Tree stump

Often, a deciduous tree that has been cut will re-sprout in multiple places around the edge of the stump or from the roots.

[1] Depending on whether the tree is being removed or whether the forest 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).

[6][7] In plantation forests in parts of Europe, stumps are sometimes pulled out of the ground using a specially adapted tracked excavator, 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.