Hi everyone,
Jim Slavicek and I are working together on the restoration of American elm
(Ulmus americana). American elm was a dominant species in many swamp and
floodplain forests in eastern US and Canada before Dutch elm disease (DED)
reduced its populations. At our lab, we have a small plantation of elms in
various stages of testing for DED tolerance. Several genotypes have been
shown to tolerate DED, and a large portion of the progeny from crosses
among these trees are DED-tolerant as well. We are currently testing the
potential of seedlings from DED-tolerant crosses to be used for restoration
plantings. It is our hope that large, stately American elm trees will
someday grace our floodplain and swamp forests once again.
We need more DED-tolerant genotypes of American elm to use as parent trees
for our plantation in order to have enough genetic diversity to use it as a
seed orchard for large-scale plantings. We are looking for healthy American
elm trees larger than 24 inches DBH (diameter at breast height) that are
growing in areas that have had DED and that have not been treated with
fungicides to prevent DED. We are only interested in American elm trees
growing within its native range. If you see a survivor elm that fits this
description, please enter its location and DBH at our website:
http://nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/ded/survivor_elms/
We will compile these entries in a database, prioritize the elms for
sampling, contact land owners, and then collect small branches from the
trees to propagate and test them for DED-tolerance. Please forward to
anyone who knows how to identify elm trees and might have interest in this
project. Thank you for your help!
- Kathleen
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Kathleen S. Knight
Research Ecologist
USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station
359 Main Rd.
Delaware, OH 43015
740-368-0063 (office)
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