Populus euphratica—World distribution

Populus euphratica is distributed across the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, and clustered around the Mediterranean to northwestern China and the arid and semi-arid deserts of Mongolia. Populus euphratica forests are distributed in 20 countries, including China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco and Spain, across the longitude about 110 °. In addition, it is also distributed in Palestine and Jordan at an altitude 250-2400m. Populus euphratica is found in Kenya on the equator, but it belongs to an isolated distribution area, then from North Africa at around 30°N to Kazakhstan at 47°N, across the latitude about 50°. The distribution of natural Populus euphratica forest is characterized by large geographical span, discontinuity and large differences in climatic conditions, indicating that it has a large genetic variation.

The global distribution of Populus euphratica can be divided into six regions. Region one is Morocco, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and other places. Among them, northern Morocco, Syria and southwestern Turkey have a Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers and mild and rain winters. Iraq is located in the tropical desert climate zone, dry and hot all the year round. Region two is Kenya and its surrounding areas, located near the equator in East Africa. It has a savanna climate with high temperature throughout the year and obvious dry and wet seasons. Region three is Iran and other places, located in the subtropical continental arid and semi-arid climate zone, with cold winters and hot summers, dry year-round, sparse rainfall, large temperature differences, showing the characteristics of continental climate. Region four is Pakistan and Kazakhstan. The climate in this region is complex, with typical arid continental climate and tropical desert climate, hot and dry, and the precipitation is rare all the year round. Region five is Xinjiang, China. This region has the characteristics of continental arid climate, with cold winters and hot summers. It is most concentrated on the lower reaches of many rivers along the banks of the Tarim River, the Yeerqiang River and the Hotan River and the lower reaches of many rivers in the southern margin of the Tarim Basin. Region six is the Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province, China. This region is located inland and located on the western edge of the Chinese monsoon. It is controlled by the Mongolian high in winter and is characterized by long cold in winter, short hot in summer, fast warm in spring and early cool in autumn. According to the climatic characteristics of the distribution area, there are great differences in climatic conditions in the six distribution regions of Populus euphratica.

The global area of Populus euphratica forest is 648719hm². 60.9% of the Populus euphratica in world are distributed in China, 30.8% are distributed in Central Asia, and the rest are distributed in Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Spain and other places.