Populus alba
White poplar

White poplar (Populus alba) is a medium-sized, fast-growing deciduous tree with a wide distribution range from the Mediterranean to central Asia. It has been introduced, and later naturalized, globally and is considered invasive in some countries. In Europe, the tree is found in the central and southern regions.

White poplar is valued as an ornamental due to its two-coloured foliage, giving the tree a silvery appearance. It is a healthy tree, useful for soil stabilisation and watershed protection. The tree is a key ecological component of riparian forest systems, where it contributes to biodiversity. The tree’s wood is not durable for construction; however, due to its fast growth and strong regenerating abilities, it is useful for producing biomass energy, pulp and pellets.  

The white poplar is a pioneer species, found in humid areas, along rivers, in forest edges and in riparian forest lands. It is tolerant to salt and is used in coastal areas for windbreaks and stabilising sand dunes. The tree requires plenty of light, good access to water and a well-textured soil.

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EUFORGEN’s publications on Abies alba

Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use

Populus alba - Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use of white poplar

Publication Year: 2018
Author: Palancean, I.; Alba, N.; Sabatti, M.; de Vries, S.M.G.

As a general objective, the conservation of genetic resources should maintain the adaptation potential of species and populations. Static ex situ conservation is a widely applied strategy for short term conservation to preserve genotypes in ex situ collections or genebanks. Dynamic in situ conservation is preferable when the objective is long-term gene conservation and maximization of the adaptive potential of a species. This can be achieved through in situ conservation of native stands (including restoration of stands), long-term breeding programmes or both. Successful in situ conservation of white poplar in Europe primarily depends on the location and protection of its natural habitats.

The conservation units should be distributed throughout the distribution range of the species, preferably including more than one conservation site per river-system. A preliminary assessment of the genetic diversity among adult trees in the candidate populations is recommended to conserve a high amount of diversity and a low number of clonal duplicates. Particular attention must be paid to all practices that have an impact on flowering habit and the regeneration process, which determine the effective population size. Conditions for seed-set and seedling establishment should be optimized. The number of flowering and seeding trees provides a practical approach to assess the effective size of a given population. At least 50 fructifying and unrelated trees are required to keep genetic variation at a satisfactory level within a population. If natural regeneration does not occur successfully in some of the units, then supplemental planting with seedlings from appropriate sources might be carried out.

For restored populations, introgression with unwanted genetic material can be limited by creating a “buffer zone” around the population consisting of local male trees. Active management and evaluation of the restored populations are highly recommended and should include replacement of poorly flowering individuals, corrective thinning, new additions to and from the genebanks, and removal of unsuitable individuals.

As a general objective, the conservation of genetic resources should maintain the adaptation potential of species and populations. Static ex situ conservation is a widely applied strategy for short term conservation to preserve genotypes in ex situ collections or genebanks. Dynamic in situ conservation is preferable when the objective is long-term gene conservation...

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Acknowledgements

This distribution map has been developed by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (partly based on the EUFORGEN map) and released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0)


Caudullo, G., Welk, E., San-Miguel-Ayanz, J., 2017. Chorological maps for the main European woody species. Data in Brief 12, 662-666. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2017.05.007

The following experts have contributed to the development of the EUFORGEN distribution maps:

Fazia Krouchi (Algeria), Hasmik Ghalachyan (Armenia), Thomas Geburek (Austria), Berthold Heinze (Austria), Rudi Litschauer (Austria), Rudolf Litschauer (Austria), Michael Mengl (Austria), Ferdinand Müller (Austria), Franz Starlinger (Austria), Valida Ali-zade (Azerbaijan), Vahid Djalal Hajiyev (Azerbaijan), Karen Cox (Belgium), Bart De Cuyper (Belgium), Olivier Desteucq (Belgium), Patrick Mertens (Belgium), Jos Van Slycken (Belgium), An Vanden Broeck (Belgium), Kristine Vander Mijnsbrugge (Belgium), Dalibor Ballian (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Alexander H. Alexandrov (Bulgaria), Alexander Delkov (Bulgaria), Ivanova Denitsa Pandeva (Bulgaria), Peter Zhelev Stoyanov (Bulgaria), Joso Gracan (Croatia), Marilena Idzojtic (Croatia), Mladen Ivankovic (Croatia), Željka Ivanović (Croatia), Davorin Kajba (Croatia), Hrvoje Marjanovic (Croatia), Sanja Peric (Croatia), Andreas Christou (Cyprus), Xenophon Hadjikyriacou (Cyprus), Václav Buriánek (Czech Republic), Jan Chládek (Czech Republic), Josef Frýdl (Czech Republic), Petr Novotný (Czech Republic), Martin Slovacek (Czech Republic), Zdenek Špišek (Czech Republic), Karel Vancura (Czech Republic), Ulrik Bräuner (Denmark), Bjerne Ditlevsen (Denmark), Jon Kehlet Hansen (Denmark), Jan Svejgaard Jensen (Denmark), Kalev Jðgiste (Estonia), Tiit Maaten (Estonia), Raul Pihu (Estonia), Ülo Tamm (Estonia), Arvo Tullus (Estonia), Aivo Vares (Estonia), Teijo Nikkanen (Finland), Sanna Paanukoski (Finland), Mari Rusanen (Finland), Pekka Vakkari (Finland), Leena Yrjänä (Finland), Daniel Cambon (France), Eric Collin (France), Alexis Ducousso (France), Bruno Fady (France), François Lefèvre (France), Brigitte Musch (France), Sylvie Oddou-Muratorio (France), Luc E. Pâques (France), Julien Saudubray (France), Marc Villar (France), Vlatko Andonovski (FYR Macedonia), Dragi Pop-Stojanov (FYR Macedonia), Merab Machavariani (Georgia), Irina Tvauri (Georgia), Alexander Urushadze (Georgia), Bernd Degen (Germany), Jochen Kleinschmit (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Armin König (Germany), Volker Schneck (Germany), Richard Stephan (Germany), H. H. Kausch-Blecken Von Schmeling (Germany), Georg von Wühlisch (Germany), Iris Wagner (Germany), Heino Wolf (Germany), Paraskevi Alizoti (Greece), Filippos Aravanopoulos (Greece), Andreas Drouzas (Greece), Despina Paitaridou (Greece), Aristotelis C. 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Pridnya (Russian Federation), Andrey Prokazin (Russian Federation), Srdjan Bojovic (Serbia) , Vasilije Isajev (Serbia), Saša Orlovic (Serbia), Rudolf Bruchánik (Slovakia), Roman Longauer (Slovakia), Ladislav Paule (Slovakia), Gregor Bozič (Slovenia), Robert Brus (Slovenia), Katarina Celič (Slovenia), Hojka Kraigher (Slovenia), Andrej Verlič (Slovenia), Marjana Westergren (Slovenia), Ricardo Alía (Spain), Josefa Fernández-López (Spain), Luis Gil Sanchez (Spain), Pablo Gonzalez Goicoechea (Spain), Santiago C. 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