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American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

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Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#141

Post by quixoticelixer- »

joe_the_user wrote: post #114

Interestingly, I just walked out to a large chestnut tree on Spring Street by my place in Nevada City, CA and measured it's circumference - I got 127 inches, roughly - getting the tape measure around it was a bit challenging. It might be 40-50 feet tall but there is another much taller with less diameter down the hill from it (tree mentioned in article is 50 ft tree, 35 inch diameter, pretty average for here). There…

You can get non american chestnut trees all throughout the united states. It's only the american one has the disease problem

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#142

Post by fhsm »

mastersummoner wrote: post #73
2bitencryption wrote: post #66

If this interests you, I highly recommend the novel "Overstory", which was a pulitzer prize winner in the last few years. It's a fictional collection of stories, all linked by trees (it makes sense if you've read it). Beautifully written, and gave me a huge appreciation for trees.

Yup, same recommendation. That was my first time even hearing about this massive, landscape shifting chestnut blight; I have no idea how it isn't now commonly known. And it was just a really great story in general. Definitely recommend.

At least in some places it is widely (universally?) known. I’m surprised to see so many who don’t known.

I took high school biology in a classroom named after it. The Christmas song always got explicitly recognized for the loss it memorialized. Any worry about invasive exotics got a “next blight” rhetorical flourish. Our elementary school thanksgiving pageant included a chestnut character (it was a coveted costume). In the summer of 2020 the blight vs hoof and mouth was the frame in which COVID could be productively discussed. The list goes on…

Regardless, as one who knew, great recommendation.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#143

Post by pfdietz »

audiodude wrote: post #119
AlbertCory wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe someone with an agricultural background would have an easier time researching this, but: "mostly" Monsanto? Or is that just an older, famous example? Lots of companies sell seeds in mass quantities -- are you saying none of them sell GMO seeds?

That's why I said probably. I just know Monsanto is famous for their "copyright" seeds that are genetically modified and you're not allowed to keep the next generation of seeds.

They're famous for lots of bullshit they didn't actually do. It's part of the demonization process.

In this case, Monsanto never sold "terminator" seeds. They (and many others) sold hybrid seeds, which don't breed true, and so are functionally equivalent to that. Hybrid seeds have been around since the 1930s, if not earlier.

In any case, they can get the same effect by contract. You were not allowed to replant Roundup Ready soybeans, and they sued (and won against) farmers who broke the contract to do that.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#144

Post by pfdietz »

empyrrhicist wrote: post #91
culi wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's very interesting. The video I linked showed that blight resistant trees had a very specific response to grow extra tissue around the infection site to stop it from spreading further so I assumed it was more of a multi-pronged defense

Yes - the Asian ones that evolved with the fungus have a more complex strategy, making a purely breeding-based program challenging. Separately, some clever genetic engineering allows the trees to break down oxalic acid, which prevents the fungus from being able to efficiently attack the plant cells. Two separate things.

These two approaches could be combined, and probably will be naturally if both varieties are introduced to the wild.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#145

Post by mistrial9 »

astrange wrote: post #129
audiodude wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To play devil's advocate to myself and possibly answer my own question: I imagine there are ecological effects of GMO (some of your corn SHOULD get killed by insects). Not to mention the fact that GMO seeds are probably mostly sold by god-awful Monsanto.

“No GMO” labeling isn’t because of any of those issues though; it’s just marketing to Green Meme people, upper class Whole Foods shoppers who are big into naturalistic fallacies.

casual slander of people who can choose their food? The Organic Standard of the USDA is one of the great achievements of the modern times, along with the US Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, establishment of the EPA and the Endangered Species Act. Organic foods standard was the work of thousands of people, companies and academics over a decade+. Small farmers have a chance to compete in niche markets as a relief from crushing food commodity pricing.

personal spite is misplaced, and ignorant actually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_certification

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#146

Post by AlbertCory »

pfdietz wrote: post #143
audiodude wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I said probably. I just know Monsanto is famous for their "copyright" seeds that are genetically modified and you're not allowed to keep the next generation of seeds.

They're famous for lots of bullshit they didn't actually do. It's part of the demonization process. In this case, Monsanto never sold "terminator" seeds. They (and many others) sold hybrid seeds, which don't breed true, and so are functionally equivalent to that. Hybrid seeds have been around since the 1930s, if not earlier. In any case, they can get the same effect by contract. You were not allowed to replant Roundu…

Thanks, that did have the odor of the urban rumor that someone "read this somewhere on the internet" and is now repeating one more time. Although he did admit his lack of sourcing.

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#147

Post by culi »

quixoticelixer- wrote: post #136
culi wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Astounding. Crazy to think about It also makes me wonder. There was an estimated 30-60 million buffalo before colonialism in the Americas. However, those numbers were probably only possible to reach because of human activity driving out other apex predators and becoming themselves the apex predator. Similar story with paw-paws. Though they're not necessarily being threatened by anything currently, their range is decr…

This doesn't make sense. Buffalo are not predators of any sort and were not threatened much by other animals.

Horses (which competed with buffalo) and saber tooth tigers (which predates buffalo) are two examples that immediately come to mind of megafauna that went extinct around the time humans arrived. Though it's still debated how much that had to do with humans overhunting vs the shift from a glacial to an interglacial climate

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#148

Post by culi »

bergenty wrote: post #42
culi wrote: post #5

Saw this really amazing video[0] the other day about American Chestnut Foundation's breeding program in Virginia to revive the American chestnut Basically they hybridized it with Chinese/Japanese chestnuts (which are blight resistant). Then they take the offspring, test for blight resistance and rebreed those back with purebred American chestnuts. Then they repeat the process. Take those offspring, select for blight…

I sent them an email asking them for seeds a few months ago, unfortunately they stopped giving them out.

Do you know if they'll resume giving them out at some point? Maybe someone else who got access to seeds can help you out

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#149

Post by Cupertino95014 »

joecool1029 wrote: post #131
Cupertino95014 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I love nuts of all types, but not the chestnut. It's really more like a small potato than a nut. I wonder if the old ones tasted better.

Fresh they taste almost like sweet corn, I got to try a few American chestnuts last year, they are sweeter (but smaller) than the chinese chestnuts. My landlord boils the chinese one and eats them like mashed potatos, I roast them in oven or air fry them. To me they are like bread from the trees. The English ones are starchy I guess? These are common to see in grocery stores when in season. Also handling changes how…

That does sound like a lot of trouble. Yeah, "starchy" does describe my experience of them.

I had to look up "callery pear"

https://mortonarb.org/plant-and-protect/trees-and-plants/cal...

Re: American chestnut tree in Centreville is the 'holy grail' for conservationists

#150

Post by joe_the_user »

quixoticelixer- wrote: post #141
joe_the_user wrote: post #114

Interestingly, I just walked out to a large chestnut tree on Spring Street by my place in Nevada City, CA and measured it's circumference - I got 127 inches, roughly - getting the tape measure around it was a bit challenging. It might be 40-50 feet tall but there is another much taller with less diameter down the hill from it (tree mentioned in article is 50 ft tree, 35 inch diameter, pretty average for here). There…

You can get non american chestnut trees all throughout the united states. It's only the american one has the disease problem

And you can find American chestnut trees scattered around the West Coast.

Here's a story about one in Oregon.

https://acf.org/our-community/news/passing-of-an-iconic-amer...

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