The Chestnut Story. The Chestnut Story 10/12/2009. Leila Pinchot PhD Student The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

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1 Leila Pinchot PhD Student The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Testing early establishment of chestnut seedlings on the Cumberland Plateau The Chestnut Story The Chestnut Story On account for its wide use and consequent value, its ability to sprout and its rapid growth, the chestnut is one of the most valuable trees of southern New England and should be much raised in the future Hawley and Hawes,

2 Backcross Breeding Program www. acf.org Chestnut Restoration State of Knowledge Pre-blight documentation Recent Silvicultural Studies: Chestnut responds to increase in light Anagnostakis, 2007 McCament and McCarthy, 2005 Grows very fast:.83cm diameter,.84m height/year Jacobs and Severeid, 2004 In high light levels, can surpass many other hardwoods Latham,

3 Chestnut compared to other hardwoods Chestnut Mockernut hickory Northern red oak American beech Blackgum Tulip poplar Latham, 1992 Many Unanswered Questions How well does chestnut compete with other hardwoods in forest settings? Which types of silvicultural treatments will favor chestnut seedling establishment? How do backcross chestnuts compare to Americans? How does initial seedling size affect establishment? Goals and objectives Goal: Investigate silvicultural parameters for early chestnut establishment on the Cumberland Plateau Primary Objectives: Evaluate growth of backcross compared to American, Chinese. Evaluate effect of silvicultural treatment on chestnut seedling growth and survival. Evaluate competitive ability of chestnut seedlings. Evaluate the effect of seedling quality on establishment. 3

4 Experimental Design: Split Plot Silvicultural treatment as main plot: randomized block design Three five reps per treatment Species and family(species) in subplot: incomplete block design Species: American, backcross, Chinese Families (one to four per species) Daniel Boone National Forest Planted: March, 2009 Data: Spring Fall 2009 and 2010 London, KY Silvicultural Treatments: Oak Shelterwood Fall, 2008 Late Summer,

5 Silvicultural Treatments: Thinning Fall, 2008 Silvicultural Treatments: Shelterwood with Reserves Summer, 2009 Fall, 2008 Fall, 2008 Fall, 2008 Treatments: Species American chestnut Backcross Chinese chestnut 5

6 Methods: Nursery Stock Georgia Forestry Commission Flint River Nursery Grew backcross and American seedlings for 1 year Lifted in February, 2009 Methods February, 2009: Grading Prepare the seedlings Tag, clip roots Initial ht, RCD, root volume Methods: Planting March, 2009 Bare root Used modified KBC bar Aluminum tags 6

7 Methods: Planting Transect 8 spacing Each transect holds between seedlings Methods: Variables Stem density PAR, Canopy Closure Transpiration: available water estimation Chlorophyll: h ll nutrient t estimation HT/RCD Methods: Ht & RCD data Height and root collar diameter 7

8 Methods: Competition plots 2.58 meter diameter plot Understory >.3 m ht, < 3.8 cm DB Midstory cm DBH Overstory >13.9 cm DBH Methods: Light Data Ceptometer: PAR Methods: Soil Water Competition Steady-state porometer: transpiration Estimates available soil water ataid=

9 Methods: Nutrient Competition Chlorophyll analysis: Foliar nutrient estimation Problems Defoliation Ink disease Chestnut blight Statistical Analysis ANOVA α =.05 Using SAS 9.2 (Sas Institute, 2007) Test how the following chestnut growth differ among silvicultural treatments. Test how chestnut growth differs among species. Test how competition varies among silvicultural treatments: Density of competing stems Available PAR Canopy Closure Transpiration Foliar chlorophyll content 9

10 Statistical Analysis Regression Test how the following variables are related to chestnut growth: Density of competing stems Rate of transpiration Available PAR Canopy closure Chlorophyll content In Summary Aknowledgements My Committee: Dr. Scott Schlarbaum, UTK Dr. Jennifer Franklin, UTK Dr. Dave Buckley, UTK Dr. Stacy Clark, USFS Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis, Connecticut Ag. Exp. Sta. Tree Improvement Program Crew: Ami Sharp, Tracy Powers, Dave Griffin, Allison Hauser Stephen Grayson USFS: Southern Research Station Dr. Arnold Saxton, UTK Dr. Steven Jeffers, Clemson 10

11 Questions? 11