Establishment and Growth of Chestnut on Mined Lands

1. Establishment and Growth of Chestnut on Mined Lands Meadowview Research Farms The American Chestnut Foundation Fred Hebard, Bob Paris, William White, and David Slack Mined Land Reforestation Conference August 7 & 8, 2007 Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center Abingdon, VA

2. The American Chestnut The tree was one of the best for timber. It grew straight and often branch-free for 50 feet. Loggers tell of loading entire railroad cars with boards cut from just one tree. Straight-grained, lighter in weight than oak and more easily worked, chestnut was as rot resistant as redwood. The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in the Eastern forest. In the heart of its range a count of trees would have turned up one chestnut for every four oaks, birches, maples and other hardwoods. The range of greatest dominance in the United States stretched from Maine to Georgia. The tree is now native to southern Ontario, and some researchers believe that until the late 1800s it may also have been present in northern Florida.

3. Chestnut Blight The blight fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, was introduced from Asia and first discovered in New York City in 1904. By 1950, except for the shrubby root sprouts the species continually produces (and which also quickly become infected), the keystone species on some nine million acres of eastern forests had disappeared. It is estimated that this canker disease of the bark destroyed 4 billion American chestnut trees across its native range.

4. The American Chestnut Foundation • Established in 1983 to restore the American chestnut to its native range • Utilizing backcross breeding method to incorporate blight resistance from Chinese chestnut into American chestnut • Currently producing B3F3 seed (93.75% American) for on-farm testing • If things go as expected, seed for forest testing should be harvested in the next year or two

5. Figure 1. Breeding orchard at TACF’s Smith Research Farm in Jefferson County, PA, planted on reclaimed mined land.

6. Figure 2. Close view of the oldest trees at TACF’s Smith Research Farm. The trees in the background were planted in 2002. The tubes are 2 feet tall and the stakes are about 4 feet tall.

7. Figure 3. Chestnut seedlings after two seasons of growth in Muhlenberg County, KY, on fertilized, ripped, reclaimed mined land with a weathered, brown sandstone substrate. The seedlings were established by direct seeding, mulched with black plastic and protected from voles with aluminum cylinders.

8. Figure 4. Chestnut seedlings established by direct seeding, after three seasons of growth on reclaimed, ripped mined land in Muhlenberg County, KY. The plot was not fertilized and the seedlings are somewhat chlorotic in comparison to the black locust at the site.

9. Figure 5. Chestnut seedlings established on tail-dumped, run-of-the-mine spoil in Pike County in eastern Kentucky, after two seasons of growth. Chlorosis was evident on most seedlings.

10. Figure 6. Chestnut seedlings, treated with Pisolithus tinctorius, on reclaimed mined land in eastern Ohio, after three seasons of growth.

11. TACF Mined Land Plantings • The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) and its cooperators have been planting American chestnut and backcross chestnut on mined lands in four states --KY, IN, PA, and OH-- beginning in 2002. • The following is a description of some of these efforts and a discussion of some preliminary findings.

12. Pennsylvania TACF owns a farm in Jefferson County, PA, portions of which were mined and reclaimed as pasture/hay field in the 1980s. In 2002, TACF volunteers began establishing a breeding orchard of one-sixteenth Chinese, fifteen-sixteenth American chestnut seedlings on those mined lands (Figure 1). Growth of trees at that orchard has been good (Figure 2), perhaps in part because the trees were fertilized. In later plantings, planting holes were augered and refilled to reduce compaction, and a small amount of forest soil was added to provide inocula of mycorhizzae. It is currently believed that the orchard will be successful, and TACF will be able to make selections and harvest nuts for the next generation of breeding. Other mined lands in Pennsylvania are also being planted to similar orchards. Western Kentucky and Indiana In 2004, reclamation specialists of Peabody Energy Company began direct seeding backcross nuts into mined land in Muhlenberg County in western KY. Subsequently, they have planted chestnuts on mined land in southern Indiana. In Kentucky, six plots were planted on land reclaimed as pasture/hayfield, three ripped and three not ripped. Better growth occurred on the ripped land. Additionally, one ripped plot was fertilized with horse manure, and showed the best growth of the plots at the location, perhaps also because brown, weathered sandstone was the substrate (Figure 3), in contrast to the other plots. Chestnut growth has been good on the unfertilized, ripped plots, but the trees are mildly chlorotic, probably due to lack of nitrogen (Figure 4).

13. Eastern Kentucky • Cooperators at the University of Kentucky have been planting chestnut in Pike County in eastern • KY since 2005 on tail-dumped spoil. In that study, experimental plots were established on grey • sandstone, brown, weathered sandstone and run-of-the mine spoil. Better growth is probably • occurring on the brown sandstone and brown sandstone portions of mixed spoil than on grey • sandstone, but the difference is not yet statistically significant. Most seedlings are chlorotic. • The cooperators also are comparing direct seedling to planting of seedlings, and currently feel • that direct seeding is at least as good as planting seedlings. • Ohio • Cooperators at universities in Ohio have been planting chestnut on reclaimed mined lands since • They are evaluating direct seeding versus seedlings, mycorhizzal treatments and also are • comparing growth of backcross trees with varying fractions of American and Chinese • chestnut. Independently, foresters with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources have • been planting pure American chestnut seedlings on reclaimed mined land since 2003. The • seedlings had been inoculated or not inoculated with Pisolithustinctorius, an • ectomycorrhizal fungus. The seedlings had been established and inoculated by TACF • cooperators with the U.S. Forest Service in Delaware, OH. In some plantings but not others, • mycorrhizal inoculation increased growth and seedling height.

14. Discussion • Some general observations follow. Hopefully, experimental data and long-term observation to • establish these points will confirm them in due course. • It appears that weathered brown sandstone is the best substrate for chestnut growth in eastern and • western Kentucky, although mixed brown and grey sandstone also is suitable, and possibly even • grey sandstone. • Pretreatment with ectomycorhizzal fungi appears to enhance chestnut establishment and growth. • Loosening of compacted spoil by ripping, tail dumping or auguring appears to improve chestnut • establishment and growth. • Either seeds or seedlings appear to be suitable for chestnut establishment on mined lands. Seeds • are easier and more inexpensive to handle than seedlings and avoid the risk of introducing • Phytophthora cinnamomi into mined lands, but seedlings are the customary materials for tree • plantings. To address this problem, TACF is funding research on managing Phytophthora root rot • in forest nurseries. • Chestnut is especially well adapted to dry, acidic soils, but does require nitrogen. Fertilization is • especially critical to establishment and can easily be incorporated into planting methods. • Establishment of nitrogen fixing plants, such as legumes (forbs/trees) may be an economical • means of providing the nitrogen critical to the long-term success of afforestion on mined lands.

15. Conclusion With the exception of nitrogen-fixing species, chestnut has the ability to grow as well as, or better than, other tree species over a four state area spanning the ARRI region, indicating that backcross chestnut from TACF’s breeding program are suitable trees for afforestation of mined lands. Restoring the King of the Forest