1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture:
TOWARDS SOIL SUSTAINABILITY
11–13 June 2024 • Lublin–Nałęczów, Poland

https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.PP.28
Published online: 4 October 2024

Effect of shrub willow (Salix viminalis L.) cultivation
on the storage of organic matter in arable soils
Katarzyna Sołek-Podwika*, Krystyna Ciarkowska

Soil Science and Agrophysics Department, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Adama Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Kraków, Poland
* Corresponding author:

Abstract
In order to reduce gas emissions, energy from renewable sources is increasingly used. Renewable energy sources include solid biomass from plantations of species cultivated for energy purposes, e.g. willow. Additionally, the expected effect of long-term (20–25 years) willow cultivation on agricultural lands is the accumulation of organic matter (MO). The aim of the study was to determine the impact of shrub willow (S. viminalis L.) plantations cultivated for energy purposes on the MO content in soils of arable fields temporarily excluded from arable use. The aim was achieved by comparing MO contents in soils of different ages (4–14 years) of willow plantations and soils remaining under traditional arable use at that time. For the research 12 sites were selected, each with a shrub willow plantation and an arable field in its immediate vicinity. It was assumed that the soil properties before the change in use were similar, and the current differences result from the type of use. Soil samples were taken from the layers: 0–5 cm, 5–10 cm, 10–15 cm and from 15 cm up to the natural horizontal boundary of the surface horizons. It was found that the intensification and direction of MO changes were related to the age of S. viminalis. After 4 years from the establishment of the plantation, MO contents in the separated layers of the plantation soils were lower than in the analogous layers of the reference, arable soil. With the increase of the age of the plantation (5–6 years), an increase in MO contents were observed, but only in the 0–5 cm layers. However, despite the high accumulation of MO in the 0–5 cm layers, its contents in the surface horizons were still lower than in the corresponding horizons of the reference soils. In the soils of older plantations, the increase in MO content was observed in layers (0–10 cm) and sometimes also in deeper ones. The highest increase in MO content in all layers compared to the reference soil was found in the soil of the oldest, 14-year-old willow plantation. The initial loss of MO in soils of the willow plantation may result from the imbalance between the accumulation of MO originating from root and leaf biomass and losses due to their decomposition, and the intensive development of plants. In subsequent years of willow cultivation, the soil receives an increasing amount of organic matter from the leaves, which contributes to a greater accumulation of MO in the soils of willow plantation than in arable soils.

Keywords: humus horizons, arable field, age of willow plantations

How to cite
Sołek-Podwika K., Ciarkowska K., 2024. Effect of shrub willow (Salix viminalis L.) cultivation on the storage of organic matter in arable soils. 1st International Conference of Soil and Agriculture: Towards Soil Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.24326/ICSA1.PP.28