Coppicing

"Coppice" redirects here. For the locality in Oldham, seeCoppice, Greater Manchester.

"Copse" redirects here. Not to be confused withCorpseorCops.

Coppice stool shortly after coppicing

One year's regrowth:

CoppicedalderinHampshire,UK

Coppicing/ˈkɒpɪsɪŋ/is the traditional method inwoodland managementof cutting down a tree to astump,which in many species encourages newshootsto grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called acopse/kɒps/orcoppice,in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. The resulting living stumps are calledstools.New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced trees are harvested, and the cycle begins anew.Pollardingis a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots.Daisugi( đài sam, wheresugirefers toJapanese cedar), is a similar Japanese technique.

Manysilviculturepractices involve cutting and regrowth; coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe.The widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England.Many of the English language terms referenced in this article are particularly relevant to historic and contemporary practice in that area.

Typically a coppicedwoodlandis harvested in sections orcoupson a rotation. In this way, a crop is available each year somewhere in the woodland. Coppicing has the effect of providing a rich variety of habitats, as the woodland always has a range of different-aged coppice growing in it, which is beneficial forbiodiversity.The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use of the product.Birchcan be coppiced forfaggotson a three- or four-year cycle, whereasoakcan be coppiced over a fifty-year cycle forpolesorfirewood.

Trees being coppiced do not die of old age as coppicing maintains the tree at a juvenile stage, allowing them to reach immense ages.The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter; some are so large—as much as 5.5 metres (18 ft) across—that they are thought to have been continually coppiced for centuries.

History

Evidence suggests that coppicing has been continuously practised since pre-history.Coppiced stems are characteristically curved at the base. This curve occurs as the competing stems grow out from the stool in the early stages of the cycle, then up toward the sky as thecanopycloses.The curve may allow the identification of coppicetimberin archaeological sites. Timber in theSweet Trackin Somerset (built in thewinter of 3807 and 3806 BCE) has been identified as coppicedTiliaspecies.

Originally, the silvicultural system now called coppicing was practiced solely for small wood production.In German this is calledNiederwald,which translates as low forest. Later on in Mediaeval times, farmers encouraged pigs to feed from acorns, and so some trees were allowed to grow bigger.This different silvicultural system is called in Englishcoppice with standards.In German this is calledMittelwald(middle forest). As modern forestry (Hochwaldin German, which translates asHigh forest) seeks to harvest timber mechanically, and pigs are generally no longer fed from acorns, both systems have declined. However, there are cultural and wildlife benefits from these two silvicultural systems, so both can be found where timber production or some other main forestry purpose (such as aprotection forestagainst an avalanche) is not the sole management objective of the woodland.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the technology ofcharcoaliron production became widely established in England, continuing in some areas until the late 19th centuryAlong with the growing need for oak bark fortanning,this required large amounts of coppice wood. With this coppice management, wood could be provided for those growing industries in principle indefinitely. This was regulated by a statute of 1544ofHenry VIII,which required woods to be enclosed after cutting (to preventbrowsingby animals) and 12 standels (standardsor mature uncut trees) to be left in each acre, to be grown into timber. Coppice with standards (scattered individual stems allowed to grow on through several coppice cycles) has been commonly used throughout most of Europeas a means of giving greater flexibility in the resultingforest productfrom any one area. The woodland provides the small material from the coppice as well as a range of larger timber for such uses ashouse building,bridge repair,cart-makingand so on.

In the 18th century coppicing in Britain began a long decline. This was brought about by the erosion of its traditional markets. Firewood was no longer needed for domestic or industrial uses as coal and coke became easily obtained and transported, and wood as a construction material was gradually replaced by newer materials.Coppicing died out first in the north of Britain and steadily contracted toward the south-east until by the 1960s active commercial coppice was heavily concentrated in Kent and Sussex.

Practice

The shoots (orsuckers) may be used either in their young state for interweaving inwattlefencing (as is the practice with coppicedwillowsandhazel), or the new shoots may be allowed to grow into large poles, as was often the custom with trees such as oaks orashes.This creates long, straight poles which do not have the bends and forks of naturally grown trees. Coppicing may be practised to encourage specific growth patterns, as withcinnamontrees which are grown for their bark.

Another, more complicated system is calledcompound coppice.Here some of the standards would be left, some harvested. Some of the coppice would be allowed to grow into new standards and some regenerated coppice would be there. Thus there would be three age classes.Coppicedhardwoodswere used extensively in carriage andshipbuilding,and they are still sometimes grown for making wooden buildings and furniture.

Diagram illustrating the coppicing cycle over a 7- to 20-year period

Withiesforwicker-work are grown in coppices of various willow species, principallyosier.

In France, sweet chestnut trees are coppiced for use as canes andbâtonsfor the martial artCanne de combat(also known asBâton français).

SomeEucalyptusspecies are coppiced in a number of countries, including Australia, North America, Uganda, and Sudan.

TheSaltree is coppiced in India,and theMoringa oleiferatree is coppiced in many countries, including India.

Sometimes former coppice is converted tohigh-forest woodlandby the practice of singling. All but one of the regrowing stems are cut, leaving the remaining one to grow as if it were a maiden (uncut) tree.

The boundaries of coppice coups were sometimes marked by cutting certain trees aspollardsor stubs.

United Kingdom

Recently felled chestnut coppice nearPetworthin West Sussex

Old hornbeam coppice stools left uncut for at least 100 years,Coldfall Wood,London

Insouthern Britain,coppice was traditionallyhazel,hornbeam,field maple,ash,sweet chestnut,occasionallysallow,elm,small-leafed limeand rarelyoakorbeech,grown amongpedunculateorsessileoak,ashorbeechstandards. In wet areasalderandwillowswere used.A small, and growing, number of people make a living wholly or partly by working coppices in the area today,at places such as at theWeald and Downland Living Museum.

Coppices provided wood for many purposes, especiallycharcoalbefore coal was economically significant in metalsmelting.A minority of these woods are still operated for coppice today, often byconservation organisations,producing material forhurdle-making,thatchingspars, local charcoal-burning or other crafts. The only remaining large-scale commercial coppice crop in England issweet chestnutwhich is grown in parts ofSussexandKent.Much of this was established asplantationsin the 19th century for hop-pole production (hop-poles are used to support thehopplant while growinghops) and is nowadays cut on a 12 to 18-year cycle for splitting and binding into cleft chestnutpaling fence,or on a 20- to 35-year cycle for cleft post-and-rail fencing, or for sawing into small lengths to befinger-jointedfor architectural use. Other material goes to make farm fencing and to be chipped for modern wood-fired heating systems.

Innorthwest England,coppice-with-standards has been the norm,the standards often of oak with relatively little simple coppice. AfterWorld War II,a great deal was planted up with conifers or became neglected. Coppice-working almost died out, though a few men continued in the woods.

Wildlife

Overstoodsweet chestnutcoppice stool,Banstead Woods,Surrey

Coppice management favours a range of wildlife, often of species adapted to open woodland.After cutting, the increased light allows existing woodland-floor vegetation such asbluebell,anemoneandprimroseto grow vigorously. Oftenbramblesgrow around the stools, encouraging insects, or various smallmammalsthat can use the brambles as protection from larger predators. Woodpiles (if left in the coppice) encourage insects such asbeetlesto come into an area. The open area is then colonised by many animals such asnightingale,European nightjarandfritillary butterflies.As the coup grows, the canopy closes and it becomes unsuitable for these animals again—but in an actively managed coppice there is always another recently cut coup nearby, and the populations therefore move around, following the coppice management.

However, most British coppices have not been managed in this way for many decades.The coppice stems have grown tall (the coppice is said to beoverstood), forming a heavily shaded woodland of many closely spaced stems with little ground vegetation. The open-woodland animals survive in small numbers along woodland rides or not at all, and many of these once-common species have become rare. Overstood coppice is a habitat of relatively lowbiodiversity—it does not support the open-woodland species, but neither does it support many of the characteristic species ofhigh forest,because it lacks many high-forest features such as substantial dead-wood, clearings and stems of varied ages. Suitable conservation management of these abandoned coppices may be to restart coppice management, or in some cases it may be more appropriate to use singling and selective clearance to establish a high-forest structure.

Natural occurrence

Coppice and pollard growth is a response of the tree to damage, and can occur naturally. Trees may bebrowsedor broken bylarge herbivorous animals,such ascattleorelephants,felled bybeaversorblown over by the wind.Some trees, such aslinden,may produce a line of coppice shoots from a fallen trunk, and sometimes these develop into a line of mature trees. For some trees, such as thecommon beech(Fagus sylvatica), coppicing is more or less easy depending on the altitude: it is much more efficient for trees in themontane zone.

For energy wood

Coppicing ofwillow,alderandpoplarforenergy woodhas proven commercially successful.TheWillow Biomass Projectin the United States is an example of this. In this case the coppicing is done in a way that an annual or more likely a tri-annual cut can happen. This seems to maximize the production volume from the stand. Such frequent growth means the soils can be easily depleted and so fertilizers are often required. The stock also becomes exhausted after some years and so will be replaced with new plants. The method of harvesting of energy wood can be mechanized by adaptation of specialized agricultural machinery.

Species and cultivars vary in when they should be cut, regeneration times and other factors. However, fulllife cycle analysishas shown that poplars have a lower effect in greenhouse gas emissions for energy production than alternatives.

Gallery

• 
  Ash coppice stool
• 
  Bluebells among coppice in Bysing Wood, Kent
• 
  Hornbeam coppice, Pond Wood, Essex
• 
  Ash coppice in Overlangbroek, Netherlands
• 
  Coppicing in progress, note standard trees among the coppice stools, Lower Wood, Norfolk

See also

• Ancient woodland
• Apical dominance
• Basal shoot
• Bodging
• Coarse woody debris
• Crown sprouting
• Epicormic shoot
• Even aged timber management
• Fire ecology
• Layering
• Lignotuber
• Mallee (habit)
• Pollarding
• Pruning
  • Fruit tree pruning
• Short rotation coppice
• Shredding (tree pruning technique)
• Silvopasture
• Stand level modelling
• Thinning
• Tree topping

Further reading

• Rackham, Oliver(2001).Trees and woodland in the British landscape: the complete history of Britain's trees, woods & hedgerows.London: Phoenix Press.ISBN1-84212-469-2.
• Hammersley, G, 'The charcoal iron industry and its fuel 1540–1750'Econ Hist. Rev.Ser. II, 26 (1973), 593–613.

External links

• Media related toCoppicesat Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition ofcoppicingat Wiktionary
• What is coppicing?The National Trust