Arable energy coppice as a wildlife habitat.

Abstract

Arable energy coppice could provide valuable new options for the creation of wildlife habitats on farmland, especially if introduced on a large scale. In ecological terms it is more similar to woodland, particularly coppiced woods, than it is to the conventional arable crops that it may replace. This is due to a number of features. Through much of the rotation it will provide standing cover during the winter and early spring; it will be relatively undisturbed both in terms of operations per year and the nature of those operations; and it will provide shaded conditions in the spring and summer, suppressing many opportunistic weed species associated with arable land.
Beyond these generalities, relatively little is known about the actual use of this crop by different species. However, there are anecdotal data to suggest that it would provide an attractive habitat for certain birds, including an economically important species; the pheasant. With reference to more traditional coppice systems, it may also prove to be suitable for certain woodland flowers and butterflies.