Large carbon-sink potential by Kyoto forests in Sweden - A case study on willow plantations

Abstract

Fluxes of CO2 were measured in a 75-ha short-rotation willow plantation at Enköping, central Sweden. The plantation was irrigated with wastewater for fertilization and water-filtering purposes. The harvested biomass was used locally for combined heat and power production. The plantation was a sink of ca. 8 tonnes C ha -1 during 2003, of which ca. 50% was estimated to be attributed to fertilization. Biomass increment by shoot growth was 5 tonnes C ha-1 during the same year. Belowground carbon allocation was estimated to 3 tonnes C ha-1 yr-1 by a model that relates carbon allocation to shoot growth. Thus, the ecosystem carbon balance was closed by these estimations. The carbon uptake by the willow plantation was 5.5 times as high compared to a normally managed spruce forest, but only half as high as from an experimental, well-managed willow plantation in the same region. This illustrates the vast potential of short-rotation willow plantations for CO2 uptake from the atmosphere. © 2007 The Authors Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard.