hamburg area historical society chestnut presentation

The American Chestnut, an American Icon

recovering with the help of the

Appalachian Trail and the Hamburg

Reservoir

Hamburg Area Historical Society

February 4, 2016

Richard Gardner

rtgardner3@yahoo.com

410.726.3045

A copy of this presentation along with other research

can be found at:

http://www.slideshare.net/rtgardner3

This study was conducted throughout the spring,

summer and fall of 2015.

1,749 American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) trees

found on trails in the Hamburg Reservoir area from

the Pocahontas spring on the Appalachian Trail to the

Pulpit/Pinnacle section of the Appalachian Trail and

from the gated trail below the water tank to the ridge

from the Pinnacle Spur Trail near Fire Tower Road to

the Pinnacle. Including several side trails a total of at

least 20 miles in an area covering at least 4500 acres

were walked.

perimeter

trails walked

internal trails

walked

mature tree

with burrs

Hamburg Reservoir area 2015

chestnut survey

Pocahontas Spring

Appalachian Trail

Pinnacle

Pulpit

parking lot

spur trail

7,251 American Chestnut trees found on the

Appalachian Trail and related trails from Rausch Gap

to Lehigh Gap.

Non-native Chestnut

Lehigh Gap

Rausch Gap

Blue Mountain: Rausch Gap to Lehigh Gap

2015 chestnut survey

Hamburg

Reservoir

Dan’s Pulpit

Allentown Shelter

Roundhead

300 American Chestnuts were found in a pair of quick

surveys at the Birdsboro reservoirs and French Creek.

This part of the study will be completed in 2016.

Local large groves associated with the Appalachian

Trail:

1.) Hamburg Reservoir,

2.) south of Roundhead Overlook and the old

Appalachian Trail at that location (halfway between

Rt. 183 and Rt. 501),

3.) Hawk Mountain south of Dan’s Pulpit,

4.) Allentown Shelter.

A total of 7,551 American Chestnuts total were found

in the spring, summer and fall 2015

According to Janet Barr the Windsor Water Company

incorporated in 1889 started running water pipes

from Furnace Creek to Hamburg soon after

incorporating.

This means that the upper area of the watershed has

probably not been logged for about 127 years.

According to Luke Sutcliff of the Berks History Center,

the Birdsboro Reservoir was started in 1883. This is

133 years without logging.

These watersheds are comparable to each other in

number of years protected from logging going back

before the blight to the present. American Chestnuts

were found at both.

The most interesting discovery is that the Appalachian

Trail is apparently a corridor for the spread of the

American Chestnut tree and blight resistance.

It appears that crows during the fall migration are

spreading seeds along the ridgeline the AT uses while

pollinators in the spring migration move pollen north.

Along with this the wider parts of the AT serve as a

corridor for the local spread of the chestnuts in that

the AT provides an easy “friction free” route for birds

to fly along, turkeys to run down and small mammals

to use.

While over the length of the AT, the southward spread

of seeds during the fall crow migration and northward

spread of pollen during the spring pollinator

migration are the two most important ways for the

American Chestnut to maintain its genetic

heterogeneity (diversity). As part of this process

disease resistance genes spread between groves and

widely spaced trees.

This is part of the process of basic Darwinian

evolution – the spread of resistance genes produces

more resistant trees that reproduce at a higher rate

because they are healthier than the less resistant.

Eventually the less resistant trees are driven to

extinction by better competitors for resources such as

space, sunlight and water.

Pollinators and crows – maintaining

genetic heterogeneity and spreading

disease resistance along Blue

Mountain

Pollinators move pollen north

during spring migration as the

trees bloom

Crows move seeds south

during fall migration

tree

nut

American Chestnut trees in the Hamburg

Reservoir area

Seedlings

AT north of Auburn Overlook

Sand Spring trail near Shartlesville

AT south of Lehigh Gap

Disease

The Chestnut blight was found in Brooklyn, NY in

1904. It spread to Pennsylvania a few years later.

Trees show lack of disease resistance in all age

classes.

When a tree becomes infected and a trunk dies it

fights back by coppicing, sending up new shoots from

the top of the root crown.

The Pennsylvania Chestnut Blight Conference was

February 20 and 21, 1912.

Basic Science was rejected in favor of proud

machismo based actions which almost resulted in the

extinction of the tree they were trying to save.

Despite the blight, the trees are surviving to

reproduce.

Flowers

Direct sunlight is the key to flowering and hence nut

production.

All mature trees which received direct sunlight had

flowers, burrs and nuts.

Chestnut flowers are a good source of nectar and

pollen for insects such as bees at a time before many

non-tree flowers bloom.

The present gypsy moth infestation and possibly oak

leaf scorch will help the American Chestnut by

opening up the canopy through defoliation of the

presently dominating tree species such as red oak and

striped maple.

Burrs and Nuts

44 trees had burrs in three distinct locations along

Blue Mountain. 1 tree was on the Appalachian Trail

on the top of the ridge at the northern edge of the

Hamburg reservoir watershed @ 200 yards left of

Gold Spring.

Rain swells the burrs causing them to open.

Open burrs on trees can become food for crows, blue

jays and squirrels. On the ground they can be food for

squirrels, turkeys and other predominantly ground

dwellers.

Wet soil makes it easier for crows, blue jays and

rodents such as squirrels to cache nuts in the ground

which enhances germination success.

Swelled burrs decompose easily and swiftly due to

being soft from the absorbed moisture which makes

them a good food source for bacteria, fungi, protists

and insects – moist, nutritious, easy to burrow in and

easily digestible.

This allows the nutrients in the burr to be swiftly

recycled into the soil, creating a community of

organisms which benefit from the tree while giving

benefit to the tree.

Nut dispersal

This study will continue at least through 2016.

Anyone who wants to join me is welcome to grab a

camera and do so. I plan to use a quadcopter (drone)

with camera this year to better understand and

document what I see.

Richard Gardner

rtgardner3@yahoo.com

410.726.3045

http://www.slideshare.net/rtgardner3

Addendum

Non-native Chestnut