(How) does coppicing fundamentally alter tree growth?

Question

I am interested in adding the ability to model coppice tree production to a model of perennial crops (Miguez et al 2008)..

Implementing the biomass pools and allocation parameters required for tree growth is relatively straight-forward.

However, it is not clear to me if it will be necessary to account for any changes in growth form and physiology (e.g. allocation, allometry) associated with coppice management.

Are there any models that explicitly model coppice regrowth? Are there any particular issues that I should consider?

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Fernando E. Miguez , Xinguang Zhu, Stephen Humphries, German A. Bollero, and Stephen P. Long. GCB Bioenergy . 2009 . Volume 1 Issue 4, Pages 282 - 296 (link)

Answer 1

According to Deckmyn et al (2004), the primary effect of coppice management is that the fraction of total biomass in roots is relatively higher after coppicing, and that a substantial fraction of carbon in roots (~20% of root mass) is reallocated aboveground to support shoot growth in the spring following coppicing.

Because of this large re-allocation, coppiced plants are able to grow more rapidly (and reach canopy closure sooner), than seedlings (Ceulemans et al 1996) it is important to consider that canopy closure (maximum leaf area index) occurrs more rapidly after coppicing

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Deckman et al, 2004 Poplar growth and yield in short rotation coppice: model simulations using the process model SECRETS. Biomass and Bioenergy doi:10.1016/S0961-9534(03)00121-1

Ceulemans et al, 1996. A comparison among eucalypt, poplar and willow characteristics with particular reference to a coppice, growth-modelling approach Original Research Article Biomass and Bioenergy, Volume 11, Issues 2–3, Pages 215-231 doi:10.1016/0961-9534(96)00035-9