Table 4 Context, objectives and timescales for resistant tree programmes. N (native), NN (Non-native), USFS (US Forest Service), IETIC (Inland Empire Tree Improvement Co-operative)
From: Key lessons from resistant tree breeding programmes in the Northern Hemisphere
| Â | Organisation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) | American Chestnut Co-operators Foundation (ACCF) | B.C. Ministry of Forests | Italian Institute of Plant Protection | Several North American programmes3 | |
Context and objectives | Region | North America | North America | Europe | North America | |
Tree | American chestnut | Sitka spruce | Several species of elm | Western White Pine | ||
Threat | Chestnut blightNN | White pine weevilN | Dutch Elm DiseaseNN | White Pine Blister RustNN | ||
Severity | Very high | High | Very high | High | ||
Impacts | Cultural value | Timber production | Aesthetic | Timber production | ||
Biodiversity | Â | Costs to remove dead and diseased trees | Disease control costs | |||
Forest structure and functioning | Â | Forest ecology | ||||
Commercial use | Â | Cultural | Â | |||
Organisation | Not-for-profit | Not-for-profit | Government | Research institute | Government (+ industry and universities for IETIC) | |
Objectives | - Species restoration for cultural, environmental, economic and biological values - Raising awareness | - Restoration of pure-bred American chestnut particularly for cultural and environmental value - Raising awareness | - Produce resistant Sitka spruce for economic value | - Restoration, particularly for urban and landscaping uses | - Primarily for economic value, but also ecological and environmental benefit | |
Timescales and costs | Start date | 19831 | 19801 | Provenance trial in 1974. Screening trials from 1984 | Late 1970s2 | Several programmes, beginning in 1950s and 1960s |
Investment | - $2.7 million in 2015 - USFS tests cost $1200–12,000 ha−1 (establishment) and $1200–2400 ha−1 year−1 (maintenance) | ? | ? | ? | - Total IETIC costs $4.1m (1978–2006). Cost $236,459 in 2005, but also some income from seed sale (IETIC 2007) | |
Status | - Resistant seed produced in several orchards - Ongoing tests to confirm resistance - Intend general distribution in a few years | - Ongoing breeding and testing of the most resistant material - Putatively resistant material now supplied to volunteers for planting | - Large-scale deployment of material from breeding programmes - Guidelines for planting resistant material | - Five patented cultivars released to market (1997–2011) - Ongoing breeding to improve resistance and viability against other threats | - Partially resistant material planted operationally over substantial areas - Ongoing testing and breeding | |