Introduction

Coppicing is a traditional form of managing the natural resource of trees.  It originated in the middle ages and is still used today in many countries.  France, for example, used coppiced Chestnut to create canes while England used coppiced Willow and Hazel in the construction of houses.  Coppicing is done by cutting trees down to their stumps after an interval of about 5 to 25 years has passed, depending on the growth cycles of the species of trees.  Next, the trees would be harvested for their underwood and timber then left for regrowth.  Trees such as Oak, Hazel, Maple, Sweet Chestnut, Lime, Ash and Willow are among the trees often coppiced.  The resources harvested from these trees proved to be a vital resource for early settlements providing the necessary materials to build and create day to day objects such as housing and ships.  

Additionally, coppicing led to a variety of organisms being able to grow around the stump of the coppiced tree while other organisms and species sought habitat.  Currently, coppicing is not a dominant form of tree management and is not as widely practiced as it once was. Although, there are still a few coppicing projects that exist in much of eastern Canada, including approximately 300 ha of willows that have been established over Quebec in the last 20 years. During this time, there have been many efforts by many Canadian environmental agencies to collaborate and improve cooperation with other countries to continue these natural programs in order to promote a successful use of lumber control.

The practice of coppicing saw most of its use during World War II, but after this, forests meant for coppicing became neglected and slowly, the practice of tree management began dying off.  However, regardless of how often it is practiced, coppicing has a variety of strengths and weaknesses which are discussed throughout the remainder of this article.

Strengths

Coppicing is a very sustainable form of timber management.  Coppicing has many benefits to its natural environment.  For example, coppicing allows for the ground around the coppiced trees to receive additional nutrients and sunlight which brings a variety of plants to the forest.  Plants such as bluebell, wood anemone and primrose sprout due to the exposure the forest ground receives from coppiced trees.  

Coppicing brings about biodiversity.  Coppiced forests attract a variety of different species from plants to birds and insects.  This is primarily due to coppicing forests having the required necessities to provide for the diverse species residing in these forests.  Continuing, existing woodland species are very familiar with coppicing because of its history of being practiced in forests.  These species have adapted to coppicing and rely on the continuation of it.  For example, a variety of birds and butterflies depend on coppiced forests for very specific habitat and nourishment.  Certain butterfly larva feed off of some of the plants that grow around the stumps of coppiced trees.    

Coppicing is an incredibly sustainable form of timber management because it can be worked indefinitely.  Oak trees, for example, can be worked for 130 years or more if coppiced with a 6 to 30-year interval.  It is also incredibly sustainable because the trees remain in the forest for regrowth rather than being completely dug up.  Similarly, coppicing is considered to have an easier harvesting process because coppiced trees have less extensive and widespread roots.  Therefore, there is no concern of damaging the roots of a tree during the harvesting process.  

Another strength to coppicing is the resources it provides.  Coppicing yields two different wood supplies, underwood and timber.  First, underwood was traditionally used as firewood and for making small crafts.  Underwood could potentially replace coal as a heat source.  Additionally, the use of firewood for heat is more environmentally friendly.  When firewood is burned, it releases the same amount of carbon dioxide that a decomposing tree would release.  Coal, however, releases a greater amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Second, timber is still used today for building purposes in houses and structures.  

Lastly, because there are a variety of different species of trees, coppicing can be applied to a range of places.  Each species can only live in certain areas because they each require different amounts of nutrients and resources.  Coppicing, therefore, can be practiced in a variety of different areas because of the variety of different species of trees.

Weaknesses

During the preparation stages of short-rotation coppicing, there are many cases of using a systemic herbicide to get rid of the presence of highly concentrated weeds on abandoned agricultural lands. This process has proven to be unavoidable to promote the establishment of coppicing. This could be detrimental to many species that may have been residing in these large areas due to the lack of human interference with their natural habitat. Another weakness of coppicing is when some large trees are coppiced suddenly, it can take many seasons to start growing. This could lead to a lack of predicted biomass hindering the ability for an ecosystem to grow. 

There are some weaknesses that come with coppicing in large areas of woodland, in that the initial clearing produces a high proportion of wood that is deemed unsuitable for any form of craft or traditional timber products, causing a large diameter being used for firewood whereas, an alternative production of fire is charcoal. This is leading to a limbo between both the firewood and coal industries putting each other at the hand of how much coppiced firewood is taken away during the clearing-out process. 

The main problems with neglected coppice is that the stool density is too low or that the regrowth is sparse and patchy. This can lead to problems with invasive plants and their rapid smothering of ground surrounding the coppice. Moreover, some people try to protect their coppiced areas with temporary barriers (fences, etc…) during the early stages of regrowth. There are many potential problems that come with this and weaken the effect of short-rotation coppicing.  Usually, 2-metre high deer fences are used and may be effective but are too unsightly and costly in most coppice situations. 

Short-rotation coppicing can cause problems for storage with rapid composting and mould formation, leading to a loss of energy content and additional health risks owed to the high moisture content of freshly harvested willow. Fertilization, the most controversial aspect of short-rotation plantations, highlights that due to the high biomass yields that come from the willows, there is a large removal of the nutrients that are implemented at a very high rate. Naturally, willow tree nutrient requirements are relatively low. Therefore, it has been recommended that less nitrogen fertilizer should be applied. With this, there is an unnecessary cycle of repeated fertilization that alters the naturality of the soil within the short-rotation plantations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the practice of coppicing has shown that it has the potential to yield many environmental and economical benefits for any project or group that decides to head this type of tree management system. This should encourage many more people to choose coppicing as an alternative to deforestation techniques and lumber-harvesting skills, eventually expanding the land upon which we can re-use trees to promote environmental sustainability. Through this strengths and weaknesses analysis of coppicing it should be easier to draw conclusions on whether or not coppicing should be in greater demand amongst lumber management projects.