Potential of ecosystem services of Paulownia plantations in Ukraine: Modeling age dynamics

The article presents the results of a quantitative assessment of the carbon deposition potential, carbon dioxide sequestration, oxygen production, and bioenergetic productivity of Paulownia Clone in vitro-112 [Paulownia elongata S.Y.Hu × P. fortunei (Seem.) Hemsl.] and Paulownia tomentosa [(Thunb.) Steud.] during the first five years of cultivation in a plantation located in the central part of Kyiv, Ukraine. The study demonstrates that under favorable conditions, Paulownia can generate substantial amounts of resource and regulatory ecosystem services. Five-year-old plantations of P. tomentosa and Clone in vitro-112 deposited 29.62 and 39.10 t C ha¹, sequestered 108.57 and 143.36 t CO ha¹, and produced 14.21 and 18.77 t ha¹, respectively. The bioenergetic productivity of these plantations was also relatively high, reaching 1167.2 and 1524.9 GJ ha¹, respectively. The dynamics of ecosystem service provision over the first five years followed an upward trend and were well approximated by exponential regression models. Given its higher biomass productivity and low invasive potential due to seed sterility, the Paulownia Clone in vitro-112 cultivar is recommended for broader cultivation in Ukraine.