Deer Exclusion Fences Help Hybrid Chestnut Seedlings Thrive

Abstract

American chestnuts (Castanea dentata) were once abundant in the eastern United States, until the non-native diseases chestnut blight fungus and ink disease devastated their numbers in the 19th and 20th centuries. By the 1950s, American chestnuts were functionally extinct, meaning that the species no longer plays a viable role in the ecosystem. Today, 10 percent of the original population remains, and most trees are small sprouts that often die young.

Citation

USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2024. Deer Exclusion Fences Help Hybrid Chestnut Seedlings Thrive. Rooted in Research Issue 37, August 2024. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 2 p.