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After a
tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...
has been cut and has fallen, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the
root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
s still in the ground. Stumps may show the age-defining rings of a tree. The study of these rings is known as
dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
.


Regeneration

Stumps (both those on the ground and stumps of removed branches) are sometimes able to regenerate into new trees depending on the species. Often, a deciduous tree that has been cut will re-sprout in multiple places around the edge of the stump or from the roots. Depending on whether the tree is being removed or whether the
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
is expected to recover, this can be either desirable or undesirable. Stump sprouts can grow very quickly and so become viable trees themselves either for aesthetics or timber, due to the existing root structure; however, the cut portion of the trunk may weaken the sprouts and introduce disease into the newly forming tree(s). The process of deliberately cutting a tree to a stump to regrow is known as
coppicing Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...
.


Stump removal

Tree stumps can be difficult to remove from the ground. They can be dug out, pulled out by a
chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...
, shredded with a
stump grinder A stump grinder is a machine designed to remove tree stumps by using a rotating cutting disc that chips away the wood. The machine typically features a cutter wheel with fixed tungsten carbide, carbide teeth. The cutter wheel's movements are co ...
or burnt. A common method for stump removal is to use one of the many chemical stump removal products, so long as immediate results are not needed. These stump removers are mostly made of
potassium nitrate Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with a sharp, salty, bitter taste and the chemical formula . It is a potassium salt of nitric acid. This salt consists of potassium cations and nitrate anions , and is therefore an alkali metal nit ...
(KNO3) and act by rapidly increasing the decay of the stump. (The chemical provides nitrogen, a limiting nutrient, to tree-decaying fungi. Other nitrogen fertilizers also work.) After an average of 4–6 weeks, the stump will be rotten through and easily fragmented in manageable pieces. If time is a limiting factor, setting fire to the stump is effective because once the potassium nitrate has been absorbed it acts as an effective oxidizer. Historically, an explosive called ''stumping powder'' was used to blast stumps.


Stump harvesting

In plantation forests in parts of Europe, stumps are sometimes pulled out of the ground using a specially adapted tracked
excavator Excavators are heavy equipment (construction), heavy construction equipment primarily consisting of a backhoe, boom, dipper (or stick), Bucket (machine part), bucket, and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The modern excavator's ...
, to supply wood fuel for biomass power stations. Stump harvesting may provide an increasing component of the woody material required by the biomass power sector.


See also

* Living stump


References

* Buckley, G.P. 1992. Ecology and Management of Coppice Woodlands. ''Springer'' 336 pages, , . * Schenk, H.J., and R.B. Jackson. 2002. The global biogeography of roots. ''Ecological Monographs'' 72 (3): 311–328.


External links


Stump harvesting in Sweden

Regeneration after stump harvesting

Stumps as a resource in Finland

Stump harvesting and forest decomposers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tree Stump Stump Forest ecology Dead wood