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American chestnut (Castanea dentata)

The American chestnut was once one of the largest and most dominant trees growing in eastern deciduous forests of the United States. This was a rapid growing hardwood tree species. This species produced prolific seed crops annually that were an important food crop for wildlife (e.g. deer, turkey, bear, etc.). Although it would have probably been difficult to imagine forests without this majestic tree, contemporary forests are without it.

Chestnut blight (or Asian bark fungus), caused by a fungal pathogen (Cryphonectria parasitica), was accidentally introduced around 1900 from either China or Japan. Although chestnuts in Asian regions are relatively resistant to the disease, American chestnuts were nearly driven to extinction by it. The loss of this species likely had effects that rippled through the entire forest foodweb and the rural communities that depended on it. Today, scientists continue to work to develop a resistant variety of American chestnut that might one day allow this species to once again dominate these forests. Most chestnut trees growing in the United States are Asian varieties which are resistant to the blight.

The time-lapse below, taken with the help of Sam Orr, shows nearly a months growth of American chestnut seedlings. Seedlings and saplings are often capable of surviving the blight but trees are killed before they are able to reproduce.

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This sequence was shot over approximately 29 days at 1 hour intervals using a Nikon Coolpix 5400 controlled by a Digisnap 2000.