Science Daily — Researchers have developed a breed of American chestnut that is resistant to the fungal blight that decimated its population in the early 1900s.
But the return of this “king of trees,” so-called for its picturesque form and towering height of more than 100 feet, remains hampered by a slew of obstacles, said a Purdue University researcher.
“We are on the verge of overcoming chestnut blight, but there is a whole new set of obstacles to get past yet,” said Douglass Jacobs, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources who is helping develop the blight-resistant chestnut.
To reintroduce the American chestnut, he said, researchers must get past several policy limitations, gather new data, educate the public about the species and address new threats posed by exotic pests. He details these and other challenges in a paper published in July’s issue of the journal Biological Conservation. full story
