Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Capital Region Center for Urban Ecology Restoration of American Chestnut to Forest Lands Proceedings of a Conference and Workshop May 4 – 6, 2004 The North Carolina Arboretum Edited by Kim C. Steiner and John E. Carlson Natural Resources Report NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR — 2006/001 RESTORATION OF AMERICAN CHESTNUT TO FOREST LANDS Proceedings of a conference and workshop held at The North Carolina Arboretum Asheville, North Carolina, U. S. A. May 4–6, 2004 Natural Resources Report NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR – 2006/001 Organized and Edited by: Kim C. Steiner, Professor of Forest Biology and John E. Carlson, Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics School of Forest Resources The Pennsylvania State University Sponsored by: USDI National Park Service National Capital Region Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit and Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit May 2006 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service National Capital Region Center for Urban Ecology Natural Resources Reports are the designated medium for information on technologies and resource management methods; “how to” resource management papers; proceedings of resource management workshops or conferences; and natural resource program descriptions and resource action plans. Views and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect policies of the National Park Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement 1443CA309701200, Task Agreement Number T-3097-01-002 with assistance from the National Park Service. The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are solely those of the athors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Printed copies of this report were produced in a limited quantity and, as long as the supply lasts, may be obtained by sending a request to the address on the back cover. When original quantities are exhausted, copies may be requested from the NPS Technical Information Center (TIC), Denver Service Center, PO Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287. A copy charge may be involved. To order from TIC, refer to document D-66. This report may also be available as a downloadable portable document format file from the Internet at http://chestnut.cas.psu.edu/nps.htm Acknowledgements: Funding for this conference was provided by the United States Department of The Interior, National Park Service, through the Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit located in Frostburg, Maryland. The editors would like to acknowledge the very considerable support provided by Dr. William Lellis in arranging the funding for this conference and in assisting with its organization and execution. We also wish to thank Ms. Sara Fitzsimmons for her expert help with editing and formatting the proceedings. Citation: Steiner, K. C. and Carlson, J. E, eds. 2006. Restoration of American Chestnut To Forest Lands - Proceedings of a Conference and Workshop. May 4-6, 2004, The North Carolina Arboretum. Natural Resources Report NPS/NCR/CUE/NRR - 2006/001, National Park Service. Washington, DC. Front Cover: The figure on the front cover depicts the core of the natural range of American chestnut (as delineated by Elbert Little) superimposed on a map of the present occurrence of forest in the United States (http://nationalatlas.gov/mld/foresti.html) and Canada (http://geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/clf/en). Small, outlying populations of the original American chestnut range are not shown. NPS D-66 May 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface.................................................................................................................................................... v List of Conference Participants ............................................................................................................ vi Welcome and Introduction James Sherald ........................................................................................................................... 1 National Park Service Management Policy Guidance for Restoration of American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) to National Park System Units John Dennis............................................................................................................................... 3 Ecology Historical Ecology of American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) Emily Russell Southgate .......................................................................................................... 13 Forest Health Impacts of the Loss of American Chestnut (transcript of presentation) Steve Oak ................................................................................................................................ 21 Current Status of Chestnut in Eastern US Forests William McWilliams, Tonya Lister, Elizabeth LaPoint, Anita Rose, and John Vissage ........ 31 Chestnut and Wildlife Frederick Paillet ..................................................................................................................... 41 Historical Significance of American Chestnut to Appalachian Culture and Ecology Donald Davis .......................................................................................................................... 53 Blight Resistance Technology The Backcross Breeding Program of The American Chestnut Foundation Fred Hebard ........................................................................................................................... 61 Blight Resistance Technology: Transgenic Approaches William Powell, Scott Merkle, Haiying Liang, and Charles Maynard ................................... 79 Hypovirulence: Use and Limitations as a Chestnut Blight Biological Control William MacDonald and Mark Double .................................................................................. 87 Integrated Use of Resistance, Hypovirulence, and Forest Management to Control Blight on American Chestnut Gary Griffin, John Elkins, Dave McCurdy, and Lucille Griffin ............................................. 97 iii Genetic Issues Genetic Structure of American Chestnut Populations Based upon Neutral DNA Markers Thomas Kubisiak and James Roberds .................................................................................. 109 Regional Adaptation in American Chestnut Kim Steiner ........................................................................................................................... 123 Rate of Recovery of the American Chestnut Phenotype Through Backcross Breeding of Hybrid Trees Matthew Diskin and Kim Steiner .......................................................................................... 129 Selection for Chinese vs. American Genetic Material in Blight-Resistant Backcross Progeny using Genomic DNA Song Liu and John Carlson .................................................................................................. 133 Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms John Carlson ........................................................................................................................ 151 National Park Service Policies – Highlights From a Workshop on Genetically Modified Organisms in Park Lands William Lellis ....................................................................................................................... 159 Practical Issues Planting Trials of American Chestnut in Central Appalachian Forests Tim Phelps, Kim Steiner, Chien-Chih Chen, and James Zaczek .......................................... 161 Planting Trials with American Chestnut in Southern Appalachian Forests David Loftis .......................................................................................................................... 167 Ecosystem Restoration and Federal Land Policy: Reexamination in Light of the American Chestnut Restoration Effort Robert McKinstry, Jr. ........................................................................................................... 173 Feasibility of Large-Scale Reintroduction of Chestnut to National Park Service Lands Scott Schlarbaum, Sunshine Brosi, and Sandra Anagnostakis ............................................. 195 Effects of Past Land Use and Initial Treatment on Castanea dentata Seedlings Jennifer Hewitt, Albert Meier, John Starnes, Priscilla Hamilton, and Charles Rhoades .... 203 Potential Extent of American Chestnut Restoration within the National Park System William Lellis ....................................................................................................................... 211 Workshop Summary of Facilitated Workshop of Restoration of Chestnut to National Park System Lands James Finley and Kim Steiner .............................................................................................. 227 iv PREFACE The papers in this document were presented at a conference and workshop that was held at The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, NC, May 4-6, 2004. The purpose of the conference was to discuss issues surrounding the restoration of American chestnut to forest lands. The audience members were primarily employees of USDI National Park Service (NPS), and interest focused on the question of restoring chestnut to NPS lands, but most presentations were selected to address restoration from the broadest perspective possible. The organizers of