[IUFRO RG 7.02 FORPATH] help us find American elm survivor trees

Hi everyone, Jim Slavicek and I are working together on the restoration of American elm (Ulmus americana). American elm was a dominant species in many swamp and floodplain forests in eastern US and Canada before Dutch elm disease (DED) reduced its populations. At our lab, we have a small plantation of elms in various stages of testing for DED tolerance. Several genotypes have been shown to tolerate DED, and a large portion of the progeny from crosses among these trees are DED-tolerant as well. We are currently testing the potential of seedlings from DED-tolerant crosses to be used for restoration plantings. It is our hope that large, stately American elm trees will someday grace our floodplain and swamp forests once again. We need more DED-tolerant genotypes of American elm to use as parent trees for our plantation in order to have enough genetic diversity to use it as a seed orchard for large-scale plantings. We are looking for healthy American elm trees larger than 24 inches DBH (diameter at breast height) that are growing in areas that have had DED and that have not been treated with fungicides to prevent DED. We are only interested in American elm trees growing within its native range. If you see a survivor elm that fits this description, please enter its location and DBH at our website: http://nrs.fs.fed.us/disturbance/invasive_species/ded/survivor_elms/ We will compile these entries in a database, prioritize the elms for sampling, contact land owners, and then collect small branches from the trees to propagate and test them for DED-tolerance. Please forward to anyone who knows how to identify elm trees and might have interest in this project. Thank you for your help! - Kathleen ********************************************************* Kathleen S. Knight Research Ecologist USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station 359 Main Rd. Delaware, OH 43015 740-368-0063 (office) *********************************************************