Students' last stand to protect Ontario's vanishing chestnut trees

Sep 10

Katerina Trieselmann (left) and Caitlin Barton record measurements for an American chestnut tree. Photo courtesy: Sarah Richer

By Abdul Matin Sarfraz

race is underway to save Ontario’s vanishing American chestnut trees, once a dominant species in the province’s southern forests.

This summer, two undergraduate students from the University of Guelph are trekking through forests to find, tag and assess the few chestnuts that remain.

An estimated two million of the trees — known for their spiny fruit husks containing edible, glossy nuts — once covered about 70 per cent of the canopy. Today, less than one per cent remain. Most are sick and unable to reproduce after a devastating fungus arrived in the early 1900s. Without intervention, they could vanish within 150 years.

Katerina Trieselmann, a bachelor of science student in environmental biology and Caitlin Barton, entering her fourth year in zoology, are tracking the health of survivors and searching for clues about why some endure — in hopes of preventing the species from disappearing forever.

Peter Allan

Students' last stand to protect Ontario's vanishing chestnut trees

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