Alnus glutinosa
Black alder

Black alder (Alnus glutinosa) is an adaptive and fast-growing deciduous tree that can be found across most of Europe. Due to its multiple uses in silviculture and in the wood industry, the tree is considered to be an important forest species. The wood of black alder is rather soft, but durable when kept under water, hence its use for underwater constructions and for smaller boats. Ecologically, the tree provides a valuable source of food for wildlife throughout the winter.

Black alder prefers a moderate to cold climate and grows best in deep soils, with a high water level, such as along river banks and in marshes. In these locations, it also contributes to flood control and the stabilization of riverbanks.

Due to its capability to fix nitrogen, the black alder is a valuable pioneer species with the ability to improve soil conditions for other plants and thereby minimize the need for nitrogen fertilizers. However, the tree is light-demanding and is eventually unable to withstand competition from new and neighboring trees.

in situ genetic conservation unit
ex situ genetic conservation unit
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EUFORGEN’s publications on Abies alba

Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use

Alnus glutinosa - Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use for black alder

Publication Year: 2003
Author: Kajba, D.; Gracan, J.

Black alder can not be naturally regenerated as other broadleaved forest tree species. Following fertilization, there is a 30 day seed period, followed by a further 30 days as cotyledons. The supply of nutrients during this germination period is critical as well as sufficient moisture and light, to ensure the development of the leaves and stem. In natural stands of black alder these conditions are almost impossible due to weed vegetation and old tree canopies. The natural regeneration of black alder is successful when the humus layer of the soil is removed to promote germination.

To generate progeny from a natural population to be genetically equivalent that from natural regeneration, several conditions must be met: the felling of mature trees in a given stand must coincide with seed ripeness; seeds must be sampled from 10-50 diverse trees on every 30-40 ha of area, and good quality seedlings should be planted on a prepared site (3000- 4500 plants/ha).

The ex situ conservation of black alder genetic resources should be undertaken using seedling or clonal seed orchards. Since black alder reaches regenerative maturity relatively early, seedling seed orchards can be used if seeds are sampled from 200-300 trees throughout all natural populations (which represent one seed unit or ecological race). For the establishment of clonal seed orchards it is necessary to select about 100 normal (typical) and plus trees from one seed zone or region. In this way the clonal seed orchard established would represent a “breeding population”, and could be used for conservation as well as for breeding purposes.

Black alder can not be naturally regenerated as other broadleaved forest tree species. Following fertilization, there is a 30 day seed period, followed by a further 30 days as cotyledons. The supply of nutrients during this germination period is critical as well as sufficient moisture and light, to ensure the development of the leaves and stem. In natural stands of black alder these conditions...

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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. 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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. 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