The Quest to Restore American Elms: Nearing the Finish Line | Hacker News Reader

The Quest to Restore American Elms: Nearing the Finish Line

blog.nature.org

98 pointsohjeez16 comments

Folks might also be interested in the effort to bring back the American Chestnut tree; https://www.acf.org/

It was similarly taken out by a fungus brought over from the old world. They are attempting to backbreed in resistance from an Asian species of chestnut, and it appears to be going well so far.

The only example I've ever seen of American Chestnut is in the North Chagrin Reservation Nature Center. It's amazing wood, it almost glows, even 80+ years after construction:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/North+Chagrin+Nature+Cente...

If you go there, you can read the plaque describing the building and the loss of the chestnut which is now, strangely, between the bathrooms:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5617153,-81.4357392,2a,75y,3...

I spent my childhood in a Minneapolis neighborhood where 100-foot Elms lined the streets, making a canopy from both sides of the street - the umbrella shape of the Elm coupled with its size makes a unique landscape. It was truly glorious, and I'm glad at the possibility of future generations experiencing this.

Exciting that they have varieties that are resistant.

I don't think that is the finish line though. The finish line is decades in the future when there are mature trees in many of the forests that lost their elm to the disease.

The Elm is a magnificent tree. When humans get enough tolerant strains together that they start breeding new strains in the wild, the trees will take it from there.

That would be a very long process. The natural range is vast:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ulmus_americana_rang...

Any effort to really restore it will require establishing thousands of resistant colonies.

Then let this be the first step among many thousands.

A magnificent tree? It was the original widowmaker. Dead elms are dangerous to everyone nearby: they look fine, then fall fast and hard.

Is that all elms, including the American elm under discussion, or just the Siberian Elm? Quoting https://www.springville.org/buildings-and-grounds/urban-fore... :

> Siberian Elm is the weed of the elm family. While most elm species are good hearty trees, Siberian Elm is a problem in the urban forest. Siberian Elm are prone to having weak wood, slime flow from bacteria, poorly attached branches, and producing amazing amounts of seeds. In many areas, Siberian Elm has become an invasive species and a noxious weed. Most people do not plant Siberian Elm; they are very talented at planting themselves. Even on the poorest sites, there are better selections than Siberian Elm.

> Siberian Elm is not the same species as Chinese Elm or Lacebark Elm. Chinese Elm or Lacebark Elm is a very hearty species of elm that is highly recommended for many Utah sites. The bark and growth habit of Chinese Elm is very different from Siberian Elm and should not be confused as the same tree species.

By comparison, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm points out that the American elm "had unique properties that made it ideal for such [urban] use: rapid growth, adaptation to a broad range of climates and soils, strong wood, resistance to wind damage, and vase-like growth habit requiring minimal pruning."

So can we focus on the Ash and Walnut trees now? Please?

Think baby steps. Getting NYC/Albany to remove some of the legislation that prevents similar efforts there would be another nice direction to pivot.

I worry that their testing regime is only getting half the viable trees. Being resistant to the beetle would be just as effective as being resistant to the fungus, but their testing bypasses the beetle entirely.

Is there an elm that is already resistant to the beetle? Because if not, they have nothing to start from.

They're starting with trees that have survived somehow. It's hard to know if those trees survived due to fungus resistance or beetle resistance or just plain luck.

We know their offspring are (sometimes) resistant to the fungus. From the article:

> When the tiny elms reach 1 inch in diameter, the injections begin—every single sapling gets a shot of the two strains of DED. “That is the moment of truth,” says Marks. “We can tell in a couple of weeks whether they will be disease resistant.

Since they have a higher success rate than elm trees in the wild, we can infer that their parent trees were likely resistant to the fungus.

Let's be real here, how are these things at growing morels?

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