RATING-SRC Reducing Environmental Impacts of Short- Rotation Coppice (SRC) Through Evidence-Based Integrated Decision Support Tools Dimitriou I. a*, Bolte A. b, Aronsson P. a, Baum C. c, Baum S. b, Berndes G. d, Busch G. b, Köhn J. e, Lamersdorf N. b, Leinweber P. c, Weih M. a, Wirsenius S. d * Corresponding author, Rating-SRC is an ERA-NET Bioenergy project dealing with the impact of Short-Rotation Coppice (SRC) of willow and poplar on the environment Partners from Sweden and Germany Duration: Oct – Sep The project Project partners Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) (Project coordinator) ( a ) Contact: Dr. Ioannis Dimitriou Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries (vTI) In co-op. with: Göttingen Soil Initiative (GBI e.V.); University of Göttingen, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, Dep. of Soil Science of Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems (PGZ); Bureau for Applied Landscape Ecology and Scenario Analysis, Göttingen (BALSA) ( b ) Contact: Prof. Dr. Andreas Bolte University of Rostock ( c ) Contact: Prof. Dr. Peter Leinweber Chalmers University of Technology ( d ) Contact: Dr. Göran Berndes Beckmann Institute for Bio-production technology lines e.V. (BIOP Institut) ( e ) Contact: Dr. Jörg Köhn The German Ministry of Agriculture (BMELV) through its Agency for Renewable Resources (Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e.V. – FNR) is funding Rating-SRC partners from Germany, and the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) is financing the Swedish partners of the project. The idea behind As a perennial wood crop SRC differs from most arable crops in physical traits and management practices Positive environmental benefits due to SRC have been reported but the effects on the environment depend on existing or previous land-use, scale of planting and management practices applied Nevertheless, SRC is in some cases faced with reservation concerning its environmental impact since it is a new crop and gaps in knowledge exist SRC of willow and poplar is an agricultural crop for production of biomass for heat and/or electricity A rapid increase of agricultural land cultivated with SRC has been projected This shift from “conventional” arable crops to SRC will have implications on a range of environmental issues The objectives a full-scale evaluation of SRC impact in the micro- and macro-scale on soil, water, biodiversity and landscape to propose ways to mitigate negative and increase positive impacts to accommodate decision-makers of different levels with support tools to assess the sustainability of SRC as agricultural crop For more information visit the Rating-SRC website: Rating-SRC will: consider factors strengthening SRC as a sustainable energy generation system, as the recycling of byproducts in SRC fields develop recommendations to increase the positive and mitigate the negative impacts of SRC on the environment develop SRC “suitability” maps for certain areas based on the project findings SRC as agricultural crop