Regional patterns of declining butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) suggest site characteristics for restoration.

Butternut trees dying from a canker disease were first reported in southwestern Wisconsin in 1967. Since then, the disease has caused extensive mortality of butternut throughout its North American range. The objectives of this study were to quantify changes in butternut populations and density across its range and identify habitat characteristics of sites where butternut is surviving in order to locate regions for potential butternut restoration. The natural range of butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) extends over a large region of eastern N. America encompassing New Brunswick south to North Carolina, north to Minnesota, and southwest to Missouri. Despite the species' large range, it is typically not a common tree, comprising a relatively minor component of several different forest types. We evaluated change in butternut abundance and volume from current and historic data from 21 states in the eastern United States. We related abundance and volume at two time periods to a suite of ecological and site factors in order to characterize site conditions where butternut survived. We also assessed the current level of butternut mortality across its range. Since the 1980s, the number of butternut trees and butternut volume have decreased by 58% and 44%, respectively, across its US range. Substantial relative decreases in tree numbers and volume occurred in most ecoregion sections. Five environmental variables were found to be significant predictors of butternut presence. The potential impacts of butternut canker are particularly acute as the canker pathogen invasion pushes a rare tree species toward extinction, at least at a local scale. Based on the results presented here, large-diameter maple/beech/birch stands in dry, upland sites in eastern Minnesota, western Wisconsin, and upstate New York appear to offer the most favorable conditions for butternut growth and survival and thus may be the best stands for planting resistant butternut trees.

Improving disease resistance of butternut (Juglans cinerea), a threatened fine hardwood: a case for single-tree selection through genetic improvement and deployment.

Approaches for the development of disease-resistant butternut (Juglans cinerea L.) are reviewed. Butternut is a threatened fine hardwood throughout its natural range in eastern North America because of the invasion of the exotic fungus, Sirococcus clavigignenti-juglandacearum Nair, Kostichka and Kuntz, which causes butternut canker. Early efforts were made to identify and collect putatively resistant germ plasm, identify vectors and to characterize the disease. More recently, molecular techniques have been employed to genetically characterize both the pathogen and the resistant germ plasm. Much of the host resistance may originate from hybridization with a close Asian relative, Japanese walnut (Juglans ailanthifolia Carr.), and from a few natural phenotypic variants. Further genetic characterization is needed before classical breeding or genetic modification can be used to produce canker-resistant trees.

Biological Control of Septoria Leaf Spot Disease of Hybrid Poplar in the Field.

Biological control of Septoria leaf spot of hybrid poplars was investigated using disease-suppressive Streptomyces strains. Field experiments were conducted in 1998 and 1999 on potted trees placed in a hybrid poplar plantation near Rosemount, MN, and on field-planted trees in 1998 at St. Paul. At both locations, one resistant and three susceptible hybrid poplar clones were sprayed with Streptomyces spore suspensions and exposed to natural field inoculum of Septoria musiva. In the 1998 potted-tree experiment, strains GS-93-3, 93, and Mycostop in Tergitol or Triton X-100 solutions applied every 7 days significantly reduced leaf disease by 29 to 83% compared with the controls. In the 1999 potted-tree experiment, Streptomyces strain mixtures in Tergitol solution applied every 5 days significantly reduced leaf disease by 50 to 87% compared with the controls. In the 1998 plantation experiment, strains GS-93-3, 93, or Mycostop in Tergitol solution applied weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly significantly reduced leaf disease in all treatments by 64 to 78% compared with the controls.