Credit: Emr/Wikimedia
Credit: Emr/Wikimedia
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 Betula pubescens conservation in Europe
Downy birch has high genetic diversity, as seen in Swedish populations. It is a tetraploid species, which typically have higher genetic diversity and allelic richness than diploid species such as silver birch and dwarf birch (Betula nana) (Martín et al., 2008; Tsuda et al., 2017). While genetically like silver birch and sharing haplotypes, downy birch has a clearly different population genetic structure (Maliouchenko et al., 2007).
Swedish populations of downy birch have been shown to have low genetic differentiation (Truong, Palmé, and Felber, 2007). Recently established populations at higher altitudes in Sweden were more differentiated than those at lower altitudes but genetic diversity was not reduced because gene flow remained high (Truong, Palmé, and Felber, 2007). Low spatial genetic structure within populations may be the result of high gene flow, efficient expansion from a single glacial refugium, or hybridization (Truong, Palmé, and Felber, 2007). However, multiple genetic clusters are observed across Europe (Maliouchenko et al., 2007; Tsuda et al., 2017). Spanish populations show high genetic differentiation between populations, suggesting that gene flow in the Iberian Peninsula is more limited and populations are more isolated than elsewhere in the species’ range (Martín et al., 2008).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Downy birch is genetically intermediate between dwarf birch, silver birch, and Japanese white birch (Betula platyphylla), with the species sharing haplotypes but remaining differentiated (Martín et al., 2008; Tsuda et al., 2017). Stronger differentiation between these species was observed in UK populations (Tsuda et al., 2017). However, these species regularly hybridize with each other, creating hybrid zones where the genetic diversity of downy birch may be higher, such as in central Siberia (Tsuda et al., 2017). Downy birch may have originated from hybridization between silver birch and another, now extinct or ancestral, birch (Betula) species (Tsuda et al., 2017).
Downy birch may have been confined to Russia and western Siberia during glacial periods (Tsuda et al., 2017). Glacial refugia also likely persisted in the Iberian Peninsula and mountains of southern Europe in general. Isolation of these populations increased their differentiation (Martín et al., 2008). However, southern and western populations appear to not have significantly contributed to recolonization of Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum (Maliouchenko et al., 2007).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Climate change could elevate the treeline and shift the range of downy birch to higher altitudes and latitudes, as has been seen in Sweden with recent expansion of young recruits at the tree line due to the warming of the climate (Truong, Palmé, and Felber, 2007). Downy birch thus has high migration potential; however, this also means populations at lower altitudes and latitudes could be under threat (Truong, Palmé, and Felber, 2007).
Downy birch is not considered to be under threat, and current populations are large enough to maintain high genetic diversity. However, many populations suffer from severe isolation, making it necessary to develop conservation strategies to avoid population decrease and genetic loss (Martín et al., 2008). The species’ adaptability also means assisted migration could be a viable strategy to increase the species’ range and preserve genetic diversity.
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Genetic Characterisation of Betula pubescens and its GCUs
Availability of FRM
FOREMATIS
Contacts of experts
NA
Further reading
N/A
References
Maliouchenko, O., Palmé, A.E., Buonamici, A., Vendramin, G.G., and Lascoux, M. 2007. Comparative phylogeography and population structure of European Betula species, with particular focus on B. pendula and B. pubescens. Journal of Biogeography, 34(9): 1601–1610.
Martín, C., Parra, T., Clemente-Muñoz, M., and Hernandez-Bermejo, J.E. 2008. Genetic diversity and structure of the endangered Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri populations in the south of Spain. Silva Fennica, 42(4): 487–498.
Truong, C., Palmé, A.E., and Felber, F. 2007. Recent invasion of the mountain birch Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa above the treeline due to climate change: genetic and ecological study in northern Sweden. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 20(1): 369–380.
Tsuda, Y., Semerikov, V., Sebastiani, F., Vendramin, G.G., and Lascoux, M. 2017. Multispecies genetic structure and hybridization in the Betula genus across Eurasia. Molecular Ecology, 26(2): 589–605.
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