Researchers rediscover #weevil believed to be extinct thanks to photos posted online https://www.actionnews5.com/2025/12/08/uofm-researchers-rediscover-weevil-believed-be-extinct-thanks-photos-posted-online/ https://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(25)01460-5

"The greater chestnut weevil was believed to have gone #extinct with the decline of the #AmericanChestnut tree... a classic example of #coextinction — the loss of dependent species due to the decline of their hosts... This #rediscovery wouldn’t have been possible without volunteers and the digital tools that connect their data to scientists"

Photo by @alexwild

Late Afternoon Walk in Montgomery Arboretum of Native Flora

https://islandinthenet.com/montgomery-arboretum-of-native-flora/

Genome study informs restoration of #AmericanChestnut tree https://phys.org/news/2024-07-genome-american-chestnut-tree.html

A genome-guided strategy for #climate resilience in American chestnut restoration populations https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2403505121

"We learned that the American #Chestnut Foundation has more work to do to conserve #trees from the southernmost American population, which is especially important to conserve because it is the most genetically diverse and it is likely to be the best adapted to the warmer climates of the future"

I almost paid a donation to get these #chestnut seeds last year. Apparently, lucky I waited.

Today's #washingtonpost reports that #maine researchers at #umaine and #universityofnewengland noted mislabled genetically engineered #americanchestnut trees that contained an error not disclosed by #suny

Hopefully, this is a minor setback.

A friend of mine gave me an #AmericanChestnut sapling. These trees are nearly extinct because of a fungus that nearly wiped them out. Usually they get sick and die after a few decades. I hope we can keep this one alive, and keep hope alive, so that this beautiful species can come back once again.

edit: gah, if course, it's a chestnut!

#trees #biodiversity

a gift from my friend in town: an American Chestnut seedling.

American Chestnuts are endangered in the U.S. because of a chestnut blight introduced from East Asia. It is estimated that the blight killed between 3 and 4 billion American chestnut trees in the first half of the 20th century, beginning in 1904.

People are working on a genetically modified strain, but until that gets introduced, i'm happy to try to keep hope alive and grow this.

#AmericanChestnut #backyardEcology #trees