Editing Coppicing (section)

{{Short description|Method of woodland management}}
{{Redirect|Coppice|the locality in Oldham|Coppice, Greater Manchester}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Copse|Corpse|Cop (disambiguation){{!}}Cops}}
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| image1 = Coppice stool.jpg
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| caption1 = Coppice stool shortly after coppicing
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| caption2 = One year's regrowth:
| footer = Coppiced [[alder]] in [[Hampshire]], UK
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'''Coppicing''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɒ|p|ɪ|s|ɪ|ŋ}} is the traditional method in [[woodland management]] of cutting down a tree to a [[tree stump|stump]], which in many species encourages new [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]s to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called a '''copse''' {{IPAc-en|k|ɒ|p|s}} or '''coppice''', in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. The resulting living stumps are called [[Living stump|stool]]s. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced trees are harvested, and the cycle begins anew. [[Pollarding]] is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots.<ref name="DeDecker">{{cite journal |last1=De Decker |first1=Kris |title=How to Make Biomass Energy Sustainable Again |journal=Low-Tech Magazine |date=n.d. |url=https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2020/09/how-to-make-biomass-energy-sustainable-again.html |access-date=27 April 2021}}</ref> ''[[Daisugi]]'' (台杉, where ''sugi'' refers to [[Japanese cedar]]) is a similar Japanese technique.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-07-31|title=Incredible 15th-Century Japanese Technique for Growing Ultra-Straight Cedar Trees|url=https://mymodernmet.com/kitayama-cedar-daisugi/|access-date=2020-08-19|website=My Modern Met|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Taaffe|first=Gerard|date=2002-09-26|title=Trees that tower over the past and present|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2002/09/26/environment/trees-that-tower-over-the-past-and-present/|access-date=2020-08-19|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US|quote=...known as dai-sugi. This is a coppiced sugi ...}}</ref>

Many [[silviculture]] practices involve cutting and regrowth; coppicing has been of significance in many parts of lowland temperate Europe.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} The widespread and long-term practice of coppicing as a landscape-scale industry is something that remains of special importance in southern England.<ref name="bartlett">{{cite journal |last1=Bartlett |first1=Debbie |title=Traditional coppice in South East England: the importance of workforce engagement for development |journal=IForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry |date=4 April 2016 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=577–582 |doi=10.3832/ifor1809-009 |url=https://iforest.sisef.org/abstract/?id=ifor1809-009 |access-date=1 January 2024|doi-access=free }}</ref> Many of the English language terms referred to in this article are particularly relevant to historic and contemporary practice in that area.

Typically a coppiced [[woodland]] is harvested in sections or ''coups''<ref>''Coup'' (French ''coup'', 'cut') is pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|uː|p}} in this context.</ref> (also spelled 'coupe' but pronounced 'coop' and descended from the French or Norman French 'couper', to cut or '''coupé'''  'has been cut') on a rotation. English terms for an area of coppice include 'cant', 'panel' and 'fall' which can be interchangeable and regionally-based.{{cn|date=December 2024}} 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 for [[biodiversity]]. The cycle length depends upon the species cut, the local custom, and the use of the product. [[Birch]] can be coppiced for [[faggot (unit)|faggots]] on a three- or four-year cycle, whereas [[oak]] can be coppiced over a fifty-year cycle for [[Plantation#Growth cycle|poles]] or [[firewood]].

Trees being coppiced do not die of old age as coppicing maintains the tree at a juvenile stage, allowing them to reach immense ages.<ref name="DeDecker" /> The age of a stool may be estimated from its diameter; some are so large{{em dash}}as much as {{Convert|5.5|m}} across{{em dash}}that they are thought to have been continually coppiced for centuries.<ref>

{{cite report |last=Rackham|first =Oliver |author-link= Oliver Rackham  |year=1980 |title=Archaeology in Essex to AD 1500| editor=D. G. Buckley|chapter=The medieval landscape of Essex |chapter-url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-281-1/dissemination/pdf/cba_rr_034.pdf |publisher=The Council for British Archaeology|pages= 104|docket= |access-date= 25 July 2022|quote=|series=CBA Research Reports|number =34}}</ref>