Instead of cutting the tree down nearly to the ground, stump culture practitioners leave the bottom layer or two of branches. This preserves the health of the roots and allows the branches to continue growing. One of the branches is eventually selected to form the leader of a new tree. Like well-managed coppiced trees, which can produce steadily for hundreds of years (the oldest known coppiced trees are over 1000 years old), stump culture allows trees to produce continuously for many years. In British Columbia, some stumps have produced a tree every 5 years for more than 60 years.

In British Columbia, stump culture Christmas trees and greenery are often produced in combination with cattle in silvopasture agroforestry systems, or combined with shade loving floral greens such as Salal (Gaultheria shallon), Bear-grass (Xerophyllum tenax), Falsebox (Pachistima myrsintes), Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum), Deer Fern (Blechnum spicant), and Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum). These are just a few of the alternative crops suitable to grow in agroforestry systems.

Learn More:

• Christmas Trees: Plantations to Agroforestry Systems
• Silvopasture With Christmas Trees

Oak savannas, which are also sometimes known as “oak barrens” or “oak openings,” are transitional ecosystems that tend to be highly diverse due to the combination of the “edge effect” and the mix of microregions created by patches of pure grassland scattered with individual large trees or clumps of heavier cover.

Early settlers to the regions extolled the park-like beauty of the savannas, but brought with them the seeds of their destruction. Oak savannas rely on fire to maintain their openness, and the natural inclinations of residents to suppress the fires soon allowed many oak savannas to be swallowed up by weedy trees and invasive plants (many also brought in by the settlers). Today, oak savannas are a threatened ecosystem in many parts of their former range.

Fortunately, growing awareness of their ecological importance has led to a movement to restore the savannahs. Oak savannah restoration and management typically combines prescribed burns with controlled grazing by livestock to mimic the effect of native grazing animals such as bison.

Private landowners interested in restoring the oak savanna on their property can modify the “patch grazing” technique developed by restoration biologists to restore oak savannas in nature preserves to improve wildlife habitat and biological diversity while simultaneously producing a good profit from cattle or other enterprises. Oak savannas can also be managed for small-scale timber harvesting, as game preserves, and other possibilities. Landowners interested in restoring oak savanna habitat may also be eligible for cost-share programs, financial incentives, or other forms of aid from government programs.

Learn More:

• Oak Savannas
• Oak Savanna Communities (PDF)

Coppicing is the practice of cutting young trees back almost to ground level to harvest the wood. The tree regenerates from shoots and suckers growing from the roots and is allowed to grow to the desired size and maturity before being cut back again.

Coppiced woodlands are traditionally harvested in sections called coupes in rotations of anywhere from 6 to about 25 years. These rotations ensure at least one coupe will be harvested every year. Coppiced trees live for very long times because coppicing resets the aging process of the tree. In Britain, there are coppiced woodlots that have been producing steadily for 800 years and individual trees believed to be over 1000 years old.

The benefits of coppicing include:

• A renewable, carbon neutral source of energy. Coppiced woodlots were the primary source of firewood and charcoal for energy in many areas of Europe for thousands of years. Thanks to improvements in technology such as high-efficiency wood stoves and advanced wood combustion power plants, wood is now regaining its former prominence as a clean and renewable energy source.
• Improved soil and water quality. Because the root systems are preserved, coppiced woodlots experience little or no erosion compared to conventional forestry methods and annual crops. In fact, if left in place, leaf matter and other organic debris can actually build soil. Coppiced woodlots also tend to be drought and flood resistant, and improve ground and surface water quality through natural filtration.
• Coppicing preserves natural woodlands. Because coppiced woodlands are so productive, they can relieve harvesting pressure on natural woodlands.
• Multi-aged stands benefit wildlife. Because coppiced woodlots are harvested in rotation, they promote a diverse woodland environment, improving wildlife habitat for many species.
• Carbon sequestration. Although trees in general are carbon neutral, coppicing can actually be used to sequester carbon in the soil due to root die-back after cutting back trees.

Almost any broadleaf tree can be coppiced, though some are stronger than others. Common products from coppiced woodlands include:

• timber
• post and rail fencing
• picket fencing
• garden stakes
• bean poles
• rustic furniture
• cordwood
• woven baskets
• charcoal

The most common mast-producing trees to be coppiced include hazel, chestnut, and oak. In addition to wood and charcoal products, mast-producing tree coppices can also produce nuts that can be eaten, sold, or used as livestock feed. The newly developed woody agriculture system uses intensively managed hazel and chestnut coppices to produce crop yields per acre that rival or even exceed those of annual crops, in addition to wood products.

Learn More

• Coppice.co.uk
• The Ancient Art of Coppicing
• Coppicing Handbook

Different tree species produce mast on different schedules. For example, White Oak (Quercus alba), one of the most important autumn mast species in much of the country, produces acorns every year, while Red Oak (Quercus rubra), an important late winter food sources for many species, produces acorns only every two years. Including a variety of different mast-producing species increases the chances of a steady supply of mast throughout the year, every year. In most parts of the country, wildlife managers recommend that a woodlot managed for mast production should include about 50% native oaks of several different species, and about 50% other mast producing trees and shrubs, for a minimum of 10 different species.

Maintain an open canopy.

Pole stands with tight canopies of similarly aged overstory trees are the poorest mast producers. A stand managed for mast production should have about 48% sawtimber size (12 inches dbh or greater) trees, preferably larger. Many oaks don’t start producing maximum yields of acorns until they have reaches 20 inches or more. The rest should be a mix of ages and sizes, allowing sunlight to penetrate to the forest floor to encourage diverse understory growth and ensure space for overstory trees to develop large canopy sizes relative to their dbh. Studies have found that in many species, canopy size is a better predictor of the amount of mast produced than age or height. Additionally, the more of the crown surface that is exposed to sunlight, the more mast the tree will tend to produce. Thin trees as necessary to encourage the development of an uneven-aged, multi-species forest with an open canopy and a healthy understory.

For more information about managing woodlots for mast production, visit the Library.