Agricultural Sciences, 2022, 13, 378-392 https://www.scirp.org/journal/as ISSN Online: 2156-8561 ISSN Print: 2156-8553 DOI: 10.4236/as.2022.133026 Mar. 15, 2022 378 Agricultural Sciences The Effect of Willow Short Rotation Coppice Cultivation on the Biodiversity Quality of Ground-Layer Invertebrates Michael Alan Williams 1 , Alan Feest 1,2* 1 Ecosulis Ltd., Harwell Innovation Centre, Oxford, UK 2 Faculty of Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Abstract The biodiversity quality of ground-layer invertebrates within the cropped area of a plantation of the biomass crop willow short-rotation coppice (SRC) grown within a floodplain was compared to the biodiversity quality of the neighbouring plots of floodplain grassland and a mixed deciduous woodland plantation. Pitfall traps were used to collect ground beetles (Carabidae) and arachnids (Araneae and Opiliones) in the plots over a period of two years. A range of biodiversity indices was used to assess the biodiversity quality of each of the three plots, and the willow SRC was compared to each of the con- trols using Mann-Whitney tests. The willow SRC transitioned from almost bare ground to young woodland during the two years of the study, which af- fected comparisons with alternative land uses as the habitat during the second year was very different from the habitat at the start of the study. Compared to plantation woodland, in the first year, the effect was mostly positive, but this declined in the second year. Compared to grassland there was a largely nega- tive effect in both years. However, when in combination with other habitats, willow SRC cultivation on floodplain land may have an overall positive effect on invertebrate biodiversity quality. Keywords Biodiversity Quality, Biomass, Energy Crops, Rarity, Short Rotation Coppice 1. Introduction With the utilisation of biomass as an energy source considered to be among the measures necessary to tackle climate change [1], it becomes important to under- stand the impact that biomass crops might have on biodiversity. Intensive- How to cite this paper: Williams, M.A. and Feest, A. (2022) The Effect of Willow Short Rotation Coppice Cultivation on the Biodiversity Quality of Ground-Layer In- vertebrates. Agricultural Sciences, 13, 378-392. https://doi.org/10.4236/as.2022.133026 Received: January 19, 2022 Accepted: March 12, 2022 Published: March 15, 2022 Copyright © 2022 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access