In part 2 of this month’s episode, the guys share how past and present research come together to create a realistic plan for bringing the American chestnut back, and Erik shares more about how the Allegany Wildlands fit into the Conservancy’s ambitious effort to create the Western NY Wildway, a network of connected protected lands stretching from Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes and beyond.
The episode was recorded on August 14, 2021 at the Allegany Wildlands.
Episode Notes
During the episode, Bill mentioned the corn geneticist Charles Burnham and wondered if he was one of the founders of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). He was! From the TACF’s Wikipedia page: “TACF was founded in 1983 by a group of prominent plant scientists, including Nobel Prize-winning plant breeder Norman Borlaug; Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden; independent chestnut researcher Philip Rutter; and the late Charles Burnham, a Minnesota corn geneticist.
Correction: The guys said that American chestnut is dioecious, but NO! It’s monoecious. Thank you to listener George DeWolf for pointing out this mistake. To explain, let’s start with some definitions. Dioecious plants have female and male flowers located on separate plants, which means you need multiple plants for pollination to occur. In contrast, monoecious plants are often known as “perfect” plants as they will have both female and male flowers on the same plant. This often means that you only need one plant for pollination and fruiting to occur; think tomatoes and peppers. BUT confusion occurs because, in some monoecious plants (like the American chestnut), the individual male and female flowers mature at different times (probably to avoid self-pollination), so - like dioecious plants - they still need multiple individuals for pollination to occur.
Links to the Western NY Land Conservancy
Visit the website of the Western New York Land Conservancy to find out more about their vital conservation efforts.
Find out more about the Allegany Wildlands, including the efforts to preserve it.
Explore the WNY Land Conservancy’s Western New York Wildway, their ambitious new initiative to create an extensive series of protected lands that connect the vast forests of northern Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes, central NY, the Adirondacks, and beyond.
Other Episode-related Links
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) – sign up for their newsletter or consider joining the organization.
A one-page primer on Conservation Easements
The book that Erik mentioned was Champion: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut Tree
Check out TACF’s page on their 3BUR approach to reintroducing the American chestnut.
For up-to-date info on the Darling 58 tree and related efforts to restore the American chestnut, visit the chestnut site at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
For more info on the Darling 58 chestnut tree, check out the video: Bringing Back an American Icon
The Wildlands Network - the group responsible for initially identifying the four “Continental Wildways” traversing the Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, the Canadian Boreal Forest region, and the “Spine of the Continent” between Alaska and Mexico.
Sponsors and Ways to Support Us
Gumleaf Boots, USA (free shipping for patrons)
Thank you to Always Wandering Art (Website and Etsy Shop) for providing the artwork for many of our episodes!
Support us on Patreon!
Check out the Field Guides merch at our Teespring store. It’s really a great deal: you get to pay us to turn your body into a billboard for the podcast!
Works Cited
Aucott, M. and Parker, R.A., 2021. Medical biotechnology as a paradigm for forest restoration and introduction of the transgenic American chestnut. Conservation Biology, 35(1), pp.190-196.
Candeias, M. (2017) In Defense of Plants: Ep. 107 - Chestnut Blight: Causes and Solutions [Podcast]. May 7, 2017. Available at: https://www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2017/5/7/ep-107-chestnut-blight-causes-and-solutions (Accessed 7 August, 2021).
Candeias, M. (2017) In Defense of Plants: Ep. 272 - Restoring the American Chestnut [Podcast]. July 5, 2020. Available at: https://www.indefenseofplants.com/podcast/2020/7/5/ep-272-restoring-the-american-chestnut?fbclid=IwAR08lmeHJwDK-vkbDuyC7YBx22mKtNEoApwibbpGG-U1Plf_ciXZDXjhiNE (Accessed 7 August, 2021).
Image Credit
By aquapredator. Retrieved from iNaturalist - https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92924742