To learn more about the map elements, please download the "Pan-European strategy for genetic conservation of forest trees"
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. Papageorgiou (Greece), Kostas Thanos (Greece), Sándor Bordács (Hungary), Csaba Mátyás (Hungary), László Nagy (Hungary), Thröstur Eysteinsson (Iceland), Adalsteinn Sigurgeirsson (Iceland), Halldór Sverrisson (Iceland), John Fennessy (Ireland), Ellen O'Connor (Ireland), Fulvio Ducci (Italy), Silvia Fineschi (Italy), Bartolomeo Schirone (Italy), Marco Cosimo Simeone (Italy), Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin (Italy), Lorenzo Vietto (Italy), Janis Birgelis (Latvia), Virgilijus Baliuckas (Lithuania), Kestutis Cesnavicius (Lithuania), Darius Danusevicius (Lithuania), Valmantas Kundrotas (Lithuania), Alfas Pliûra (Lithuania), Darius Raudonius (Lithuania), Robert du Fays (Luxembourg), Myriam Heuertz (Luxembourg), Claude Parini (Luxembourg), Fred Trossen (Luxembourg), Frank Wolter (Luxembourg), Joseph Buhagiar (Malta), Eman Calleja (Malta), Ion Palancean (Moldova), Dragos Postolache (Moldova), Gheorghe Postolache (Moldova), Hassan Sbay (Morocco), Tor Myking (Norway), Tore Skrøppa (Norway), Anna Gugala (Poland), Jan Kowalczyk (Poland), Czeslaw Koziol (Poland), Jan Matras (Poland), Zbigniew Sobierajski (Poland), Maria Helena Almeida (Portugal), Filipe Costa e Silva (Portugal), Luís Reis (Portugal), Maria Carolina Varela (Portugal), Ioan Blada (Romania), Alexandru-Lucian Curtu (Romania), Lucian Dinca (Romania), Georgeta Mihai (Romania), Mihai Olaru (Romania), Gheorghe Parnuta (Romania), Natalia Demidova (Russian Federation), Mikhail V. 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. González-Martínez (Spain), Sonia Martin Albertos (Spain), Eduardo Notivol Paino (Spain), María Arantxa Prada (Spain), Alvaro Soto de Viana (Spain), Lennart Ackzell (Sweden), Jonas Bergquist (Sweden), Sanna Black-Samuelsson (Sweden), Jonas Cedergren (Sweden), Gösta Eriksson (Sweden), Markus Bolliger (Switzerland), Felix Gugerli (Switzerland), Rolf Holderegger (Switzerland), Peter Rotach (Switzerland), Marcus Ulber (Switzerland), Sven M.G. de Vries (The Netherlands), Khouja Mohamed Larbi (Tunisia), Murat Alan (Turkey), Gaye Kandemir (Turkey), Gursel Karagöz (Turkey), Zeki Kaya (Turkey), Hasan Özer (Turkey), Hacer Semerci (Turkey), Ferit Toplu (Turkey), Mykola M. Vedmid (Ukraine), Roman T. Volosyanchuk (Ukraine), Stuart A'Hara (United Kingdom), Joan Cottrell (United Kingdom), Colin Edwards (United Kingdom), Michael Frankis (United Kingdom), Jason Hubert (United Kingdom), Karen Russell (United Kingdom), C.J.A. Samuel (United Kingdom).
Status of Alnus glutinosa conservation in Europe
Black alder can regenerate vegetatively and shows considerable levels of self-pollination despite its outcrossing breeding system, which could reduce its genetic diversity in certain circumstances (Mejnartowicz, 2008). However, the species has 9% of genetic variation between populations and 91% of genetic variation within populations (Mejnartowicz, 2008). This high genetic diversity is attributed to the species’ wide distribution, effective seed dispersal by wind and water, and small, isolated populations (Kajba and Gracan, 2003). Genetic diversity is high and differentiation between populations low even in Irish populations that are scattered and isolated by farmland with consequent reduced gene flow (Beatty et al., 2015; Mingeot et al., 2016). Genetic diversity between populations has been shown to be as low as 2% in Irish populations (Beatty et al., 2015).
Black alder shows no correlation between genetic and geographic distance. However, some spatial genetic structure in populations is connected to hydrological systems such as rivers and wetlands (Mejnartowicz, 2008). No significant differentiation between populations is found even in Scotland and France, showing a lack of genetic structure across the species even at large geographic scales, at least in northern Europe (Mingeot et al., 2016). This is apparent at smaller scales, where populations form a single cluster; however, there may be some genetic structuring at the European scale (Mejnartowicz, 2008; Beatty et al., 2015).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Most European populations of black alder originate from glacial refugia in the Carpathian Mountains, creating some level of genetic structuring across the species’ range (Mejnartowicz, 2008; Mingeot et al., 2016). However, some research suggests that refugia from the Iberian, Apennine, Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas also served as sources for colonization after the last glacial maximum (Havrdová et al., 2015), with these differing sources crossing and creating secondary contact zones with higher genetic diversity in central and northern European populations (Havrdová et al., 2015). Isolated southern populations in refugial zones retained lower levels of genetic diversity in the rear edge of the species’ range, making them more vulnerable to extinction due to climate change (Havrdová et al., 2015).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Many sites suitable for black alder have been converted to farmland, creating small, scattered populations (Mingeot et al., 2016). Lack of suitable growing conditions and lack of natural regeneration are major threats to the species, leading to a loss of genetic diversity (Kajba and Gracan, 2003). Black alders' adaptability also means that populations in unique habitats will also possess unique genetic variation, and as such the loss of unique habitats will result in the loss of this unique genetic variation (Kajba and Gracan, 2003). Entire plantations have been lost when planted with varieties of black alder that are not adapted to local conditions (Kajba and Gracan, 2003). Pathogens and diseases, such as Phytophthora alni, also threaten the species (Mingeot et al., 2016).
It is important to protect the existing diversity of natural populations of black alder because they may contain localized occurrences of unique genetic traits or haplotypes or high genetic diversity (Beatty et al., 2015). The range of the species should also be expanded by planting locally adapted varieties on suitable sites in plantations or where trees have been completely lost, for example from catastrophic disease outbreaks (Kajba and Gracan, 2003; Beatty et al., 2015). In the UK, seed zones have already been established for the selection of appropriate material, but these do not account for distribution of genetic variation across populations and regions (Beatty et al., 2015). It is recommended that ex situ conservation of black alder genetic resources is undertaken using seedling or clonal seed orchards (Kajba and Gracan, 2003).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Genetic Characterisation of Alnus glutinosa and its GCUs
Availability of FRM
FOREMATIS
Alnus glutinosa - Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use for black alder
Publication Year: 2003Black alder can not be naturally regenerated as other broadleaved forest tree species. Following fertilization, there is a 30 day seed period, followed by a further 30 days as cotyledons. The supply of nutrients during this germination period is critical as well as sufficient moisture and light, to ensure the development of the leaves and stem. In natural stands of black alder these conditions are almost impossible due to weed vegetation and old tree canopies. The natural regeneration of black alder is successful when the humus layer of the soil is removed to promote germination.
To generate progeny from a natural population to be genetically equivalent that from natural regeneration, several conditions must be met: the felling of mature trees in a given stand must coincide with seed ripeness; seeds must be sampled from 10-50 diverse trees on every 30-40 ha of area, and good quality seedlings should be planted on a prepared site (3000- 4500 plants/ha).
The ex situ conservation of black alder genetic resources should be undertaken using seedling or clonal seed orchards. Since black alder reaches regenerative maturity relatively early, seedling seed orchards can be used if seeds are sampled from 200-300 trees throughout all natural populations (which represent one seed unit or ecological race). For the establishment of clonal seed orchards it is necessary to select about 100 normal (typical) and plus trees from one seed zone or region. In this way the clonal seed orchard established would represent a “breeding population”, and could be used for conservation as well as for breeding purposes.
Black alder can not be naturally regenerated as other broadleaved forest tree species. Following fertilization, there is a 30 day seed period, followed by a further 30 days as cotyledons. The supply of nutrients during this germination period is critical as well as sufficient moisture and light, to ensure the development of the leaves and stem. In natural stands of black alder these conditions...
Noble Hardwoods Network: Report of the first meeting
Noble Hardwood Network: Report on the fourth and fifth meeting
Contacts of experts
NA
Further reading
Cubry, P., Gallagher, E., O’Connor, E., and Kelleher, C.T. 2015. Phylogeography and population genetics of black alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) in Ireland: putting it in a European context. Tree Genetics & Genomes, 11: 99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-015-0924-4
Verbylaitė, R., Aravanopoulos, F.A., Baliuckas, V., Juškauskaitė, A., and Ballian, D. 2023. Can a forest tree species progeny trial serve as an ex situ collection? A case study on Alnus glutinosa. Plants, 12(23): 3986. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12233986
References
Beatty, G.E., Montgomery, W.I., Tosh, D.G., and Provan, J. 2015. Genetic provenance and best practice woodland management: a case study in native alder (Alnus glutinosa). Tree Genetics & Genomes, 11: 92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-015-0919-1
Havrdová, A., Douda, J., Krak, K., Vít, P., Hadincová, V., Zákravský, P., and Mandák, B. 2015. Higher genetic diversity in recolonized areas than in refugia of Alnus glutinosa triggered by continent‐wide lineage admixture. Molecular Ecology, 24(18): 4759–4777.
Kajba, D. and Gracan, J. 2003. EUFORGEN Technical Guidelines for genetic conservation and use for black alder (Alnus glutinosa). Rome, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute. 4 pages.
Mejnartowicz, L. 2008. Genetic variation within and among naturally regenerating populations of alder [Alnus glutinosa]. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae, 77(2): 105–110.
Mingeot, D., Husson, C., Mertens, P., Watillon, B., Bertin, P., and Druart, P. 2016. Genetic diversity and genetic structure of black alder (Alnus glutinosa [L.] Gaertn) in the Belgium–Luxembourg–France cross-border area. Tree Genetics & Genomes, 12: 24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11295-016-0981-3
See details
Designed by Newtvision
