Clonal variation in coppiced and uncoppiced growth, root sprout stem formation, and biomass partitioning in Salix interior on two highly disturbed site types

Abstract

Salix interior Rowlee (INT) is a wide-ranging North American willow from the small taxonomic group Salix section Longifoliae, notable for its ability to form multi-stemmed vegetative stem colonies arising via root sprouts (RS) from a shallow horizontal root network. This study quantifies biomass production for both 1-year-old coppiced plants and the original 4-year-old plants established from dormant, unrooted stem cuttings, as well as for the RS stems associated with each ortet (original mother plant) using eight selected INT clones established on two distinct site types. Significantly greater coppiced and uncoppiced ortet stem dry mass was recorded on coarse-textured, shale rock overburden (SO); possibly due to significantly greater fertility, compared to adjacent gravel outwash deposits (GD), which had greater RS stem mass. The total stem dry mass (ortet + associated RS) was comparable across the two different site types for both the 1-year-old coppiced plants and the 4-year-old uncoppiced plants, showing rapid recovery of biomass growth and yield in the year following coppicing. Significant clonal differences, as well as site type × clone interactions, were found for ortet stem dry mass, especially on SO sites, indicating that clonal selection might be useful to increase biomass production on different site types. When expressed as a fraction of total stem dry mass produced on 2 m × 2 m biomass plots, the RS component represented a significant 57% of total stem dry mass per plot (ortet + associated RS) on GD sites and only 18% on SO sites. The use of colony-forming willows such as INT minimizes the need for periodic replanting, providing a cost advantage over conventional short-rotation, coppice-based woody biomass plantations using species that do not have the ability to produce new stems via root sprouting. This root-sprouting trait enables INT to rapidly colonize and spread on difficult-to-manage sites, making it suitable for use in land reclamation.