For. Sci. Pract., 2013, 15(4): 363–369 DOI 10.1007/s11632-013-0404-6 © 2013 Beijing Forestry University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg SHORT COMMUNICATION Abstract Fast growing poplar species enjoy a highly favored position in Iran’s forest product industries. However, information on poplar plantations, such as areas, growing stock and harvest volumes, are largely obtained by non scientific means and poorly executed methods. A few studies have been conducted to obtain data on the capacity of poplar plantations, their extent, existing growing stock, distribution and species choice in three provinces, i.e., Western Azerbaijan, Kurdistan and Hamedan, with relatively well developed management systems. We opted for a cluster method, a standard sampling method for conducting similar investigations, consisting of two phases. In the first phase we collected library information and conducted half-open interviews with villagers. In the second phase field measurements in the villages of these three provinces were carried out. Information from field measurements on growing stock, cultivated areas, dominant species were used to estimate volumes by way of volume and weight tables. Results obtained from the present study indicate that the average annual volume of timber harvested in the three provinces was 697,723 m 3 , with an average sampling error of 22.7 per cent. This annual volume of poplar timber harvested from the three provinces was estimated to amount to about 25 per cent of overall harvest; at that rate, the overall annual utilization potential of poplar plantations will be 10 million m 3 , which constitutes a reliable resource of raw timber for use in wood and paper industries. Keywords poplar plantations, field measurements, harvest volumes, cluster sampling Received 23 March 2013; accepted 29 June 2013  Author for correspondence (Majid AZIZI) E-mail: mazizi@ut.ac.ir Quantitative study of poplar plantations in three Iranian provinces Majid AZIZI 1, , Mohammad Mehdi FAEZIPOUR 1 , Ali BAYATKASHKOOLI 2 , Fatemeh TAHERI 1 1 Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karai, Iran 2 Faculty of Natural Resources, Zabol University, Zabol, Iran Introduction Considering the demand for wood product in the country and our present inability to produce sufficient timber from our northern forests, we need to continue to manage existing poplar plantations and resort to establishing new ones in Iran. However, a number of factors have prevented the development of poplar plantations in various regions of the country; at the same time over-harvesting of poplar has occurred and the cut-over forests have changed into agriculture land. The volume of timber production from poplars in 1993 exceeded two million m 3 . After 11 years, the 2003 statistics for wood production from plantation forests shows only a small increase (i.e., from 2 million to 2.5 million m 3 per year). Changes in area, standing volume and annual harvests can partly determine the future development of wood products. In the mean time, by identifying suitable poplar species for different regions, the possibility of optimal use of this wood for various industrial applications should be provided. In Iran, various wood industries,