Reintroduced Native Populus nigra in Restored Floodplain Reduces Spread of Exotic Poplar Species

Abstract

Exotic Populus taxa pose a threat to the success of riparian forest restoration in floodplain areas. We evaluated the impact of exotic Populus taxa on softwood riparian forest development along the river Common Meuse after introducing native Populus nigra and after the re-establishment of the natural river dynamics. We sampled 154 poplar seedlings that spontaneously colonized restored habitat and assessed their taxonomy based on diagnostic chloroplast and nuclear microsatellite markers. Furthermore, by using a paternity analysis on 72 seedlings resulting from six open pollinated P. nigra females, we investigated natural hybridization between frequently planted cultivated poplars and native P. nigra. The majority of the poplar seedlings from the gravel banks analyzed where identified as P. nigra; only 2% of the sampled seedlings exhibited genes of exotic poplar species. Similarly, the majority of the seedlings from the open pollinated progenies were identified as P. nigra. For three seedlings (4%), paternity was assigned to a cultivar of P. × canadensis. Almost two decades after reintroducing P. nigra, the constitution of the seed and pollen pools changed in the study area in favor of reproduction of the native species and at the expense of the exotic poplar species. This study indicates that, although significant gene flow form exotic poplars is observed in European floodplains, restoration programs of the native P. nigra can vigorously outcompete the exotic gene flows and strongly reduce the impact of exotic Populus taxa on the softwood riparian forest development.

Sustainable Afforestation Strategies: Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model in Post-Mining Rehabilitation

“…Successful in post-mining afforestation Important in the fight against climate change [52]. Cleans heavy metal pollution in the soil [53].…”

Black Poplar (Populus nigra L.) Root Extracellular Trap, Structural and Molecular Remodeling in Response to Osmotic Stress

“…The restoration and protection of riparian forests is one of the key priorities in biodiversity conservation and climate change adaptation. In this context, black poplar plays a major role in the development of riparian forests in European strategies [ 2 ]. The sexual regeneration of riparian forests using seedlings is essential for gene flow and in order to enhance disease resistance and adaptation to environmental changes through the natural genetic variation of populations [ 3 ].…”

Aras Nehri boyunca yayılış gösteren kara kavak popülasyonlarının genetik yapısı

“…İki evcikli olan bu ağaç türünün polenleri ve tohumları rüzgâr ve su vasıtasıyla çok uzak mesafelere taşınabilir (Tabbener ve Cottrell, 2003). Kara kavak, diğer kavak türleriyle kolayca hibritleşmesi ve vejetatif rejenerasyon kapasitesi sayesinde dünyanın farklı bölgelerinde ıslah programlarında ve biyoenerji ve hammadde üretiminde model ağaç olarak kullanılmaktadır (Vanden Broeck, 2003). Çevresel plastisitesi sayesinde, kimyasal atıkların bulunduğu endüstriyel alanlarda toprağı temizlemek için ağaçlandırması yapılan bu tür birçok böceğe, küçük memeliye ve kuş türüne ev sahipliği yaptığı için biyoçeşitliliğe büyük oranda katkıda bulunmaktadır (Jelic vd., 2015).…”