Simulating biomass production and water use of poplars in a plantation using a STELLA-Based model

Abstract

Poplar trees (Populus spp.) are some of the fastest growing hardwoods used for biomassproduction. There are, however, conflicting observations about water use of poplars associated withthe impact on local water resources. A STELLA (Structural Thinking and Experiential LearningLaboratory with Animation) model was modified to investigate the aboveground biomass productionand water use in a mature (6 to 8 yrs. old) poplar plantation for a 3-year simulation period. Themodel predicted the typical annual pattern of soil evaporation, root water uptake, and leaf watertranspiration in the poplar plantation increasing from winter to summer followed by respectivedecreases from summer to winter. Root water uptake and leaf water transpiration were proportionalto the soil water content. More water was needed to produce the same amount of biomass duringsummer than during other seasons. Less water was consumed to produce the same amount ofbiomass as the age of the poplar trees increased. The net increase in biomass over the 3-year periodwas 0.69 104 kg/ha, which was equivalent to a 65% increase in biomass. The average rate of dailywater use to daily biomass production was 1.05 109 cm3 water/kg biomass/ha. A good linearcorrelation between cumulative biomass production (CBP) and cumulative water use (CWU) wasidentified: YCBP = 0.001  XCWU, R2 = 0.99, p < 0.001. This simple correlation provides a very goodreference to estimate poplar water use efficiency (i.e., ratio of water use to biomass production) ingrowing regions where water resources are a limiting factor

Citation

Ouyang, Ying; Dev, Satyanarayan; Grace III, Johnny M.; Amatya, Devendra M.; Leininger, Theodor D. 2022. Simulating biomass production and water use of poplars in a plantation using a STELLA-Based model. Forests. 13(4): 547-. https://doi.org/10.3390/f13040547.