Multifunctionality of chestnut coppices and future prospects in timber production and ecosystem services.

The chestnut coppice management has been perpetuated for millennia thanks to the unlimited resprouting capacity of the stool, which results in a high number of fast-growing shoots. In Europe, first written historical evidence of applying a coppice management to the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) date back to Theophrastus (~370 B.C.–287 B.C.). The widespread diffusion of C. sativa for wood production, well beyond its natural range, has pushed the diffusion in Europe up to the current 1.78 million hectares of which 79% is managed as coppice. Over time, the biological and economic sustainability of the chestnut coppice have been usefully included into the traditional small farm management, since a wide range of wood assortments can be obtained (poles, beams, sawn wood, wood-based panels, tannins, biomass for energy) in monospecific, coeval, and even-structured forest stands. Regular coppice management of chestnut carried out on small plots has always represented a guarantee both in terms of production continuity and ecosystem services (biodiversity conservation, landscape structuring and protection against natural hazards). However, in the last century, profound economic and social changes have caused a general abandonment of the coppice management with the consequent loss of ecosystem products and services, including the replacement of the chestnut with other tree species. Recently, there has been a renewed interest in chestnut coppice products and services such as sustainability of timber but also non-timber products, ecological function and biodiversity, slope protection, carbon sequestration and educational and tourist recreational activities. Where possible (sites with good fertility, reduced presence of aggressive pathogens), the main practice proposed in chestnut coppices is the extension of the rotation time accompanied by the application of adequate silvicultural practices. In this way, larger quality assortments can be obtained with additionally benefits for the diversity of the vascular flora, the stand stability and for the general vulnerability of the chestnut forest to fire. This results in social benefits for local communities (employment, reduction of timber imports). In this perspective, innovative silvicultural systems (e.g., tree-oriented silviculture) have been introduced recently, while others have been implemented for improving the tradition of coppice management options (e.g., stand-silviculture).