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 Platanus orientalis conservation in Europe
Oriental plane tree shows high levels of inbreeding, low genetic diversity, and low gene flow, especially in marginal European populations, with high differentiation between populations (Rinaldi et al., 2019). This is unusual for temperate wind pollinated tree species and compared with other widespread Mediterranean tree species which do not show reduced genetic diversity (Rinaldi et al., 2019).
However Bulgarian populations showed considerable genetic diversity, with greater population genetic diversity within than between populations (Georgieva and Zhelev, 2002). Some research has found that 7.7% of the total genetic variation was between populations (Georgieva and Zhelev, 2002). This is an expected level for broadleaved, cross pollinating, long-lived species, and for other plants with similar life-histories, although levels of inbreeding are still high in oriental plane tree (Grueva and Zhelev, 2011). Despite genetic drift from inbreeding and isolation, it was observed that even a low level of gene flow or migrants can have a big impact on reducing genetic differences between populations in Bulgarian populations (Grueva and Zhelev, 2011).
The distribution of the oriental plane tree is limited by available habitats, which may be why the species did not expand further north after the last glacial period. The species has low regeneration levels, further limiting dispersal and colonization potential and lowering its genetic distribution and gene flow (Rinaldi et al., 2019). Four genetic groups of oriental plane tree have been identified in Europe, being in southern Italy, Sicily, the Balkans, and an eastern group in Crete, Bulgaria, and Türkiye (Rinaldi et al., 2019).
Disjunct distribution and range fragmentation has reduced gene flow between core and marginal populations of oriental plane tree and reduced the local distribution of genetic variation in the species (Rinaldi et al., 2019). This has led to a reduced number of pollen donors from thinned populations, reducing reproduction rates and elevating levels of inbreeding (Rinaldi et al., 2019).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
There is a progressive decrease in genetic diversity (heterozygosity, private allele richness, and allelic richness) and connectivity from core populations of oriental plane tree to marginal populations, with those in southern Italy and Sicily, at the species’ western edge, showing the lowest values of genetic diversity (Rinaldi et al., 2019). Southern Italian and Sicilian populations were more differentiated from each other than from populations in the Balkans, demonstrating the lack of gene flow between these closely located populations (Rinaldi et al., 2019). Marginal populations suffer from fragmentation and geographical isolation, creating barriers to gene flow and leading to low levels of genetic variation (Rinaldi et al., 2019). Lower genetic diversity limits adaptive potential and thus lowers expansive potential for the species at its range edge; it also increases extinction risk in marginal populations (Rinaldi et al., 2019).
The oriental plane tree was widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in the ancient Greek and Roman era because its large canopy provides ample shade (Ciaffi et al., 2022). As a result, much of its dispersion across the Mediterranean was human mediated, with artificially introduced populations. This can create severe genetic bottlenecks and low genetic variation because of vegetative propagation from the same mother plant (Grueva and Zhelev, 2011; Rinaldi et al., 2019).
Low genetic variation in western populations may be evidence for their introduction by humans. However, current levels of genetic diversity and effective population sizes of southern Italian and Sicilian populations do not appear to be the result of human-mediated introduction (Rinaldi et al., 2019).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
The oriental plane tree can survive for over 500 years, but regeneration of the species is very low in marginal populations (Ciaffi et al., 2022). The main threats to the species are habitat destruction, agricultural expansion, fragmentation, and hybridization with other species, such as the London plane tree (Platanus hispanica) (Georgieva and Zhelev, 2002). Fragmentation and unsuitable management resulting from human activities has created small, isolated populations with limited gene flow, leading to genetic drift (Georgieva and Zhelev, 2002).
Genetic conservation efforts for oriental plane tree in Europe should focus on preserving the species' diverse genetic makeup in natural populations (Georgieva and Zhelev, 2002). This may involve focus on Bulgarian populations, which showed higher levels of genetic diversity than other marginal populations in Europe, making them a valuable genetic reservoir (Grueva and Zhelev, 2011).
The bibliographic review was conducted by James Chaplin of the EUFORGEN Secretariat in August 2024.
Genetic Characterisation of Platanus orientalis and its GCUs
Availability of FRM
FOREMATIS
Contacts of experts
NA
Further reading
Besnard, G., Tagmount, A., Baradat, P., Vigouroux, A., and Bervillé, A. 2002. Molecular approach of genetic affinities between wild and ornamental Platanus. Euphytica, 126(3): 401–412.
Orojloo, M., Etemadi, N., Talebi, M., and Rezai, S. 2014. Investigating the genetic diversity of plane (Platanus orientalis and P. occidentalis) in different regions of Iran using SRAP markers. Australian Journal of Crop Science, 8(10): 1388–1394.
References
Ciaffi, M., Vettraino, A.M., Alicandri, E., Tomao, A., Adducci, F., Kuzminsky, E., and Agrimi, M. 2022. Dimensional and genetic characterization of the last oriental plane trees (Platanus orientalis L.) of historical sites in Lazio (central Italy). Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 69: 127506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127506
Georgieva, M. and Zhelev, P. 2002. A strategy for gene conservation of Platanus orientalis L. in Bulgaria. Sofia, Department of Dendrology, University of Forestry.
Grueva, M. and Zhelev, P. 2011. Population genetic structure of Platanus orientalis L. in Bulgaria. iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, 4: 186–189.
Rinaldi, R., Cafasso, D., Strumia, S., Cristaudo, A., Sebastiani, F., and Fineschi, S. 2019. The influence of a relict distribution on genetic structure and variation in the Mediterranean tree, Platanus orientalis. AoB Plants, 11(1): plz002. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plz002
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