Editing Populus (section)

==Uses==
[[File:Pamirihouse.JPG|thumb|Traditional [[Pamiris]] house]]
Although the wood from ''Populus'' is known as poplar wood, a common high-quality hardwood "poplar" with a greenish colour is actually from an unrelated genus ''[[Liriodendron]]''. ''Populus'' wood is a lighter, more porous material.

Its flexibility and close grain make it suitable for a number of applications, similar to those of willow. The Greeks and Etruscans made shields of poplar, and [[Pliny the Elder]] also recommended poplar for this purpose.<ref>{{cite book |author=H. A. Shapiro |title=The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6LUcuGdJF30C&pg=PA69 |year=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-82699-0 |page=69 |access-date=22 November 2015 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717125102/https://books.google.com/books?id=6LUcuGdJF30C&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref> Poplar continued to be used for shield construction through the Middle Ages and was renowned for a durability similar to that of oak, but with a substantial reduction in weight.

===Food===
In addition to the foliage and other parts of ''Populus'' species being consumed by animals, the starchy sap layer (underneath the outer bark) is edible to humans, both raw and cooked.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angier |first=Bradford |url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetoedib00angi/page/172/mode/2up |title=Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants |publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1974 |isbn=0-8117-0616-8 |location=Harrisburg, PA |pages=172 |oclc=799792 |author-link=Bradford Angier}}</ref>

===Manufacturing===
*Guitar production,mainly used with cheaper import guitars
*In many areas, fast-growing [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] poplars are grown on [[plantation]]s for [[pulpwood]]
*Poplar is widely used for the manufacture of [[paper]].<ref>[http://www.peupliersdefrance.org/indexGB.htm/ Poplar cultivation in Europe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103142348/http://www.peupliersdefrance.org/indexGB.htm |date=3 November 2007 }}</ref>
*It is also sold as inexpensive hardwood [[timber]], used for [[pallet]]s and cheap [[plywood]]; more specialised uses including matches and [[match]]boxes and the boxes for [[Camembert (cheese)|Camembert cheese]].
*Poplar wood is also widely used in the [[snowboard]] industry for the snowboard core, because it has exceptional flexibility, and is sometimes used in the bodies of [[electric guitar]]s and [[drum]]s.
*Poplar wood, particularly when seasoned, makes a good hearth for a [[bow drill]].
*Because of its high [[tannic acid]] content, the bark has been used in Europe for tanning leather.<ref name=Keeler/>
*Poplar wood can be used to produce [[chopsticks]] or [[wooden shoes]].
*Baking [[Mold (cooking implement)|moulds]] from [[Wood veneer|peeled]] poplar may be used in the freezer, oven, or microwave oven.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aiken |first1=Laura |title=Baking Bread Abroad |journal=[[Bakers Journal]] |date=18 April 2012 |url=http://www.bakersjournal.com/news/breaking-bread-abroad-3747 |access-date=11 June 2016 |archive-date=8 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808104752/http://www.bakersjournal.com/news/breaking-bread-abroad-3747 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Energy===
Interest exists in using poplar as an [[energy crop]] for [[biomass]], in [[energy forestry]] systems, particularly in light of its high energy-in to energy-out ratio, large carbon mitigation potential, and fast growth.
[[File:Rotor poplar and willow cuttings planter, planting a new nursery of poplar for biomass with short rotation..JPG|thumb|Rotor poplar and willow cuttings planter, planting a new nursery of poplar for biomass with short rotation]]

In the United Kingdom, poplar (as with fellow energy crop willow) is typically grown in a [[short rotation coppice]] system for two to five years (with single or multiple stems), then harvested and burned - the yield of some varieties can be as high as 12 oven-dry tonnes per hectare every year.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Yield and spatial supply of bioenergy poplar and willow short-rotation coppice in the UK |journal=New Phytologist |volume=178 |issue=2 fvhc |pages=358–370 |year=2008 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2008.02396.x |author=Aylott, Matthew J. |pmid=18331429 |last2=Casella |first2=E |last3=Tubby |first3=I |last4=Street |first4=NR |last5=Smith |first5=P |last6=Taylor |first6=G |s2cid=35494995|doi-access=free |bibcode=2008NewPh.178..358A }}</ref>
In warmer regions like Italy this crop can produce up to 13.8, 16.4 oven-dry tonnes of biomass per hectare every year for biannual and triennial cutting cycles also showing a positive energy balance and a high [[Efficient energy use|energy efficiency]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nassi |last2=Di Nasso |first2=N. |last3=Guidi |first3=W. |last4=Ragaglini |first4=G. |last5=Tozzini |first5=C. |last6=Bonari |first6=E. |year=2010 |title=Biomass production and energy balance of a twelve-year-old short-rotation coppice poplar stand under different cutting cycles |doi=10.1111/j.1757-1707.2010.01043.x |journal=Global Change Biology Bioenergy |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=89–97 |s2cid=86414864}}</ref>

===Fuel===
[[Biofuel]] is another option for using poplar as bioenergy supply. In the United States, scientists studied converting [[short rotation coppice]] poplar into sugars for biofuel (e.g. ethanol) production.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Can we use short rotation coppice poplar for sugar based biorefinery feedstock? Bioconversion of two-year-old poplar grown as short rotation coppice |journal=Biotechnology for Biofuels |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=144 |year=2017 |doi=10.1186/s13068-017-0829-6 |pmid=28592993 |pmc=5460468 |author1=Dou, C |author2=Marcondes, W. |author3=Djaja, J. |author4=Renata, R. |author5=Gustafson, R. |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017BB.....10..144D }}</ref>
Considering the relative cheap price, the process of making biofuel from SRC can be economically feasible, although the conversion yield from short rotation coppice (as juvenile crops) were lower than regular mature wood. Besides biochemical conversion, thermochemical conversion (e.g. fast pyrolysis) was also studied for making biofuel from short rotation coppice poplar and was found to have higher [[energy recovery]] than that from bioconversion.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Fast pyrolysis of short rotation coppice poplar: an investigation in thermochemical conversion of a realistic feedstock for the biorefinery |journal=Biotechnology for Biofuels |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=144 |year=2017 |doi=10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b01000 |author1=Dou, C |author2=Chandler, D. |author3=Resende, F. |author4=Renata, R.}}</ref>

===Art===
Poplar was the most common wood used in Italy for [[panel painting]]s; the ''[[Mona Lisa]]'' and most famous early [[Italian Renaissance]] paintings are on poplar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Uzielli |first1=Luca |last2=Gril |first2=Joseph |last3=Cocchi |first3=Linda |last4=Colmars |first4=Julien |last5=Dionisi Vici |first5=Paolo |last6=Dureisseix |first6=David |last7=Goli |first7=Giacomo |last8=Jullien |first8=Delphine |last9=Marcon |first9=Bertrand |last10=Mazzanti |first10=Paola |last11=Remond |first11=Romain |date=July 2011 |title=Experimental studies on the wooden support of the "Mona Lisa" |url=https://hal.science/hal-00945958#:~:text=The%20%E2%80%9CMona%20Lisa%E2%80%9D%20(Louvre,Poplar%20(Populus%20alba%20L.) |journal=The Safeguard of Cultural Heritage. A Challenge from the Past for the Europe of Tomorrow. COST Strategic Workshop |series=The safeguard of cultural heritage : a challenge from the past for the Europe for the Europe of tomorrow |location=Florence, Italy |publisher=Firenze University Press |pages=367 p |doi=10.13140/2.1.1021.1525}}</ref> The wood is generally white, often with a slightly yellowish colour.

Some [[stringed instrument]]s are made with one-piece poplar backs; [[viola]]s made in this fashion are said{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} to have a particularly resonant tone. Similarly, though typically it is considered to have a less attractive grain than the traditional [[sitka spruce]], poplar is beginning to be targeted by some [[harp]] [[luthier]]s as a sustainable and even superior alternative for their [[sound board (music)|sound boards]]:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://traditionalharps.com/Old_Rees_Harps_Site/HarpsGeneralTonewoods.html |title=Harps by Wm. Rees - WM REES HARP MYTH 8 |access-date=2011-07-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326111406/http://traditionalharps.com/Old_Rees_Harps_Site/HarpsGeneralTonewoods.html |archive-date=26 March 2012}} Rees Harps Website, "Harp Myth #8".</ref> in these cases another hardwood veneer is sometimes applied to the resonant poplar base both for cosmetic reasons, and supposedly to fine-tune the acoustic properties.

===Land management===
[[Lombardy poplar]]s are frequently used as a [[windbreak]] around agricultural fields to protect against wind erosion.

===Agriculture===
Logs from the poplar provide a growing medium for [[shiitake]] mushrooms.<ref>[http://www.mtg.unimelb.edu.au/Shiitake.htm Shiitake growth studies performed by RMIT] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100103221747/http://www.mtg.unimelb.edu.au/Shiitake.htm |date=3 January 2010 }}</ref>

===Phytoremediation===
Poplar represents a suitable candidate for [[phytoremediation]] since it has the ability to remove and store harmful pollutants in its trunk while also removing air pollution.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Doty |first1=Sharon L. |last2=Freeman |first2=John L. |last3=Cohu |first3=Christopher M. |last4=Burken |first4=Joel G. |last5=Firrincieli |first5=Andrea |last6=Simon |first6=Andrew |last7=Khan |first7=Zareen |last8=Isebrands |first8=J. G. |last9=Lukas |first9=Joseph |last10=Blaylock |first10=Michael J. |date=2017-09-05 |title=Enhanced Degradation of TCE on a Superfund Site Using Endophyte-Assisted Poplar Tree Phytoremediation |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b01504 |journal=Environmental Science & Technology |language=en |volume=51 |issue=17 |pages=10050–10058 |doi=10.1021/acs.est.7b01504 |pmid=28737929 |bibcode=2017EnST...5110050D |issn=0013-936X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This plant has been successfully used to target many types of pollutants including [[trace element]] (TEs) in soil<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guidi Nissim |first1=W. |last2=Palm |first2=E. |last3=Mancuso |first3=S. |last4=Azzarello |first4=E. |year=2018 |title=Trace element phytoextraction from contaminated soil: a case study under Mediterranean climate |journal=Environmental Science and Pollution Research |volume=25 |issue=9 |pages=9114–9131 |doi=10.1007/s11356-018-1197-x |pmid=29340860 |bibcode=2018ESPR...25.9114G |s2cid=3892759}}</ref> and [[sewage sludge]],<ref>Werther Guidi Nissim, Alessandra Cincinelli, Tania Martellini, Laura Alvisi, Emily Palm, Stefano Mancuso, Elisa Azzarello, Phytoremediation of sewage sludge contaminated by trace elements and organic compounds, Environmental Research, Volume 164, July 2018, Pages 356-366, ISSN 0013-9351, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.009., landfill [[leachate]]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Justin |first1=MZ |last2=Pajk |first2=N |last3=Zupanc |first3=V |last4=Zupanƒçiƒç |first4=M |year=2010 |title=Phytoremediation of landfill leachate and compost wastewater by irrigation of ''Populus'' and ''Salix'': Biomass and growth response |journal=Waste Management |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=1032–42 |doi=10.1016/j.wasman.2010.02.013 |pmid=20211551|bibcode=2010WaMan..30.1032J }}</ref> [[Polychlorinated Biphenyl]] (PCBs),<ref>Meggo RE, Schnoor JL. Cleaning Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Contaminated Garden Soil by Phytoremediation. Environmental sciences. 2013;1(1):33-52</ref> [[Trichloroethylene]] (TCE),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gordon |first1=M |last2=Choe |first2=N |last3=Duffy |first3=J |display-authors=etal |year=1998 |title=Phytoremediation of trichloroethylene with hybrid poplars |journal=Environmental Health Perspectives |volume=106 |issue=Suppl 4 |pages=1001–1004 |doi=10.2307/3434144 |pmc=1533336 |jstor=3434144 |pmid=9703485}}</ref> [[Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon]] (PAHs).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Spriggs |first1=T. |last2=Banks |first2=M. K. |last3=Schwab |first3=P. |year=2005 |title=Phytoremediation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Manufactured Gas Plant–Impacted Soil |journal=J. Environ. Qual. |volume=34 |issue=5 |pages=1755–1762 |doi=10.2134/jeq2004.0399 |pmid=16151227|bibcode=2005JEnvQ..34.1755S }}</ref>