands in the southeastern U.S. thereby contributing to environmental goals. This paper presents a literature review to (1) synthesize the patterns and trends in SWRC bioenergy production; (2) highlight the benefits of integrating short rotation woody crops into row crop agriculture; and (3) identify emerging technologies for efficiently managing the integrated system, while identifying research gaps. Our findings show that integrating SRWC into agricultural systems can potentially improve the climate of agricultural landscapes and enhance regional and national carbon stocks in terrestrial systems.

Early Dynamics of Carbon Accumulation as Influenced by Spacing of a Populus deltoides Planting

“…As researchers continue to develop plant material and SRWC systems to improve efficiencies for economically and ecologically sustainable bioenergy feedstock production, we are also learning more about how these systems regulate other important ecosystem services such as the buffering of environmental disturbance, soil and water quality maintenance, and carbon sequestration functions [9,12,15]. Few bioenergy alternatives offer a diversity of ecosystem services comparable to that of SRWCs and several researchers have emphasized that a valuation of these co-benefits will be key to their broader application for climate mitigation [11,23,24].…”

“…This transition is hampered by acreage caps and limited funding in federal conservation programs that are the primary means by which owners remove land from intensive agriculture [27]. The carbon market has undoubtedly catalyzed forest restoration in this region [28] and it could further incentivize restoration of terrestrial carbon pools through coupling with SRWC culture [11,24]. But our knowledge of SRWC systems and their capacity for carbon sequestration in this region lacks depth and is insufficient for supporting this emerging aspect of the bioeconomy.…”

Water vapor transport through bioenergy grass residues and its effects on soil water evaporation

“…Biofuels derived from second-generation bioenergy crops consist of the conversion of cellulosic biomass from perennial grasses and woody species into ethanol (Ho et al, 2014;Ile et al, 2023;Solomon et al, 2007). Perennial grass species such as miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) have…”

“…Biofuels derived from second‐generation bioenergy crops consist of the conversion of cellulosic biomass from perennial grasses and woody species into ethanol (Ho et al., 2014; Ile et al., 2023; Solomon et al., 2007). Perennial grass species such as miscanthus ( Miscanthus × giganteus ) have been found to yield substantial amounts of biomass with relatively low inputs, thus making them ideal candidates for second‐generation bioenergy crops in land areas considered as “marginal” (Stephenson et al., 2021).…”

Energy production and its characteristics from four tropical trees species planted in short rotation woody systems in Costa Rica

“…Woody species planted under SRC systems have been established in many countries around the world, especially in the European Union and North America (Djomo et al 2015;Ile et al 2022). However, limited experience in establishing SRC is found in the Latin America area (Moya et al 2019;Silva et al 2022); little by little, they have gained importance in countries including Chile (Yáñez et al 2019), Brazil (Santos and Reichert 2022), and some Central American countries such as Costa Rica (Tenorio et al 2019a,b).…”