Castanea sativa
Chestnut

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G.Bernetti/EUFORGEN
G.Bernetti/EUFORGEN
G.Bernetti/EUFORGEN
G.Bernetti/EUFORGEN
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Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) is a large, deciduous tree native to southern Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, but its range is discontinuous and scattered (Fernández-López and Alía, 2003). The tree’s origin is thought to be north-east Türkiye and/or the Caucasus region (Mattioni et al., 2008). The tree grows at a range of altitudes and prefers well-drained soils, a mean annual rainfall of over 600 mm with no (or short) dry seasons, and temperate climates, but the tree is highly adaptable to different environmental conditions (Martin et al., 2012). Sweet chestnut can be wind or insect pollinated, with pollen travelling up to 100 km from the source tree (Fernández-López and Alía, 2003).

Sweet chestnut produces spiny fruits encasing edible nuts, for which it is widely cultivated. The nuts are consumed raw, roasted, or processed into flour and pastes. Additionally, the wood is valued for its durability and resistance to rot, and the tree is used in landscape and environmental management, making the tree economically important for multiple purposes (Martin et al., 2012). Forests for producing timber are scarce. However, the tree can re-sprout from the stump, and coppicing represents a common type of forest management, supplying firewood, charcoal, and wood for smaller constructions (Fernández-López and Alía, 2003). Ecologically, sweet chestnut provides habitat and food for wildlife and its flowers are rich in pollen and nectar and therefore beneficial for honey production.

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EUFORGEN’s publications on Abies alba

Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use

Castanea sativa - Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use for chestnut

Publication Year: 2003
Author: Fernández-López, J.; Alía, R.

The first step to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of chestnut genetic resources in Europe is to assess, for each country, the present and past geographical distribution of the species, the conservation status, to identify threats and the prevailing or potential uses. Inventories should be undertaken in countries where the distribution of the species in the wild is unknown. Historical data may be required to distinguish the natural distribution range from the naturalized populations. Ecological gradients could be used to define ecogeographic zones or regions of provenance where the species is seed propagated.

For in situ conservation of populations, several managed stands should be designated from those selected for seed production (seed stands), with at least 100 trees that fruit regularly in each. These populations should then be sampled for provenance testing. If the populations are small (less than 20 trees), then seeds from several different populations within an ecogeographic zone should be collected and mixed, and the seedlings produced should be planted in the in situ gene conservation population to enhance their genetic diversity. If this is not possible, the number of trees in the population should be increased by planting material according to data from provenance trials where available, or by introducing individuals from similar ecological conditions. Different conservation populations should be established for nut and wood production.

A Multiple Population Breeding System (MPBS) is recommended to conserve the genetic diversity in wild populations (Ideally in MPBS, a breeding population is subdivided into subpopulations which are then grown over a wide range of site conditions. Each subpopulation may have the same or different breeding goal. In less intensive version of MPBS, subpopulations are selected from existing forests instead of establishing ex situ stands of the subpopulations). To create a European network of gene conservation stands, at least 30 (‘undomesticated’) stands should be selected throughout the distribution area, with greater numbers representing Castanea sativa. Guidelines for genetic conservation and use marginal populations. Sub-populations should be managed to promote nut production in trees with desirable phenotypes.

Cultivated varieties should be conserved in clonal archives. Clonal archives of plus trees and local fruit varieties can be considered as sub-populations within a Multiple Population Breeding System, with the main objectives of breeding and preserving the present composition of the chestnut forest stands and orchards. The aim is to prevent disappearance due to disease or dysgenic selection. Since two hybridizing species confer disease tolerance to C. sativa, it is recommended to include material from plus trees of C. crenata and C. molissima in clonal archives, located in areas without pronounced drought.

For ex situ conservation, provenance tests should be established in contrasting, disease free environments. Aiming firstly at studying the variability of the adaptive traits and then to conserve the material, progeny tests of selected plus trees from several populations should be set up on sites where a breeding programme will be implemented. One of the populations will serve as a control, to be tested in different environments, and the others will be included depending on the needs and priorities of every country.

The first step to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of chestnut genetic resources in Europe is to assess, for each country, the present and past geographical distribution of the species, the conservation status, to identify threats and the prevailing or potential uses. Inventories should be undertaken in countries where the distribution of the species in the wild is unknown. Historical...
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Access the genetic conservation units in the EUFGIS information system
Download modelling, data and information on Castanea sativa from the European Atlas of Forest Tree Species
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To learn more about the map elements, please download the "Pan-European strategy for genetic conservation of forest trees"

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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. 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).
 

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