Biomass, Carbon and Nitrogen Distribution in Living Woody Plant Parts ofRobinia pseudoacaciaL. Growing on Reclamation Sites in the Mining Region of Lower Lusatia (Northeast Germany)

Abstract

In the lignite mining region of Lower Lusatia (NE-Germany), Robinia pseudoacaciaL. is an increasingly popular tree for the biomass production with short rotation coppices (SRCs) on reclamation sites. In order to evaluate biomass production, C and N allocation patterns in R. pseudoacaciastands between shoot, stump, coarse, and fine roots samples were collected from seedlings and three adjacent plantations and plants that were one, two and twelve years old. Results indicated that the summarized average dry matter production (DM) of the woody plant parts increased with plant age up to 7.45 t DM ha ⁻¹yr ⁻¹with a corresponding shoot increment of up to 4.77 t DM ha ⁻¹ yr ⁻¹in the twelve-year-old stands. The shoot to root ratio changed from 0.2 for the one-year-old trees to 2.0 in the twelve-year-old plantation, whereby an average amount of 3.4 t C ha ⁻¹ yr ⁻¹and 0.1 t N ha ⁻¹ yr ⁻¹was annually bound in the living woody plant parts over the period of twelve years. Summing up, the results suggest a high potential for C and N storage of R. pseudoacaciawhat is also beneficial for land reclamation due to positive implications on soil humus and general site fertility.