Coppice Agroforestry 4n6u60

Creating Multi-Purpose Coppice Landscapes

Silviculture growing and cultivation of trees’ • ‘The late 19th cent.: from French sylviculture, from Latin silva ‘wood’ + French culture ‘cultivation’.

• Both an art and a science. • Coppice is one silvicultural practice that

creates and maintains an even-aged stand structure via vegetative reproduction– stump sprouts.

Coppice: from the French ‘couper’ - to cut •

Coppicing is a forest management practice in which (mostly) broadleaf trees and shrubs are cut, allowed to resprout from the stump, and subsequently harvested on 1-60 year cycles.

•

Plants are usually cut during the dormant/winter season, but not always.

Why Coppice Now? From a Hydrocarbon Economy . . . Growth Tech! Green Tech Stability!

Regenerative! Descent!

Lifeboats!

Why Coppice Now? From a Hydrocarbon Economy to a Carbohydrate Economy Growth Tech! Green Tech Stability!

Regenerative! Descent!

Lifeboats!

“The real issue of our age is how we make a graceful and ethical descent from the energy peak.” David Holmgren

Cordwood

Charcoal

Mushrooms

Fencing

Wattle Fencing

Dormant buds

Adventitious buds

5 WOODLAND MANAGEMENT

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Diverse Yields from Coppice with Standards

• Nut or timber trees in the overstory (e.g., oak, hickory, walnut). • Coppice on short or medium rotation for fiber or other products in the woody understory (e.g., willow, hazel, etc.). • Perennial veggies, medicinal herbs, fertility plants, mushrooms, small livestock (e.g., poultry, rabbits) in herbaceous layer.

One year after cutting.





Five or more years after cutting, ready to recut.

•

Winter, just after harvest.

•

The summer following.

“Cultivating the Meadow in the Air” Michael Machatschek, Laubgeschichten, translation by Ian Miller in progress.

• • • • • • • • •

Pollarded Trees & Shrubs in Central Europe common ash, Fraxinus excelsior Russian & Scots elms, Ulmus glabra, U. laevis hackberry, Celtis spp. black and red elderberry Sambucus nigra, S. racemosa sycamore maple, Acer pseudoplatanus field maple, Acer campestre hazel, Corylus avellana European chestnut, Castanea sativa oaks, Quercus spp.

• • • • • • • •

lindens, Tilia spp. black poplar, Populus nigra horse chestnut, Aesculus hippocastanum European beech, Fagus sylvatica birches, Betula spp. willows, Salix spp. green alder, Alnus viridis common mistletoe, Viscum album

Source: Michael Machatschek, Laubgeschichten, in translation by Ian Miller.

Shredding

Why?

What do you have?

What do you need?

What does the community need?

Wo odc hips Fod d e r F i Fagg rew ood ots & Fa scin Gar es den Hol P rodu iday cts Orn ame n ts Foo C harc d, M edic oal ine, Mus Wine Prop hroo agat m s i o Wo n Stoc ody k Cut Stem Fenc s Stru ing ctur Cra es fts/B aske Furn ts iture Art

The Added-Value Continuum Raw Material

Low Value/Minimal Processing High Value/High Processing

Fuel • • Hard Maple - 25.5 million BTUs/cord - density 42 lbs/ft • Black Locust - 27 million BTUs/cord - density 43 lbs/ft • Oak - 24 to 28 million BTUs/cord - density 37-58 lbs/ft • Osage-Orange - 32.9 million BTUs/cord - 50 lbs/ft • White Ash - 24 million BTUs/cord - density 43 lbs/ft • Beech - 24 to 27 million BTUs/cord - density 32-56 lbs/ft

Hickory - 25 to 28 million BTUs/cord - density 37-58 lbs/ft3 3

3

3

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•

???? - What do you have?

3

http://forestry.about.com/od/firewood/a/firewood_chart.htm

Fodder

Possible Woody Leaf Crops • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

alfalfa hay



wh. mulberry



black locust



mimosa





honeylocust



red alder



black alder



sourwood



poplar





Kermes oak



manna oak



acorns





aspen





mesquite



13%



50-55% TDN



15-28%

78-95% TDN



17-24%

53-66% IVDMD

17%



68-77% IVDMD

11-13%

63% TDN



14-16%









19%











10-13%









19%











7-15%









12%











3%











17%











16-20%









fresh: 20% well-studied (tropics), need ferts good potential; toxic to horses low yielding? appears low yielding (lvs) fall leaves lower phenolics not much data fall leaves nutritious! need more data need more data need more data high phenolics?; mixed results high phenolics, indigestible

White Mulberry: Test It Here! • •

Leaves nutritious and highly palatable to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, silkworms. High yielding in tropics: 8,000-11,000 lb/ac leaves DM (hi: 35k lb/ac???)

• • •

Vigorous coppicer, pollarder.

•

Fallen leaves in autumn also used to feed livestock on some farms.

•

Several other Morus spp., including M. rubra, a N. American spp! Have not found data on them yet.

Zone 5 hardy. Also produces great fruit in quantity.

•

Only 3% drop in cow milk yield at 75% WM:25% concentrate.

• •

Pigs: 15% WM optimal wt. gain. Rabbits: 85% WM: reduced wt. gain 25% but cut production costs by 50%.

•

•

***Absorbs <50% of soluble fertilizers! Best yields require soluble fertilizers.

Better egg color, larger egg size, more egg production with <6% M. indica leaf meal in layer mash.

•

Italy: Mulberry benefits from association with subterranean clover: higher yields!!

White Mulberry: Test It Here! • •

Leaves nutritious and highly palatable to cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, chickens, silkworms. High yielding in tropics: 8,000-11,000 lb/ac leaves DM (hi: 35k lb/ac???)

• • •

Vigorous coppicer, pollarder.

•

Fallen leaves in autumn also used to feed livestock on some farms.

•

Several other Morus spp., including M. rubra, a N. American spp! Have not found data on them yet.

Zone 5 hardy. Also produces great fruit in quantity.

•

Only 3% drop in cow milk yield at 75% WM:25% concentrate.

• •

Pigs: 15% WM optimal wt. gain. Rabbits: 85% WM: reduced wt. gain 25% but cut production costs by 50%.

•

•

***Absorbs <50% of soluble fertilizers! Best yields require soluble fertilizers.

Better egg color, larger egg size, more egg production with <6% M. indica leaf meal in layer mash.

•

Italy: Mulberry benefits from association with subterranean clover: higher yields!!

Pollarded Black Locust Foliage

15,000 trees/ha = 6,000 trees/ac*; 100 cm hi cuts

• •

Max yield: 5,300 kg/ha=4,700 lb/ac, Aug.

•

In Vitro Dry Matter Digestibility (cattle): 53-66%; hi-medium-& up; 56% in August

: 17–24%; drops by 1/3 thru season; still + 20% in Aug. at highest biomass.

Burner, Pote & Ares. 2005. Management effects on biomass and foliar nutritive value of Robinia pseudoacacia and Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis in Arkansas, USA. Agroforestry Systems 65:207-214. * 32” or +80 cm o.c.

Red Alder (Alnus rubra) Defies Convention

• only drops 10% thru season; abscised leaves have equal !! • Phenolic content drops over summer: cond. tannins, astringcy: -60%, Oregonin -50%! • Protein becomes more available as the season goes on, in contrast to other browse spp. • Even fallen leaves can be a key source of nutrition for browsers in the autumn!!! Charts by Dave Jacke using data from: Gonzalez-Hernandez, Starkey & Karchesy. 2000. Seasonal variations in concentrations of fiber, crude protein, and phenolic compounds in leaves of red alder (Alnus rubra): Nutritional implications for cervids. Journal of Chemical Ecology 26(1):293-301.

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Red Alder (Alnus rubra) Defies Convention

• only drops 10% thru season; abscised leaves have equal !! • Phenolic content drops over summer: cond. tannins, astringcy: -60%, Oregonin -50%! • Protein becomes more available as the season goes on, in contrast to other browse spp. • Even fallen leaves can be a key source of nutrition for browsers in the autumn!!! Charts by Dave Jacke using data from: Gonzalez-Hernandez, Starkey & Karchesy. 2000. Seasonal variations in concentrations of fiber, crude protein, and phenolic compounds in leaves of red alder (Alnus rubra): Nutritional implications for cervids. Journal of Chemical Ecology 26(1):293-301.

Phenolic)content)of)green)and)abscised)leaves)of)) red)alder)through)the)growing)season.)

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Getting Started

Principles • Optimize light!!! • Identify contiguous stands (or other ‘patterns’).

• Develop convenient access. • Harvest during dormancy. • Cut low. • Keep stands dense. • Diversify! • Add value. • Protect from browse.

A Coppice Pattern Language • • • • • • • •

Lone Stool Swale Alley Successional Shelterbelt Pasture and Pollards (with Standards) Chop and Drop Nite(rogen) Nurse Shredded Succession Hedgerow

• • • • • • • • •

Backyard Buffer/Fedge Copses in Clumps Sucessional Suntrap Grown in Graywater Decorative Deer Fence Pollarded Posts Ripe’-arian Buffer Contour Cants Salad Stool

There are two ways to start

Planting - Requires time, money and energy to establish (esp. appropriate site prep). - Wait 5-8 years before harvest. - Protect trees from browse. - Manage herbaceous competition. - Irrigate if necessary. + Provides an optimallyspaced stand of desirable species.

Forest Renovation - Requires time and energy to establish. - May result in less-than-optimal spacing and/or species mix. - Still requires protection from browse and some herbaceous control. + Once cut, established trees coppice immediately, producing a crop of poles much more quickly than newly planted individuals.

Which stand proves more promising?

Spacing • Optimal spacing depends on rotation length. • Short rotation coppice can be very closely spaced.

• Basket willow, annually cut - 1’ centers. • Longer rotation - aim for 6-8’, up to 11’.

Stand Improvement • When planting, you determine the spacing. • When renovating existing forest stands, you’ll ‘need’ (aka ‘want’) to fill in gaps.

• You have at least three options: • • •

1 - plant. 2 - layer coppice shoots into gaps. 3 - plan a selective seed tree/shelterwood cut and use natural regeneration to fill in the understory.

Cant Layout

• • •

Identify stands based on similar characteristics: Species, age, slope, soils, etc. Use access patterns to help define the cants: Good access is crucial to good management. Balance available land base with annual needs and projected yields to determine cant size: Aim to maintain clear cuts at least 1/4 acre in size (100’x100’) to ensure adequate light for regrowth. Minimize edges to simplify browse protection.

• • • •

Species, Uses, Tolerances and Functions

Durability • Catalpa • Chestnut • Black Locust • Red Mulberry • White Oaks • Osage-orange • Sassafras

Polewood • Ash • Birch • Black Locust • Red/Sugar Maple • Hickory • Tulip Poplar • Sycamore • Elm • Poplar

Weaving • Willow • Hazel • Dogwood • Viburnums • Alder • Ash • White Oak (splits)

Hedges

• Hawthorn • Ash • Hazel • Wild Plum/Pear/ Crabapple

• Black Locust • Osage-orange • Honey Locust

• Mulberry • Holly • Hickory • Walnut • Oak • Basswood • Poplar

Biomass • Willow • Poplar/Cottonwood • Black Birch • Boxelder • Silver/Red Maple • Alder • Pawlonia** • Ailanthus**

• Black locust • Siberian Pea Shrub • Ceanothus • Sweetgum • Sycamore • Sumac • Elderberry

Nitrogen • • • • • • • • •

Black Locust Alder Siberian Pea Shrub Sea Berry/Buckthorn Buffaloberry Honey Locust? Elaeagnus spp. Ceanothus spp. Kentucky Coffee Tree

Wet Sites • Willow • Swamp White Oak • Dogwood • Viburnum • Cottonwood • Mulberry

• Poplar/Aspen • Red/Silver Maple • Wet-adapted Hickories

• Tupelo • Elm

Dry Sites • Oak • Chestnut • Hickory • Hazelnut • Black Locust

Mark Krawczyk

Dave Jacke

[email protected] www.edibleforestgardens.com www.coppiceagroforestry.com