The effect of coppice management on the structure, tree growth and soil nutrients in temperate Turkey

Abstract

Coppicing was widespread throughout Europe for many centuries but was largely abandoned in the second half of the 19th century. Currently, there has been a renewed interest in coppicing for biomass production and nature conservation. We studied differences in soil chemistry and tree growth between active and abandoned coppices to highlight the impacts of coppice restoration on soil fertility and tree. Stand structure, collected soil samples and tree cores were compared on 46 research plots in temperate Turkey. The plots were set as actively managed and abandoned coppice stand. In our study no effect of coppicing on growth rate was confirmed. Active coppice stands had lower content of Ca, K, N and C:N and higher soil acidification than abandoned coppices. The tree growth rate was significantly higher on more nutrient rich soils. Coppice restoration may not result in increased biomass production in long term periods due to negative effect on soil fertility.

Keywords

• coppice
• soil
• growth dynamics
• forest management, site fertility