Coppice forests as an alternative to shrubland areas

Coppice forests as an alternative to shrubland areas in Portugal
Helder
1,2
Viana ,
B.
1
Esteves ,
J.
1
Ferreira ,
A.
3
Rodrigues
1 CI&DETS Research Centre, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu. Av. Cor. José Maria Vale de Andrade Campus Politécnico, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal
([email protected])
2 Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, CITAB, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, UTAD,
Quinta de Prados - Apartado 1013, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
3 INIAV - Av. da República, Quinta do Marquês, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Coppice is a silvicultural system commonly used in Portugal for decades. The production of several types of small and
medium sized materials, on short cutting cycles (10 to 30 year), such as firewood, poles, charcoal, raw material for
basketry and cooperage, among others, is one of the oldest forms of management in semi-natural forests.
1 - Landcover
2 - Forest Biodiversity
▶Portugal is a country with a high forest aptitude, inasmuch that
about 35% (3.2 million ha) of its territory is allocated to forest
stands.
▶Around 20% (~1.5 million ha) are occupied by shrubland.
▶Three dominant species covering 72% of forest area are:
Eucalyptus globulus (812 thousand ha; 26%), Quercus suber (737
thousand ha; 23%) and Pinus pinaster (714 thousand ha; 23%).
Agriculture
24%
Social areas
5%
Interior
unproductive waters
2%
2%
Forests
35%
▶Maritime pine high forests are growing mainly for the paper
industry, plywood and roundwood and Quercus suber for cork
production. Eucalyptus coppice has expanded enormously, in
recent decades, as it is grown in rotations of 10 - 12 year for
pulpwood production, while coppice of several species lost
interest over the years.
▶These three species are distributed almost exclusively by distinct
areas making the diversification of forest cover a huge priority
for the whole country.
▶In this context, high relevance should be given to coppicing of
traditional hardwood, dominant in the past.
Bushes and
pasture
32%
Quercus
suber
23.4%
4 - Results
Quercus Ilex
10.5% Pinus pinea
5.6%
Other
conifers
2.3%
Quercus spp.
2.1%
Castanea
sativa
1.3%
Eucalyptus
25.8%
Figure 1. a) Land use/cover map. b) Statistic of main Portuguese forest species
Pinus
pinaster
23%
Acacias
0.2%
▶The actual shrubland areas with potential for grow the most traditional
coppices species are:
Shrubland areas
chestnut
(Castanea sativa)
common-oak
(Quercus robur)
Pyrenean-oak
(Quercus pyrenaica)
Other
deciduous
5.6%
Ceratonia
siliqua
0.4%
3 - Methodology
▶The shrubland areas were mapped and based in the Ecological
map of potential vegetation the suitable areas for grown
traditional hardwood coppice were assessed (Figure. 2 ).
holm-oak
(Quercus rotundifolia)
Portuguese-oak
(Quercus faginea)
Suitable area for grow traditional
coppice species
1 800 000
1 600 000
1 553 112
Area (hectares)
1 400 000
1 200 000
1 000 000
793 920
800 000
765 622
714 101
600 000
51%
49%
400 000
387 934
46%
200 000
25%
330 881
21%
Shrubland
area
Castanea
sativa
Quercus
pyrenaica
Quercus
faginea
Quercus
robur
Quercus
rotundifolia
Figure 3. Shrubland areas with potential for grow coppice forests
5 - Conclusion
Figure 2. a) Forest cover map including shrubland areas. b) Ecological map
Bibliography
•
•
•
•
Albuquerque, J. de Pina Manique (1954). Carta Ecológica de Portugal. Ministério da Economia. Direcção Geral
dos Serviços Agrícolas. Lisboa. 58pp.
Carta de Uso e Ocupação do Solo de Portugal Continental para 2007 - COS2007
Carvalho, J., Viana, H., Rodrigues, A., 2015. Portugal. In: Nicolescu, V., Pyttel, P., Bartlett, D. (Eds.), Evolution and
Perspectives of Coppice Forests in Europe and South Africa, Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov, pp. 27-29.
ICNF, 2013. IFN6 - Áreas dos usos do solo e das espécies florestais de Portugal continental. Resultados
preliminares. Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Lisboa 33 pp.
▶Converting shrubland areas for traditional coppice forests would
enhance biodiversity by strengthening the resilience of
ecosystems against biotic and abiotic agents and also would
contribute to diversify local forest economy by allowing or
reinforcing small and medium industries related to firewood,
poles, charcoal, raw material or basketry and cooperage.
CONFERENCE: Coppice Forests in Europe: Ecosystem services,
protection and nature conservation
COST Action FP1301 EuroCoppice
University of Antwerp, Belgium, 15-17 June, 2016