TY - CONF A1 - Böhm, Christian A1 - Kanzler, Michael A1 - Freese, Dirk A2 - Palma, Joao H. N. T1 - Impact of black locust hedgerows on wind velocity and wind erosion in Eastern Germany T2 - 2nd European Agroforestry Conference: Integrating Science and Policy to Promote Agroforestry in Practice, June 2014, Cottbus, Germany N2 - The production of energy wood on arable land increased in Germany during the last years. Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) is a suitable tree species in order to ensure substantial woody biomass yields on agricultural sites in eastern Germany. Arranged in hedge structures (alley cropping) positive effects on wind velocity and hence on soil erosion can be expected for the whole agricultural production area. Results of field measurements carried out in several alley cropping sites located in eastern Germany show that wind velocity can be reduced by more than 50 %, even though tree hedgerows were not higher than four meters. Here, the reduction of wind speed was dependent on the distance to woody crops, the width of the crop alleys and the orientation of hedgerows. As a result of wind speeds reduction the potential of soil erosion by wind decreases considerably. The risk of wind erosion is even nearly negligible for 24 m wide or smaller crop alleys. The establishment of short rotation hedgerows could contribute to an enhanced protection against wind erosion and thus to an ecological and possible long-term economic appreciation of agricultural sites. Aside from erosion control, further advantages such as a lower evaporation rate, and thus a crop yield increase, may be connected to the establishment of such agroforestry systems. Against the background of the increasing demand for woody biomass for bioenergy, the cultivation of fast growing trees on agricultural sites can furthermore result in an additional incomefor farmers. This is a prerequisite for the spread of this kind of agroforestry in Germany, because a comparable large share of an unprotected field has to be planted with trees in order to ensure an efficient windbreak. Y1 - 2014 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-UBICO/frontdoor/index/index/docId/11420 UR - http://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/6764 SN - 978-972-97874-4-7 SP - 267 EP - 268 ER -