@article{ThevsAlievEmilevaetal.2022, author = {Thevs, Niels and Aliev, Kumar and Emileva, Begayim and Yuldasheva, Dilfuza and Eshchanova, Guzal and Welp, Martin}, title = {Potential of Agroforestry to Provide Wood Resources to Central Asia}, series = {Forests}, volume = {13}, journal = {Forests}, number = {8}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {1999-4907}, doi = {10.3390/f13081193}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3104}, pages = {14}, year = {2022}, abstract = {Background: Agroforestry systems have the potential to provide timber and wood as a domestic raw material, as well as an additional source of income for rural populations. In Central Asia, tree windbreaks from mainly poplar trees have a long tradition, but were largely cut down as source for fuel wood after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. As Central Asia is a forest-poor region, restoration of tree windbreaks has the potential to provide timber and wood resources to that region. This study aimed to assess the potential of tree windbreaks to contribute to domestic timber and wood production. Methods: This study rests on a GIS-based analysis, in which tree lines (simulated by line shape files) were intersected with cropland area. The tree data to calculate timber and wood volumes stem from a dataset with 728 single trees from a relevant range of climatic conditions. Results: The potential annually available timber volumes from tree windbreaks with 500 m spacing are 2.9 million m3 for Central Asia as a whole and 1.5 million m3 for Uzbekistan alone, which is 5 times the current domestic roundwood production and imports of the country. Conclusions: tree windbreaks offer untapped potential to deliver wood resources domestically as a raw material for wood-based value chains.}, language = {en} } @article{ThevsGombertStrengeetal.2019, author = {Thevs, Niels and Gombert, Alina Joana and Strenge, Eva and Lleshi, Roland and Aliev, Kumar and Emileva, Begaiym}, title = {Tree Wind Breaks in Central Asia and Their Effects on Agricultural Water Consumption}, series = {Land}, volume = {8}, journal = {Land}, number = {11}, publisher = {MDPI}, issn = {2073-445X}, doi = {10.3390/land8110167}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:eb1-opus-3306}, pages = {17}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Across Central Asia, agriculture largely depends on irrigation due to arid and semi-arid climatic conditions. Water is abstracted from rivers, which are largely fed by glacier melt. In the course of climate change, glaciers melt down so that a reduced glacier volume and reduced water runoffs are expected to be available for irrigation. Tree wind breaks are one option to reduce water consumption in irrigated agriculture and build resilience against climate change. This paper therefore assesses the water consumption of major crops in Kyrgyzstan and adjacent areas, i.e., cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) in combination with tree wind breaks. Crop water consumption was assessed through the Penman Monteith approach. Tree wind break types investigated were single rows from poplars (Populus spec.) and multiple rows with understory vegetation by elm (Ulmus minor L.) and poplar, respectively. Tree water consumption was determined through sapflow measurements. The seasonal reference evapotranspiration (ETo) for field crops was 876-995 mm without wind breaks and dropped to less than half through multiple row wind breaks with understory vegetation (50 m spacing). Tree water consumption was 1125-1558 mm for poplar and 435 mm for elm. Among the wind break crop systems, elm wind breaks resulted in the highest reductions of water consumption, followed by single row poplars, at spacing of 50 and 100 m, respectively. However, elm grows much slower than poplar, so poplars might be more attractive for farmers. Furthermore, single row wind breaks might by much easier to be integrated into the agrarian landscape as they consume less space.}, language = {en} }