Bioenergy Crop Productivity in Short Rotation Systems

Short rotation systems cultivate fast-growing woody species such as willow, poplar and eucalyptus on cycles typically ranging from two to six years, delivering renewable biomass for energy while offering co-benefits in carbon management, soil health and landscape restoration. Productivity in these systems is shaped by genotype selection, site conditions, water and nutrient supply, harvesting regimes and market incentives. Advances in breeding have yielded high-yielding triploid hybrids and genotypes with favourable root‐shoot allocation, enhancing both above-ground biomass and below-ground carbon storage. Site-specific management—including irrigation strategies, fertilisation tactics and riparian buffer deployment—can modulate yield, ecosystem service delivery and economic returns assessed through metrics such as net present value. Globally, short rotation plantations contribute to decarbonisation pathways by displacing fossil fuels, sequestering atmospheric CO₂ and improving biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Their integration into agroforestry, riparian restoration and marginal land remediation underscores their multifunctional role in sustainable land use and the bioeconomy.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Bioenergy Crop Productivity in Short Rotation Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in bioenergy crop productivity in short rotation systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Short rotation coppice: A cultivation practice involving densely planted, fast-growing woody crops harvested in frequent cycles (2–6 years) for biomass.

Biomass yield: The dry matter mass of harvested plant material produced per hectare per year.

Carbon sequestration: The capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide in plant biomass and soil organic matter.

Net present value: The discounted sum of projected revenues minus costs over the lifetime of a plantation, used to assess economic viability.

References

1. Production pathways for profitability and valuing ecosystem services for willow coppice in intensive agricultural applications. Sustainable Production and Consumption (2023).
2. Assessing the potential of poplar short rotation plantations to contribute to a low-carbon bioeconomy under water-limited conditions. Journal of Environmental Management (2023).
3. Beyond biomass production: Enhancing biodiversity while capturing carbon in short rotation coppice poplar plantations. The Science of The Total Environment (2024).
4. Short rotation willow to restore degraded marginal land and enhance climate resiliency within the Prairie Pothole Region: A potential nature-based solution. Nature-Based Solutions (2024).
5. Early selection of novel triploid hybrids of shrub willow with improved biomass yield relative to diploids. BMC Plant Biology (2014).
6. High yielding biomass genotypes of willow (Salix spp.) show differences in below ground biomass allocation. Biomass and Bioenergy (2015).