Sprouting ability and mortality of chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) after coppicing. A case study

Abstract

-To study the sprouting ability of chestnut stands a 60 year old coppice stand in southern Switzerland was coppiced by removing all live and dead shoots. Two years and four years after coppicing surveys of the newly produced shoots was carried out in order to analyse growth and mortality of the young stand and to verify the factors influencing the sprouting ability. The mortality of stools was only 4%; the number of produced shoots was, with 48 shoots per stool, high and the growth of the shoots was remarkable. Stand structure, stool density and the dimensions of the old stools neither reduced sprouting ability nor influenced the diameter and height growth, but the stump cut quality has a positive effect. Finally, height measurement of the dominant shoot on a stool provides a good indicator for the evaluation of the vigour of the regeneration in a chestnut coppice. chestnut coppice / silviculture / competition / shoots and stool mortality Résumé -Production de rejets et mortalité du châtaignier (Castanea sativa Mill.) après une coupe de taillis. Une étude de cas. Une étude sur la capacité à rejeter de souche du châtaignier (Castanea sativa Mill.) a été effectuée dans un taillis d'environ 60 ans d'âge en Suisse au sud des Alpes. La coupe de taillis s'est faite par l'élimination de tous les arbres vivants et morts. Un inventaire des rejets de souche a été réalisé après deux, respectivement quatre ans afin d'analyser la croissance et la mortalité du nouveau peuplement et de vérifier les facteurs influençant la capacité à rejeter de souche. La mortalité des souches est de 4 %, le nombre de rejets par souche (48) est élevé et la croissance des rejets remarquable. La structure du peuplement, la densité des souches et la dimension des vieilles souches n'ont pas d'influence négative sur la capacité de production des rejets ou sur la croissance en diamètre et en hauteur de ceux-ci. Par contre on observe que la qualité de la coupe de la souche a un effet positif. En conclusion, la mesure de la hauteur du rejet dominant peut servir comme un indicateur valable de la vigueur de la régénération dans un taillis de châtaignier. taillis de châtaignier / sylviculture / compétition / mortalité de souches et des rejets

Variability of cutting regimes in small private woodlots of south-western France

“…These edge fluctuations are generally attributed to real variations in the stand's limits (e.g. [20]), but our analysis suggests it may also sometimes be due to interpretation or geo-referencing errors.…”

“…Only some North American [4,15,25] and Scandinavian [23,29,32] studies have examined the management of small-sized properties (20−30 ha) with respect to the average surface areas in those regions, but which are nevertheless large in comparison with what is found on southern Europe. Due to a lack of information, and also in the face of the apparent complexity of the practices of owners of small private forests, management is often quickly qualified as opportunistic [8] and does not seem to satisfy any particular logic [18,20,24,28]. The most common silvicultural system in France is based on coppice associated to stand tree retained to produce timber wood.…”

Development of Sessile Oak and European Hornbeam Sprouts after Thinning

“…As documented in several coppice yield studies, the mortality curve has an exponential trend and declines rapidly during the life cycle of a coppice [34,37]. On the other hand, mortality can gradually increase after a disturbance, as documented in holm oak, where mortality was low after the first year of disturbance and then rapidly increased (42-56%) in the second year [37].…”

“…On the other hand, mortality can gradually increase after a disturbance, as documented in holm oak, where mortality was low after the first year of disturbance and then rapidly increased (42-56%) in the second year [37]. A 75% mortality rate for young sprouts that were higher than 1 m at four years of age is documented in a Castanea sativa coppice [34]. This finding is in accordance with the behaviour of European hornbeam in our study, in which the mortality had an increasing trend within the first two years of observation.…”

Dead wood characterisation in chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) coppices in the Aspromonte (Southern Italy)

“…In Svizzera, nel versante meridionale delle Alpi (Bedano), Giudici & Zingg (2005) hanno osservato, in un ceduo di 58 anni, una mortalità del 32% in nume ro di polloni. Sempre nel versante meridionale delle Alpi, in cedui castanili di 54 -57 anni (Bedano e Pura), Giudici & Zingg (2006) …”