Original scientific paper

Morphological study of the leaves of two European black poplar (Populus nigra L.) populations in Slovenia

ROBERT BRUS orcid.org/0000-0002-2104-9474 ; Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
URŠKA GALIEN ; Sadarjeva ulica 16, SI-1218 Komenda, Slovenia
GREGOR BOŽIČ ; Slovenian Forestry Institute, Večna pot 2,
KRISTJAN JARNI ; Department of Forestry and Renewable Forest Resources, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Abstract

Background and Purpose: Conservation efforts across Europe and a
substantial lack of information regarding the present status of black poplar (Populus nigra L.) in Slovenia led us to conduct this research. The objectives were to determine the presence of preserved native black poplar in Slovenia, to evaluate the variation within and between two selected populations, and to evaluate the condition of these populations, which is important for enabling their long-term gene pool conservation.

Material and Methods: To determine the black poplar distribution, the
national database of growing stock of tree species in sub-compartments was used. Species determination was based on standard determination keys and descriptors. To assess a variation, a morphological comparison of leaves from two black poplar populations from the Sava and Mura rivers was done, as well as a comparison with a Canadian poplar (Populus ´canadensis)
clone. Material for analyses was taken from 38 trees, totalling 3811
leaves. Descriptive statistics, non parametric Mann-Whitney U-tests, discriminant analysis (DA) and principal components analysis (PCA) were used for data analyses.

Results and Conclusions: The existence of well preserved European
black poplar populations in Slovenia was confirmed. Sub-compartments that include black poplar in the growing stock cover 51 935.06 hectares, which represents 4.4% of the Slovenian forested area. Black poplar populations from the Sava and Mura sites differed significantly in morphological traits describing the lamina shape, while populations of black poplar and Canadian poplar differed mostly in petiole length and leaf apex shape. Variation within populations of black poplar was larger than between populations and variation of the Sava population was smaller than the Mura population.
In the Mura population,only black poplar individuals were found,
whereas 6 adult Canadian poplars of unknown origin were identified
among black poplars in the Sava population. The recorded regeneration of black poplar was poor. Variation of the examined black poplar populations emphasizes the need to expand the research to other poplar populations in Slovenia and to start conservation activities as soon as possible.

Keywords

black poplar; Populus nigra; Canadian poplar; Populusxcanadensis; morphological analyses; genetic conservation; Slovenia

Hrčak ID:

58185

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/58185

Publication date:

1.9.2010.

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