Paine Falls in Oct. near Painesville, Ohio. Got a great seasonal picture to share? Send it my way to be featured in an upcoming newsletter! | |
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Hi all,
We’ve made it to November! Lots of tree activities going on for planters and orchards. Wishing you good weather to get the rest of your outdoor work done this season. Read on to learn more about our latest announcements, plus the first ever GLB FHC report is available — please give it a look and share with your colleagues. We have all accomplished so much since our launch in September 2021, you should all be proud of your efforts. Also, we will be expanding our efforts to work with American elm resistance breeding against Dutch elm disease. Here’s to next year!
— Rachel Kappler
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A Report for Partners. In an effort to summarize what the GLB FHC and its partners have accomplished to date, we present to you the first ever annual report. This covers Jan. 2021 to Sept. 2023 and will be done per our fiscal year in the future. Thanks to our science communication consultant Anna Funk for her help putting this together. |
Announcing: American elm!
For many years there has been research and efforts put forward to assist the American elm (U. americana) fight back against Dutch elm disease. Starting this fiscal year, the GLB FHC will be assisting with coordination of resistance breeding activities for American elm. We look forward to hearing from partners what their work has entailed so far and how the GLBFHC can help. Please reach out if you would like to share your efforts with elm and if you have any questions.
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American beech
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European beech susceptibility work in progress. Mary Pitts, a research specialist at Holden Forests & Gardens, is collaborating with Dr. Paulo Vieira (USDA) and Dr. Mihail Kantor (The Pennsylvania State University). Their research into Beech Leaf Disease explores the susceptibility European Beech (Fagus sylvatica) has to the disease by comparing symptomatic leaf and bud tissues of European beech to American beech (F. grandifolia) to understand the threat European beech forests could face when exposed to the beech leaf disease nematode (Litylenchus crenatae subsp. mccannii).
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The SEM image shown above is of a symptomatic area that has the classic dark green interveinal banding with L. crenatae subsp. mccannii lying on the surface of the leaf. | |
Ash
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We got more seeds! We were not expecting to get more seeds on ash this year — but that's what happened here at Holden’s lingering clone orchard. These trees are only 8 years old and are already seeding, which is likely because they are grafted individuals of mature trees. Next steps for the lingering ash seeds will be germination tests, then EAB resistance tests and progeny orchards.
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Eastern hemlock
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Seed collection was limited. Weather conditions in many parts of the Great Lakes Region were not ideal for eastern hemlock cone production this year, except in northeastern Ohio where we suspect the higher-than-average July and August precipitation led to above-average cone production. New collections were gathered from Loraine, Lake, and Geauga county parks in Ohio as well as by Western New York Land Conservancy. Thanks partners!
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Eastern hemlock landscape genomics study at UConn. Sample collection is well underway for a new study by researchers at Jill Wegrzyn’s Plant Computational Genomics Lab at the University of Connecticut. Led by USDA-NIFA funded postdoc Karl Fetter, 309 samples from 199 unique sites have already been collected and mailed in from 19 different conservation groups and government agencies across the eastern hemlock range. Contributors so far include the Holden Arboretum, USFS, State DNRs, The Nature Conservancy, as well as private land management nonprofits. In particular, collections from New England, and the Southeast are well underway. Interested parties who would like to collect hemlock leaves for the landscape genomics study should contact Karl Fetter (hemlock@uconn.edu) to inquire about receiving a collection kit in the mail.
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Eastern hemlock reference genome, incoming. The PCG lab at UConn has also set their sights on generating the first ever reference genome for eastern hemlock. This work will not only aid efforts to develop adaptation strategies for eastern hemlock across its range, but also facilitate research focused on profiling terpenoids in lingering and unselected hemlock stands. Initial genome assemblies will kick off this month. Undergraduate scholar David Baukus will work with Vidya Vuruputoor on this process.
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Seasonal changes in hemlock’s terpene defenses. Preliminary results corroborate past findings that hemlock terpene production peaks in summer (June/July), but in fall, potentially lingering trees have different amounts of terpene than susceptible trees. Trees were sampled over the course of a full year representing the HWA lifecycle in the Arnold Arboretum, as well as in the New Jersey bulletproof hemlock gardens in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Meghan Myles (UConn), Tim Cernak (University of Michigan), Roland Kersen (U Mich), Sarah Johnson, Karl Fetter (UConn), Ben Smith, and Vidya Vuruputoor (UConn) are collaborating on this project.
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A genome for hemlock woolly adelgid. NSF-funded post-bacc scholar, Adam Glendening (UConn), is in the early stages of sequencing and assembly of the HWA genome. The lab is working with Gaelen Burke at UGA, PhD student Dustin Dial (UGA), and Nicole Pauloski (UConn) to refine protocols.
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Have an update to share in the next GLB FHC newsletter? Email us! | |
Partner Spotlight: Penn Nursery | |
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This newsletter our partner spotlight is on Penn Nursery, which is a tree growing facility of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The nursery has been officially growing crops of trees for more than 100 years!
Located in the Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forest districts of central Pennsylvania, the area was originally started as a small ranger nursery sometime between 1908 and 1912. It was doing then what it’s still doing now, providing trees to reforest state lands. In 2016, the nursery became a part of the Mira Lloyd Dock Resource Conservation Center, named in honor of the first woman to be appointed a government post in Pennsylvania.
Since 1993, Penn Nursery has been the only DCNR nursery in PA, providing all of the needed seedlings for DCNR reforestation. This is no easy task, but they rise to the challenge. In 2021 alone, they produced 2.5 million seedlings, picked and shipped bare root for spring and fall plantings!
Not only that, they also have made time and space available for important trees needed for research. In the last decade that has meant growing green ash, white ash, and American chestnut for pest and disease resistance research. They have installed a common garden experiment for white oak, and are open to having a lingering ash orchard in the future. We are so thankful to have Penn Nursery as one of our GLB FHC partners. Read the entire article on Penn Nursery history here.
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The number one thing we need from our partners and allies right now is reports of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid this winter.
To submit observations: There are a number of ways to report HWA (and BLD). You can submit observations through the citizen science app iNaturalist. You can also send a report through the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) website. (The Tree Health Survey app is still the primary place for individuals to report beech leaf disease.)
Start an ash orchard. We’re looking for more organizations that can host a long-term lingering ash orchard in the future. Please reach out if you are potentially interested, and let us know how much space you have and whether you’d need funding to help get it started. Already-running nurseries and orchards are great contenders, but placing orchards on state land or conservation easements may also be possible.
Set up a workshop. As always, training workshops to help with monitoring, seed collection, tree propagation, grafting, using the TreeSnap app, and more are available online or in-person. Contact Rachel Kappler today to set one up for your organization!
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Not just an ecological loss: Black ash has cultural and spiritual importance to many Tribal Nations in the U.S. and First Nations in Canada. Census data indicate that 98% of Indigenous people currently residing within the geographic range of black ash in the U.S. will be within the area experiencing more than 75% basal area loss by 2035, suggesting broad and multidimensional impacts of EAB invasion for those who value black ash as a cultural keystone species. [Siegert et al. 2023 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment]
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What’s wrong with that leaf? New insights to cellular mechanisms in BLD-infected leaves. A collaboration led by a USDA-ARS team investigated what cellular changes lead to the leaf symptomology of BLD. They identified the cellular changes that mess with leaf architecture, finding, for instance, abnormal rates of cell division plus a proliferation of chloroplasts that create the darker interveinal bands. The researchers suspect these changes improve the nutritional value for the nematodes. [Vieira et al. 2023 PLOS ONE]
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Where will BLD go next? A team out of the Ohio State University have mapped and modeled the current and potential future range of BLD’s spread, using weather patterns as a major factor to decide where in closed broadleaved deciduous forests the disease is expected to go next. [Zhao et al. 2023 Plant Disease]
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Potential cross-resistance found in European ash. Researchers in Switzerland found that European ash genotypes with increased resistance to ash dieback pathogen (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) show cross-resistance to emerald ash borer. Resistance patterns were associated with intraspecific variation in phloem chemistry that deter both types of pests. [Gossner et al. 2023 New Phytologist]
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Over 30% decline expected for some hemlock-associate bird species. Researchers built models to estimate the effects of adelgid infestation on fourteen bird species’ demographic trends. They observed a > 30% decline for two hemlock-associate species after infestation — the Blackburnian warbler, and the Hermit thrush — especially in the warmest parts of the species’ ranges. [Amaral et al. 2023 Biological Invasions]
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New Emerald Ash Borer review. An international team published in the Annual Review of Entomology recently gained knowledge of the range expansion of EAB, its impacts, lessons learned from past management efforts, advances in biological control, mechanisms of ash resistance, and new detection and management approaches under development, with the aim of guiding more effective management. [Sun et al. Annual Review of Entomology]
| Have new research to share in the next GLB FHC newsletter? Email us! | |
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The Great Lakes Basin Forest Health Collaborative is an initiative co-sponsored by Holden Forests & Gardens and the USDA Forest Service, funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. | |
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MISSION: Holden Forests & Gardens connects people with the wonder, beauty, and
value of trees and plants, to inspire action for healthy communities
VISION: All communities transformed into vibrant places where
trees, plants, and people thrive
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