Restoring a forest icon: could returning the American chestnut remodel our wildlife landscape?
Abstract
Unitl recent decades, discussions involving the chestnut concentrated on resistance breeding results. Little discussion took place on the effects that chestnut restoration would have on ecosystem processes and functions, including wildlife population dynamics. The initial motivation for breeding program was largely to recover an important economic resource. It was not until the 1990s and early 2000s that the conversation shifted to include potential impacts on the ecosystem.