Objective
EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS IS A FAST GROWING SPECIES AND, IN WELL TENTED PLANTATIONS, IN PORTUGAL, NET PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY MAY REACH UP TO 40 T.HA TO THE POWER OF MINUS 1 YEAR TO THE POWER OF MINUS 1. HOWEVER ACTUAL BIOMASS PRODUCTION IN MOST PLANTATIONS IS WELL UNDER THIS PRODUCTIVITY.
A RESEARCH PROJECT INCLUDING EXPERIMENTAL FIELD TRIALS WAS DESIGNED TO INCREASE BIOMASS PRODUCTION OF EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS HAVING IN MIND A POSSIBLE BIOMASS UTILIZATION FOR ENERGY AND FIBER. THE BASIC ASSUMPTIONS IN THIS PROJECT ARE THAT BIOMASS PRODUCTION IS A FUNCTION OF THE SOLAR RADIATION INTERCEPTED BY THE FOLIAGE AND THAT THE EFFICIENCY WITH WHICH SOLAR RADIATION IS CONVERTED INTO BIOMASS BY A GIVEN GENOTYPE UNDER A GIVEN CLIMATE IS INFLUENCED BY SOIL FERTILITY AND WATER AVAILABILITY.
THE PROJECT INCLUDES AN EXPERIMENTAL SITE OF APPROX. 25000 SQ.M WHERE FOUR TREATMENTS WILL BE APPLIED TO THE EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS PLANTATION: OPTIMAL WATER AND OPTIMAL NUTRIENTS; OPTIMAL WATER; NO WATER, NO NUTRIENTS (CONTROL); NUTRIENTS. THE EFFECTS OF MINERAL NUTRITION AND IRRIGATION WILL BE STUDIED IN RELATION TO TREE GROWTH, PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY, BIOMASS PRODUCTION AND PARTITION, SEASONAL VARIATION IN PLANT WATER STRESS, FOOD AND ENERGY RESERVES ACCUMULATION AND UTILIZATION, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOD AS RELATED TO USE AS PULP FIBER SOURCE.
FINAL COMMENTS :
THE PRESENT PROJECT AND EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN WILL ALLOW MULTI-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AIMING AT AN INTEGRATED VIEW OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THESE PLANTATIONS. IT WILL INVOLVE THEREFORE THE COLLABORATIVE PARTICIPATION OF RESEARCHERS FROM SEVERAL INSTITUTIONS INCLUDING THE INDUSTRY.
THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN ALLOWS SUPPORT OF ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND IS OPEN TO COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMS.
An experimental plantation of Eucalyptus globulus was established and subjected to daily irrigation and weekly liquid fertilization (IL). Trees which were fertilized and irrigated produced, after 2 years, 2.7 times more biomass than untreated control trees (C), and 2.1 times more after 3 years of growth. The proportion of stemwood in relation to total standing biomass was also higher in IL trees by a factor of approximately 1.1. A comparison between 2 and 3 year old wood showed an average increase in ash and extractives, especially ethanol and water solubles which represented approximately 90% of the total extractives. Lignin content also increased with age. In comparison to wood, bark has a higher content of ash and extractives but a lower content of polysaccharides. This is a negative factor for utilization of young trees for pulp production since unbarked trees are used requiring a higher alkali consumption.
Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the chemical composition between treatments except for bark lignin.
An experimental plantation was established in 1986 to study the productivity of Eucalyptus globulus (E Globulus) in relation to soil fertility. Water and nutrient supply were varied control; solid fertilization; irrigation; or near optimal growth conditions with water and nutrient supplied according to plant needs.
Biomass production in E globulus was found to be strongly influenced by soil fertility. Water stress was the main limiting growth factor even in the moderate climatic conditions of the experiment. The effect of nutrient supply by fertilization was enhanced by percipitation, especially during the growth period. The increase in biomass production was largely due to a more rapid leaf production and canopy closure as a result of fertilization and irrigation. The high correlation between net primary productivity and intercepted solar radiation makes this parameter a powerful predictor for productivity, accounting for environmental variability. As expected, an increase to nitrogen supply resulted in a decrease in nitrogen use efficiency, in spite of a significant increase in leaf area and production.
THE EXPERIMENTAL SITE IS SITUATED AT THE FURADOURO FIELD STATION, NEAR OBIDOS, PORTUGAL, OWNED BY CELBI (CELULOSE BEIRA INDUSTRIAL, SARL), LOCATED AT 8 KM FROM THE ATLANTIC SHORE (39 DEGREES 20'N, 0 DEGREE 5'W, ALT. 34 M). THE CLIMATE IS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN TYPE TEMPERED BY OCEANIC INFLUENCES. THE SOIL CONSISTS OF QUARTZ SAND WITH AN INITIAL LOW ORGANIC (0,8%). THE SITE WAS CLEARED OF THE ORIGINAL PINUS RADIATA AND EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS PLANTATIONS IN 1984, AND WAS DEEP PLOWED AND HARROWED BEFORE PLANTING.
THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN CONSISTS OF 2 COMPLETELY RANDOMIZED BLOCKS WITH FOUR TREATMENTS. EACH BLOCK WILL CONSIST THEREFORE OF FOUR PLOTS EACH WITH ONE TREATMENT AND THE RESPECTIVE PROTECTIVE AREAS. THE TOTAL AREA FOR EACH BLOCK IS 12 150 SQ.M.
THE TREATMENT ARE:
T1. FERTILIZED (LIQUID FERTILIZER) AND IRRIGATED (FERTILIZER ADDED WITH IRRIGATION WATER TO MAINTAIN AN "OPTIMIZED" LEVEL OF WATER AND NUTRIENT SUPPLY)
T2. IRRIGATION (NO FERTILIZERS ADDED; AS IN T1 ANY LEVEL OF WATER STRESS WILL BE AVOIDED)
T3. NO WATER AND NO FERTILIZERS ADDED (CONTROL)
T4. FERTILIZED BUT NO IRRIGATED FIELD LAY-OUT.
IN EACH PLOT THERE ARE SUBPLOTS FOR NON-DESTRUCTIVE DENDROMETRIC DETERMINATIONS AND SUBPLOTS FOR DESTRUCTIVE BIOMASS DETERMINATIONS.
THE PROJECT WILL DEPEND ON THE PERFORMANCE OF CERTAIN RUNNING ACTIVITIES, NAMELY ON THE FIELD, WHICH ARE THE BASIS FOR ALL SPECIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES. THESE RUNNING ACTIVITIES ARE : IRRIGATION, FERTILIZATION, SOIL NUTRIENT ANALYSIS, BIOMASS HARVEST, DENDROMETRIC (NON-DESTRUCTIVE) MEASUREMENTS, LITTER FALL MEASUREMENT AND METEOROLOGICAL DATA.
THE EFFECTS OF MINERAL NUTRITION AND IRRIGATION WILL BE STUDIED IN RELATION TO : TREE GROWTH, PHOTOSYNTHETIC CAPACITY, BIOMASS PRODUCTION, BIOMASS PARTITION, SEASONAL VARIATION IN PLANT WATER STRESS, FOOD AND ENERGY RESERVES ACCUMULATION AND UTILIZATION, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOD AS RELATED TO USE AS PULP FIBER SOURCE.
EVALUATION OF EUCALYPT BIOMASS FOR USE ENERGY SOURCE WILL INCLUDE ANALYSIS OF ENERGETIC BEHAVIOUR COMPONENTS AND INCLUDE DENSITY AND ASH DETERMINATIONS.
UTILIZATION OF MINERAL NUTRIENTS FROM THE ASHES OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMBUSTION OF BARK AND FOLIAGE OF EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS WILL BE TESTED IN AN EXPERIMENTAL PLOT WITHIN THE EXPERIMENTAL FIELD STATION.
IN PARALLEL, SMALL SCALE TRIALS OF EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS PROVENANCES ARE CARRIED OUT IN FIVE DIFFERENT PARTS OF PORTUGAL TO EVALUATE GROWTH, ADAPTATION, CAPACITY TO OVERCOME COMPETITION, REACTION TO COPPICING AND RESISTANCE TO PESTS, WHICH CAN BE EXTRAPOLATED TO SIMILAR ENVIRONMENTS IN SOUTHERN EUROPE.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering fibers
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels biomass energy
- engineering and technology civil engineering water engineering irrigation
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences meteorology solar radiation
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture arboriculture
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Coordinator
LISBOA
Portugal
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