Author(s)

Natalya K. Kutsokon^1,2, Shibu Jose¹, Eric Holzmueller³

¹The Center for Agroforestry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA.
²Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering NAS of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine.
³Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA.

The genus Populus contains some of the most economically important tree species and hybrids in the world. We compared productivity of short and long-rotation poplar plantations using published data from 23 countries to determine if climate, particularly temperature, had any effect on the observed patterns of productivity. We discovered that climate factors (related to temperature) and clone origin (pure species or hybrids) slightly influenced productivity of long rotation forests more than short rotation plantations. While long rotation plantation productivity exhibited positive correlations with increasing temperature during winter and decreasing heat during summer, short rotation plantations showed weak positive relationship among productivity and increasing yearly temperature and the number of hot days. It was apparent that short rotation plantations productivity was less dependent on regional climatic variables or origin of clone. However, it appears that overall, regardless of the system, Populus species are generally adapted to a range of climatic conditions where they are planted.

Poplar, Populus sp., Hybrids, Fast-Growing Plantations, Intensive Forestry, Short and Long Rotation Plantations, Stem Volume, Climate

Kutsokon, N. , Jose, S. and Holzmueller, E. (2015) A Global Analysis of Temperature Effects on Populus Plantation Production Potential. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 6, 23-33. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2015.61004.