Background: Agroforestry systems have the potential to provide timber and wood as a domestic raw material, as well as an additional source of income for rural populations. In Central Asia, tree windbreaks from mainly poplar trees have a long tradition, but were largely cut down as source for fuel wood after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. As Central Asia is a forest-poor region, restoration of tree windbreaks has the potential to provide timber and wood resources to that region. This study aimed to assess the potential of tree windbreaks to contribute to domestic timber and wood production. Methods: This study rests on a GIS-based analysis, in which tree lines (simulated by line shape files) were intersected with cropland area. The tree data to calculate timber and wood volumes stem from a dataset with 728 single trees from a relevant range of climatic conditions. Results: The potential annually available timber volumes from tree windbreaks with 500 m spacing are 2.9 million m3 for Central Asia as a whole and 1.5 million m3 for Uzbekistan alone, which is 5 times the current domestic roundwood production and imports of the country. Conclusions: tree windbreaks offer untapped potential to deliver wood resources domestically as a raw material for wood-based value chains.
Tag: Fast-Growing trees
Water productivity of Paulownia tomentosa x fortunei (Shan Tong) in a plantation at Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia
Central Asia is a region where forests are naturally scarce and additionally are under high anthropogenic pressure due to an unmet demand for timber and fuelwood. Cultivation of fast-growing trees as a means to satisfy this need may, therefore, be instrumental to forest conservation and/or restoration efforts. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in Paulownia spp. as agroforestry or plantation tree. Paulownia is a deciduous tree genus of Chinese origin that is valued for its fast growth and light, yet sturdy wood, among other characteristics. This study investigated the water consumption, biomass production, and water productivity of Paulownia tomentosa x fortunei (trade name: Shan Tong) in a plantation setting on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul (Kyrgyzstan) over the course of the vegetation period 2019. The method employed was Granier’s thermal dissipation probe for measuring sap flow in trees. Estimated trunk biomass production per tree and season ranged from 1.52 to 3.41 kg, and the trees were found to consume between 433 and 613 l of water in total over the growing season. Water productivity, the amount of exploitable stem biomass produced per litre of water input, consequently ranged between 4.3 and 8.0 g l−1. As numerous studies suggest that the thermal dissipation method underestimates tree water consumption to varying degrees, these values likely represent the upper range of the species’ water productivity. A literature review shows its water productivity to be higher than that of regionally employed tree species such as Populus euphratica or Elaeagnus angustifolia.