Holms, "Forward in Chestnut and the
chestnut blight in North Carolina," NC Geology and Economic Survey Economics, vol.
interspersed with gray trunks of giant chestnut trees, killed by the
chestnut blight." At Shenandoah and what is now Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so many American chestnuts once blossomed in spring that the hills looked like they were covered in snow.
No one knew what to do when the
chestnut blight hit in 1904, so for decades many people continued planting Chinese chestnuts anyway--at least they somewhat replaced the nut of the American chestnut, but since they were low-growing, the forest canopy ceded to oaks and beeches.
The abundance of deer has increased throughout the eastern United States since the
chestnut blight pandemic due to hunting regulations and changes in land use (McShea and Healy, 2002), and studies have shown that deer negatively affect the abundance of oak seedlings and saplings (Stange and Shea, 1998; Rooney, 2003; Russel, 2001).
The CCC has also developed methods for taking cuttings from live trees in order to maintain a living library of the genetic diversity found in Canada's remaining chestnuts, some of which show signs of natural resistance to
chestnut blight.
Chestnut blight, a fungus that originated in Asia, was first noted in the United States in 1904 at the New York Zoological Garden.
The outbreak of
chestnut blight fungus (Cryphonectria parasitica) from imported chestnut stock was first observed in New York and spread like wild-fire.
The American chestnut, which was virtually eliminated from Appalachian forests in the early 20th century by the
chestnut blight pathogen, is being restored through several innovative programs around the country.
They were decimated by
chestnut blight, caused by a bark fungus accidentally introduced into America.
Chestnut blight (Cyphonectria parasitica) and Dutch elm disease (Ophiostoma ulmi), are two other well known invasive tree diseases that have devastated the American chestnut and the American elm, effectively eliminating them as significant components of the deciduous forests of south eastern Canada.
It's a pretty wood and it smells great when it is freshly cut." Graban added that chestnut no longer exists as a commercial timber in the United States because of the
chestnut blight that devastated domestic supplies.
The first is
Chestnut blight caused by a fungus from Asia that was accidentally introduced into the Eastern U.S.