American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation
American Chestnut Habitat
The graphic shows the range.... Eastern North America, from Mississippi
to Maine mostly on the spine of mountainous uplands that slopes in an upwards,
northeasterly direction from the Southland. Today as we prowl the forests,
its hard to think in the past tense and visualize that Castanea dentata,
the American chestnut, now nearly gone, was dominant. In many forests it
was the most numerous and often the largest tree.
Today, the American chestnut is found in dry woods throughout the natural
range, from Maine and Ontario west to Michigan and south to Georgia and
Mississippi, where determined sprouts continue to grow from stumps and
roots of long vanished giants. The large forest tree reached heights over
100 feet, growing in rich woods. American chestnut was the hallmark
of the Eastern woodlands. It was adaptable to a variety of habitat situations
and grew faster than most other hardwood trees in the forest, about as
rapidly as the tulip poplar. In the open, the chestnut had a spreading
crown up to 100 feet wide and cast shade around its base as wide as the
upper branches extended. In forest settings, its shape resembled the tulip
poplar. It grew well in soils that were poor and shallow, as well as those
that were deep and fertile, wherever soils were not limestone-based
or poorly drained. The chestnut grew on slopes in Southern Mountains
at altitudes over 4,000 feet. It was common on the slopes between 2,000
and 4,000 feet.
Ideal American Chestnut Revival Habitat
Restoration projects (managing for American chestnut in aging clearcuts, or introducing
improved blight resistance by grafting scions into available root systems or planting
seedlings on former American chestnut lands) should concentrate on carefully selected
sites which do not include the whole spectrum of choices mentioned above. Because
the American chestnuts will be repeatedly challenged by blight, it is important
to choose sites which avoid all other environmental stresses, as much as possible.
These sites can be identified by the presence of large chestnut stumps or snags,
chestnut sprouts, and other species that share similar site preferences, such
as tulip poplar, northern red oak, and cucumber magnolia. Frequently, the best
chestnut sites are located in shallow coves and slopes facing north to east. Dry
sites should be avoided to limit stress by drought. Known frost pockets or cold
air drainage routes should also be avoided, and lower elevation sites are generally
preferable to sites over 2,000 or 3,000 feet, to minimize the stresses from extremes
in temperature during winter. Full morning sun in coves or sloping, well-drained
lands with acid soils (pH 5 to 6) are best. When in doubt, consult a professional
forester.
Do you know of a place that fits this discription? To learn how to
start an American chestnut restoration project there, go to Growing
American Chestnuts.
Return to American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation
home page.