The Ellerslie Short Rotation Woody Crops (SRWC) Technical Development Site provided a unique opportunity to evaluate (from establishment to end-user) growth and yield, physical and chemical characterization, carbon sequestration, and economics associated with high-yield afforestation (hybrid poplar and aspen). It also helped with the evaluation of concentrated afforestation (willow and hybrid poplar) plantations in Canada. The 101 operational research trials established from 2002 to 2019 provided the infrastructure and research data to evaluate carbon sequestration potential and for the creation of knowledge transfer products, including SRWC establishment and management protocols, peer-reviewed publications, and educational tours.
Full rotation growth and yield and harvesting productivity analysis identified that High Yield Afforestation plantations resulted in positive return of investment. The 15-year growth of the Forest 2020 Plantation Demonstration and Assessment Initiative plantation averaged 14.12 m3 ha-1 yr-1, which resulted in an average net increase of 21.4 tonnes of CO2 eq per hectare per year. Post harvest sampling identified that 42.42% of the sequestered carbon remained on-site in the form of increased soil carbon (13.59%), residues (4.44%), litter (8.49%) and stumps and roots (15.89%), following the harvesting of logs for pulp (47.91%) and processing of roadside residues (9.67%) for woody biomass. The development and validation of SRWC establishment and management protocols, clonal suitability and afforestation site suitability models resulting from the operational research at Ellerslie provide a suite of tools for the implementation of a large scale afforestation program in Canada.