Werther Guidi
Postdoctoral research fellow
- Postdoctoral research fellow with Michel Labrecque
- 514.343.6111 #82094
“Multifunctional use of willow and poplar for biomass production and phytoremediation of contaminated sites.”
My research interests basically lie on multifunctional use of no-food crops (i.e. short-rotation woody crops) in order to integrate biomass production and environmental services that these crops may perform. Ideally, this can be achieved by growing woody plants (e.g. poplars, willows,) suitable for bioenergy production (after harvest) that can be also used for environmental applications (while the crop is growing). These include phytoremediation, bioengineering, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat preservation, and many others.
Over the past few years, I have been working mainly on remediation techniques to decontaminate wastewaters using short-rotation woody crops. This requires plants characterized by rapid establishment and fast growth, high rate of nutrients uptake, heavy metals tolerance, rapid root system development and high evapotranspiration rates.
Recently I joined the Plant Biology Research Institute; University of Montreal where I have been testing several remediation techniques using fast-growing tree species. Currently the projects I am working on involve the phytoremediation on a former oil refinery using willow. In most cases, plants are not only exposed to pollutants but they are also forced to grow and develop in an unfavourable environment (low soil fertility, flooding condition, drought, etc.).
With my work I am trying to identify the main constrains and to propose solutions making this technique ideally suitable on a wide range of practical applications.
Publications
- Guidi W., Kadri H., Labrecque L. (2011) “Establishment techniques to using willow for phytoremediation on a former oil refinery in southern-Quebec: achievements and constraints”. Chemistry and Ecology, in press.
- Teodorescu T.I., Guidi W., Labrecque M. (2011) “The use of non-dormant rods as planting material: a new approach to establishing willow for environmental applications”. Ecological Engineering 37 (9): 1430-1433.
- Fillion, M., Brisson, J., Guidi, W., Labrecque, M. (2011) “Increasing phosphorus removal in willow and poplar vegetation filters using arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi”. Ecological Engineering 37 (2): 199-205.
- Nassi o Di Nasso N., Guidi W., Ragaglini G., Tozzini C., Bonari E. (2010) “Biomass production and energy balance of a twelve-year-old short-rotation coppice poplar stand under different cutting cycles”. Global Change Biology Bioenergy. 2 (2): 89–97.
- Guidi W., Labrecque M. (2010) “Effects of high water supply on growth, water use and nutrient allocation in willow and poplar grown in a one-year pot trial”. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 207 (1-4): 85-101.
- Guidi W., Tozzini C., Bonari E. (2009) “Estimation of chemical traits in poplar short-rotation coppice at stand level”. Biomass and Bioenergy, 33 (12):1703-1709.
- Pistocchi C., Guidi W., Piccioni E., Bonari E. (2009) “Water requirements of poplar and willow vegetation filters grown in lysimeters under Mediterranean conditions. Results of the second rotation”. Desalination, 246 (1):138-147.
- Guidi W., Piccioni E., Bonari E. (2008) “Evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of poplar and willow short-rotation coppice used as vegetation filter”. Bioresource Technology, 99 (11): 4832-4840.
- Guidi W., Piccioni E., Ginanni M. Bonari E., (2008) “Bark content estimation in poplar (Populus deltoides L.) short-rotation coppice in Central Italy”. Biomass and Bioenergy, 32 (6):518-524.