Reviving American chestnuts may mitigate climate change
Reviving American chestnuts may mitigate climate change(Photo by Nicole Jacobs)
Jacobs studied four sites in southwestern Wisconsin that were unaffected by the blight because they are so far from the tree's natural range. He compared the American chestnut directly against black walnut and northern red oak at several different ages, and also cross-referenced his results to other studies using quaking aspen, red pine and white pine in the same region.
In each case the American chestnut grew faster, having as much as three times more aboveground biomass than other species at the same point of development. American chestnut also sequestered more carbon than all the others. The only exception was black walnut on one site, but the American chestnut absorbed more carbon on the other study sites.
"Each tree has about the same percentage of its biomass made up of carbon, but the fact that the American chestnut grows faster and larger means it stores more carbon in a shorter amount of time," Jacobs said.
Jacobs said trees absorb about one-sixth of the carbon emitted globally each year. Increasing the amount that can be absorbed annually could make a considerable difference in slowing climate change, he said.
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Great, but nowhere does it tell you where to buy one of his Hybrids.
but if I park my Hummer under a chestnut tree it might get dented by falling nuts.
There's a stand of these in Moore State Park, in Paxton, Massachusetts.
They've a long way to go till they can shade the village smithy, but it's a (re)start.
It'd be nice if someone did a similar patch to the elm trees with regards to the Dutch Elm Disease
Chestnut trees used to blanket the US from the east coast to the great plains. They can get ridicolously huge - trunks probably 10-20' in diameter? So some questions for this hybrid would be
a) Will he make the hybrid "recipe" so to speak public domain - or is it already?
b) Since it's not the original, can it be called a "native" or more importantly will it ACT like a native - ie supporting a similiar number and variety of insects and bird species?
If both of these are true, we need to start planting these everywhere we can (in addition to continuing to plant oak trees).
Any word on how much carbon would chinnuts absorb?
Isn't this project what the old man was trying to do in Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver? Awesomes.
I'd be all for a couple of my tax dollars to go to planting these things all over the NC mountains. I've several Arts and Crafts books that describe what the Appalachian mountains looked liked when in full bloom. It sounded beautiful. (Of course my allergies might be on overdrive, but that's what claratin in for.)
how about paulownia
But will it scare away the flying spaghetti monster?
The American Chestnut Foundation is doing the same thing - breeding blight-resistant hybrid Chinese/American chestnut trees. They're aiming for trees that are at least 15/16ths American, and that have physical characteristics of the American trees.
They say they'll be ready to ship out seedlings in a couple more years.
Website: http://www.acf.org/
I'm really pumped for this. I went to camp as a child in NC mountains (the Appalachians (ap-uh-lah-chins, not "appelations")) and the only American chestnuts you could see were about 6 inches or so in diameter. I'd be terrific to see the huge ones that used to exist out there. Or, for my grandkids to see them...
It'd be nice if someone did a similar patch to the elm trees with regards to the Dutch Elm Disease
SUNY ESF is.
Selfishly, I love this!
At least in Italy, and I suspect elsewhere, hogs raised on chestnuts produce an incredible prosciutto and numerous other delectable pork products (like BACON!).
It seems this could be a great opportunity for synergy!
This is an interesting article, particularly from someone who lives in Asheville, NC in the middle of the Appalachians. However...
Nowhere did it mention the fact that the reason the Chinese trees are 'blight resistant' is because the first chestnut blight of the early 1900's was caused by a Chinese Fungus, brought to Long Island to be studied.
Shouldn't we be learning from our mistakes?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight
Pasketti, this guy does not have his own breeding program separate from the American Chestnut Foundation; it's the ACF that has produced the 94% (15/16) American chestnut trees, and he's affiliated with the effort.
Yes, back when I lived in the east and went hiking in the MD/VA/WV mountains, I'd encounter the young chestnut trees. The blight evidently only affects larger, mature trees, and young trees can make it to the point where they produce nuts (seeds, that is), so the American chestnut didn't go extinct. Had the blight killed young trees as well as mature trees, they'd all be gone.
The first I heard about this 'blight' was on This Old House, the wood refinishing guy mentioned this, saying older homes would be filled with Chestnut wood trim, and then all of a sudden, the choice of wood had to change, because of the blight, and that's it next to impossible to restore the old wood work because you just can't get that type of wood anymore. I found that pretty interesting.
Sure, it's just trim or other small use, but I imagine the loss then put sudden pressure on other types of stock to fill the void.
Imagine if we ran out of gypsum or copper in the blink of an eye.
I was about to say that chestnut makes excellent cladding timber, that can be left untreated in temperate climates (like the UK) it's very stable.
but then i read about the proscuttio and realised that far more important.
in spain they make the most amazing ham fattened on acorns.
Mitigate climate change? Not unless they grow big enough to fall on the maternity wings of major hospitals, they won't. I read the depressing news the other day that Australian "fertility" rates have risen to levels not seen for decades.
What effect will this have on the regular american chestnut? They're still around and only catch the blight when they break the ground. However, they're constantly trying, which means eventually they'll evolve to a point where they can resist.
Should we take over for nature, or let nature do it's thing? A question for the ages I guess.
We had a chestnut tree on the farm when I was a wee lad. It was hard to get the nuts out of their thorny cases without getting a few stuck fingers, but they were tasty enough (raw) that it was worth it. Plus, the wood looks nice. Love this idea.
Is this equivalent? http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/AmericanChestnut.htm?gclid=CK3d49LfgJsCFQubnAodE1avdA
It would be nice to buy a sapling and plant it, but they are hard to find.
This is a case calling hard for gene tweaking.
Home Depot did a push for Elm trees awhile back. The label had some soaring language on it like, "The Return of an American Giant," something along those lines. It was very nice.
I'm in the process of pricing different types of trees and plants for an upcoming project at the elementary school/park. I wonder how a chestnut would do here... Pecan trees grow like weeds here, so I think we'll plant some of those. Also, plum and redbud trees plus lots of flowering shrubs. Won't that be great? It'll attract butterflies, birds... the kids can run around the plants and lie underneath them and pick the flowers and seeds. (Have to be careful not to plant anything too poisonous...)
Yep... need to get busy with that!
Sadly, even this agri-scientist hasn't a clue. No matter how many chestnut tree are grown will not make a difference in the long-term carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere.
A forest of chestnut trees grows, storing carbon in their tissues. Eventually, each individual tree dies and returns its carbon to the atmosphere as it rots. For that singular tree, there is no long-term carbon sequestration; there is likewise no long-term carbon sequestration from a forest of chestnut trees, or of any other forest of trees.
Of course, when the forest is growing rapidly, the combined trees do temporarily sequester carbon, but eventually, there is an equilibrium established where carbon sequestrated equals carbon released from rot. So, there is a small banking of carbon, but in the end, forests do nothing for the massive amounts of carbon dioxide we release today.
The world consumes about 80 million barrels of oil PER DAY at about 350 lb/bbl and 85% carbon. This is 8.0E7*3.5E2*8.5E-2 = 2.38E9 lb of carbon per day released to the atmosphere.
Say a fully-grown chestnut tree weighs as much a ten tons or 20,000 lb. The number of chestnut trees required to sequestrate the carbon released by oil to the atmosphere (basis: dry weight of wood is 50%, dry wood carbon content is 75%) 20e3*5e-1*7.5e-1 =7500 lb carbon per tree. Number of trees needed to be planted per day = 2.38E9 lb oil carbon/7.5E3 lb carbon per mature tree = 3.3E5 trees per day. Obviously, this is result of 330 thousand chestnut trees planted every day is unobtainable.
So, plant a chestnut tree, and recognize that planting that tree will long term have nothing to do with countering global carbon emissions to the atmosphere, yet might give one plenty of enjoyment from its mighty shade.
BB itself provides the best argument against this kind of stuff:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/09/sustainable-energy-w.html
"If everybody does a little bit, we'll get a little bit done"
@18, acorns? pah!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvu_2pwtFu8&feature=related
For several years, I was a board member and officer of The American Chestnut Foundation. It has the most advanced hybrid breeding effort, the best scientists, the most money, and the best track record of making progress on this hybridization effort. All other efforts are hobbyist by comparison.
There is a huge amount of misunderstanding about how this program plays out and what its impact might be in the current century. It is a worthy effort, however, and one which deserves support. It was an extremely important species in the early part of the last century, and its problems are an excellent example of why we should be careful with rampant species movement globally. There are analogous problems with invasive species confronting us now on many fronts, with consequences yet unknown.
While I agree that this particular post regarding carbon sequestration is kind of lame, I will attest that this tree was the dominant eastern hardwood at one time, and it grows faster than pine, or even blackberries, for that matter. I've seen growth rings more than 1" wide, and 4 year old trees 6" in diameter at the base. I have a photo of me standing next to a 5' tall example which was a nut 6 months earlier. Astounding.
Visit www.acf.org. Send them a few bux! Put them in your will! (They're in mine!)
I heard on NPR a few months back that a field scientist had found an untouched grove of chestnuts in the Appalachians, but was refusing to tell anyone where they were for fear of "tourists".
@#25, growing new trees helps for, what, 50 years? Aside from long-term effects such as increasing the potential carrying capacity of the area (diverse growth tends to do that).
This is critical for the local ecosystems. Losing elms and chestnuts was a huge blow to many animals, which have become increasingly reliant on oaks. Bad year for the oaks, bad year for everybody. Increasing the diversity of food sources helps immensely in maintaining healthy ecosystems.
In my parents' house, wormy chestnut paneling was used in the living room. My father religiously saved every scrap that came out of the wall whenever he remodeled, because he knew he would never be able to find more, let alone match it. It's a beautiful dark mahogany color. Chestnut trees are beautiful, they grow fast, they produce nice hardwood and edible nuts; what's not to like?
OK, now breed them so they can grow in, say, North Dakota, and then start ariel seeding operations.
Excellent article
Off subject, but I'd was just reading a TIME article that involved extremely poor journalism, then read this article and was amazed at the difference in quality. Something interesting and helpful, a source and a well explained claim.
Thanks
I kept thinking the Arbor Day Foundation had something to do with chestnuts as well, but realized after some searching that it was hazelnuts. Well, that's a nice complement: get some some chestnut trees and then get some hazelnut bushes. Sounds like a yummy yard!
http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/hazelnut/index.cfm
It's not actually correct that all of the carbon gets released when it rots. Generally, some of it ends up in the soil. I don't have numbers for what percentage, however. And there's no reason to believe that a greater percentage of the carbon would wind up in the soil from a chestnut tree than a pine tree or dogwood or any other tree.
I hope they can send seeds to Canada, as certain areas should be just fine according to the hardiness maps. That, and one of the oldest known specimens being in Nova Scotia:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~chestnut/current_status.htm
Respect!
if no carbon is sequestered then where did all the oil gas and coal come from?
now it's obviously not really going to make a huge difference but an increasign use of timber and it's by products is going to be an important part in our reduction of consumption.
I first heard of the chestnut blight from James Thurber (of Walter Mitty fame) in The Night the Bed Fell, who claims that his great uncle Zeke was the only person to have gotten it, and the first time a tree surgeon had to be called in to treat a human.
Funny how these things stick in your memory, but I can't remember the password to get into my email on a regular basis.
truly enough it would be nice to have more (endogenous?) trees growing. to do this you need funding and catchy phrases. No doubt this hybrid will be a good thing for the chestnut tree population but selling it to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere is a bit of a scam. Trees are not efficient in storing CO2 at all. they produce very little biomass and most of it is recycled every year when the leaves fall. the wood itself stores some CO2 but if you burn it, that's it with the storage. if you want to store CO2 in biomass, you are better of with CaCO3 like it happened in the Carboniferous era or by unicellular algae.
Sigh... I have a dozen or so chestnuts on my property.
First, the seed husks are called "foot fuckers" for a reason. A mature chestnut (I have one that's taller than my house) drops thousands of them, roughly golf-ball size, every year. Keep that in mind if you plant any!
Second, the carbon does get sequestered when you plant wood species that are highly desirable for human use. For example, I have a 300 year old chair made of walnut, and my house has 200 year old oak timbers in it. The carbon in those artifacts is effectively permanently sequestered, since my children will care for them as my parents did before me.
Black walnut is the best tree for carbon sequestration in my area, followed by cherry - because those are the woods that cabinetmakers and wood sculptors turn into valuable artifacts.
Oh, and incidentally - there are two kinds of disease-resistant elms you can buy now - true American Elms bred from clones of the few specimens that survived the Dutch Elm disease due to natural genetic variation, and hybrids that non-botanists will find visually indistinguishable from the American Elm.
soon, my cross between chestnut and trapa bicornis will be ready for release.
Not convinced on the "they'll all rot and release all their CO2" argument.
Trees that reach maturity seed independently and will be partially responsible for additional plantings, so rather high numbers of new individuals and seedings are possible. Also, while the vast majority of seedlings won't make it, the seedlings and saplings encorporate some CO2 and become part of the soil. Saplings and seedlngs that are not likely to make it big are still carbon scarfing plants that are not a small part of the forest floor.
Hopefully by the time the resistant trees reach maturity, we will have figured out how to build rocketships out of chestnut timber. Once they've reached escape velocity, they are out of our Carbon cycle.
Not a lot of understanding of geological time scales here. Last time CO2 was anywhere near the level it is now, it took 20,000 years to get back to normal. Yes, in 20,000 years your chestnut will rot. No, nobody has figured out a way to really change the situation. I'm guessing the himalayas will have to melt before anything gets done.