Luca Muraro

In Populus species (mainly H. Aspen and poplars) lie a great potential due to the high production (25-30 m3 per ha and year), short rotation length (15-20 years) and versatility.

In Sweden, many Populus species have been mainly planted on agricultural land. However, there has been increased interest in using alternative tree species on forest land, given the expected increase in extreme events such as storms and droughts, as a substitute for Norway spruce. Moreover, the forest land area suitable for poplar plantations is considerably greater than the available agricultural land: if only a fraction of this forest land will be planted with poplars or other fast growing broadleaves species, it would produce enough biomass to become an important bio-economy driver. This requires improved establishment practices and suitable genotypes to tackle the challenges that poplar species might face in the establishment process. Having a better understanding of such factors could lead to great results in the implementation of poplar species on forest land.

My PhD researches focus mainly on:

• finding effective establishment practices for Populus species in forest land
• identifying poplar genotypes suitable for acidic forest land
• comparing growth and establishment of different Populus clones to more widespread forest species; spruce, pine and birch