Development of ground flora during establishment of commercial short-rotation coppice (SRC) plantations

Short-rotation coppice (SRC) growing for energy production is an expanding fledgling industry in the UK. As part of the UK's commitment to international agreements concerning climate change a national flagship project (Project Arbre) encompassing the complete cycle of energy production from willow growing through to the sale of the electricity produced was initiated in Yorkshire. As a part of this initiative the environmental effects of commercial-scale coppice production are being assessed. Part of the monitoring consists of assessing key wildlife indicators including use of coppice by songbirds, butterflies, other canopy invertebrates and a detailed assessment of ground flora. In order to understand the potential effects of coppice on the local environment, a comparison with existing neighbouring crops is also undertaken. Results from the first year of the ground-flora-monitoring programme are presented here. They indicate that during establishment willow SRC contains more weed species than conventional arable crops but that a more stable ground flora with less competitive plants is beginning to colonise after just one year's growth. Headlands of SRC plantations contained fewer potentially harmful weed species in comparison to those associated with arable crops.