Leslie, Andrew (2016) Eucalypts As a Genus for Short Rotation Forestry in Great Britain
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Leslie, Andrew (2016) Eucalypts as a genus for short rotation forestry in Great Britain. Doctoral thesis, University of Edinburgh. Downloaded from: http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3539/ Usage of any items from the University of Cumbria’s institutional repository ‘Insight’ must conform to the following fair usage guidelines. Any item and its associated metadata held in the University of Cumbria’s institutional repository Insight (unless stated otherwise on the metadata record) may be copied, displayed or performed, and stored in line with the JISC fair dealing guidelines (available here) for educational and not-for-profit activities provided that • the authors, title and full bibliographic details of the item are cited clearly when any part of the work is referred to verbally or in the written form • a hyperlink/URL to the original Insight record of that item is included in any citations of the work • the content is not changed in any way • all files required for usage of the item are kept together with the main item file. You may not • sell any part of an item • refer to any part of an item without citation • amend any item or contextualise it in a way that will impugn the creator’s reputation • remove or alter the copyright statement on an item. The full policy can be found here. Alternatively contact the University of Cumbria Repository Editor by emailing [email protected]. This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Eucalypts as a genus for short rotation forestry in Great Britain Andrew Dunbar Leslie A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisors: Professor Maurizio Mencuccini Dr Mike Perks University of Edinburgh October 2015 Table of Contents List of Figures .......................................................................................................................... 7 List of Tables ......................................................................................................................... 10 Declaration ............................................................................................................................. 14 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ 15 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 18 1.1 Meeting demand for biomass ....................................................................................... 18 1.2 Broadening the range of trees used in production forestry .......................................... 22 1.3 Eucalyptus as a production genus ................................................................................ 23 1.4 Extent of previous and contemporary research ............................................................ 27 1.5 Aims and objectives of the study ................................................................................. 28 1.5 Justification of study .................................................................................................... 28 1.6 Important questions, Existing information, approaches and gaps in information ....... 30 1.7 Overview of Chapters ................................................................................................. 35 Chapter 2 Literature review ........................................................................................... 35 Chapter 3 Identification of species and provenances suited to Britain .......................... 36 Chapter 4 Comparison of SRF species at Newton Rigg ............................................... 37 Chapter 5 Characterising volume and growth ............................................................... 39 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 40 2.1 History of eucalypts in the British Isles ....................................................................... 40 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 40 The early history of eucalypts in the British Isles .......................................................... 42 The history of eucalypts in the British Isles since the 1980s ......................................... 47 The future for Eucalyptus in the British Isles ................................................................ 49 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 52 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 53 2.2 The potential for Eucalyptus as a wood fuel in Great Britain ...................................... 53 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 53 Eucalypts as a productive wood fuel resource ............................................................... 54 2 Eucalypts for short rotation forestry based on current knowledge................................. 55 Impact on the environment ............................................................................................ 65 Socio-political and economic factors ............................................................................. 66 Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 3 Identification of species and provenances suited to Britain .................................. 68 3.1 Growth and survival of provenances of snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) and other hardy eucalypts at three trials in England. ......................................................................... 68 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 68 Materials and Methods ................................................................................................... 71 Results ............................................................................................................................ 74 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 81 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 85 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ 86 3.2 Results of a species and provenance trial of cold tolerant eucalypts in south west England .............................................................................................................................. 87 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 87 Materials & Methods ..................................................................................................... 88 Results ............................................................................................................................ 92 Discussion ...................................................................................................................... 97 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 101 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 4 Comparison of SRF species at Newton Rigg ...................................................... 103 4.1 Survival, growth, leaf area and phenology of short rotation forestry species at a trial in northern England .............................................................................................................. 103 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 103 Methods and Analysis .................................................................................................. 105 The Experiment ............................................................................................................ 105 Measurements and overview of analysis for each study .............................................. 108 Results .......................................................................................................................... 112