Restoring the American Chestnut: A Blueprint for Climate Resilience

What is it about?

American chestnut, once a dominant species in eastern forests, was decimated in the early 20th century by an introduced fungal blight. We sequenced genomes of remnant chestnut stump sprouts from across the climatically diverse historical range. We used these data to develop a strategy for conserving chestnut adaptive genetic diversity, and for targeting blight resistant trees to environments in which they will thrive.

Featured Image

Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash

Photo by Hansjörg Keller on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The loss of the American chestnut was catastrophic from economic, ecological, and societal standpoints. An ambitious effort to restore the American chestnut through hybridization with blight resistant species. While millions of wild American chestnut's remain as periodic re-sprouts from the roots of blight-killed stems, most of these never produce viable seed before being re-infected with blight. At the same time, these stump sprouts represent a reservoir of genetic diversity reflecting adaptation to the diverse climates in which chestnut's were historically found. By characterizing, conserving, and coupling this diversity with blight resistant trees, we are working toward the restoration of this iconic species across eastern North America.