Restoring American Chestnut Trees to Northeastern Forests

Dr. Steven Handel, Dr. Belén Sánchez Humanes, and Dr. Christina Kaunzinger from the department’s Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE) are planting hybrid chestnut trees (below) in forest gaps at Duke Farms, Hillsborough, NJ (see photo on right of S. Handel on site). Their goal is to determine if forest gaps, created by removal of non-native species, provide a viable re-entry location for chestnut’s return to northeastern forests.

American chestnut, once a dominant member of regional forests, was virtually eliminated by the non-native fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica. American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was a great shade tree, a valuable timber species, annually produced plentiful and sweet tasting seeds, and provided habitat and food for many animal species.

Breeding efforts by The American Chestnut Foundation have produced hybrid trees (see photo left) that are 15/16 American and 1/16 Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima), combining American chestnut form, height and nut quality with Chinese chestnut blight resistance.

Additional goals of the project are to identify hybrid families with the best performance in forests, to educate the public about the devastating effects of invasive pests, and to inform land managers about the potential of chestnut restoration and ecological restoration in general.

Undergraduates played an important role in the project. Katie Barry, Sandra LaVigne, Selina Ruzi (pictured right), Britany Morgan, and Kevin Eng participated in experimental set-up and/or monitoring.

This project is jointly sponsored by The American Chestnut Foundation, The Duke Farms Foundation, and generous and committed Rutgers alumni.