Fall 2025 Student Webinar Series - Maya Niesz Kutsch - October 30, 2025 скачать в хорошем качестве

Fall 2025 Student Webinar Series - Maya Niesz Kutsch - October 30, 2025

The American chestnut was eradicated from the United States in the early 20th century due to the arrival of Cryphonectria parasitica, which causes the chestnut blight. However, restoration efforts are underway, and research of the American chestnut's ecological niche is underway. With this comes a reevaluation of its relationship with fire. This research project investigated the bark traits of the American chestnut, including its insulative capacity, percent moisture, and thickness. We found that the American chestnut and Chinese chestnut had higher insulative capacity against high heat than both red maple, our fire intolerant control, and white oak, our fire tolerant control. Both chestnuts also had the highest moisture content of their bark, and the thickest bark, which aligns with traits in seen fire tolerant species. These results support my hypothesis that the American chestnut has bark traits that align with expected fire tolerant traits and support the idea that the American chestnut is a fire-adapted species.