Journal of Forestry, 2021, 96–105 doi:10.1093/jofore/fvaa049 Discussion Received May 12, 2020; Accepted October 16, 2020 Advance Access publication December 3, 2020 Discussion Breeding for Resistance to Tree Pests: Successes, Challenges, and a Guide to the Future Carolyn C. Pike, Jennifer Koch, and C. Dana Nelson Carolyn C. Pike (
[email protected]), USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry, Eastern Region, West Lafayette, IN. Jennifer Koch (
[email protected]), USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Delaware, OH. C. Dana Nelson (
[email protected]), USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Health Research and Education Center, Lexington, KY. Keywords: resistance breeding, shared stewardship, forest health, tree improvement Forests in North America are threatened by a myriad critically endangered on the International Union for of native and nonnative pests and pathogens, the latter Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List (Westwood of which are largely introduced via the international et al. 2017). Invasive pests threaten native forest species trade of raw wood products and live plants. The early at a time when reforestation is considered one of our twentieth-century arrival of white pine blister rust best options for mitigating the impacts of climate change (WPBR) (Cronartium ribicola) and chestnut blight (Goymer 2018, Bastin et al. 2019). (Cryphonectria parasitica) on imported seedlings devas- Invasive pests have devastated entire ecosystems tated forests across North America. Invasive species