Restoring the functionally extinct American Chestnut | #157
Wild Turkey Science
Charlotte Nowak
5.0 • 584 Ratings
🗓️ 10 November 2025
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We're bringing back our episode exploring the American chestnut's history, ecological importance, challenges faced due to habitat change and disease, on-going conservation efforts, and how you can get involved in its ecological restoration.
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Resources:
The American Chestnut Foundation
The American Chestnut Foundation: Growing Chestnuts
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Produced & edited by Charlotte Nowak
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | We call it functionally extinct because there are some 430 million American chestnut stems throughout the eastern U.S., but over 80% of them are less than an inch in diameter at breast height. |
| 0:13.6 | Most of them do not provide the ecosystem services, right? |
| 0:16.4 | They're not flowering. |
| 0:17.3 | They're not providing food for a lot of wildlife. |
| 0:19.2 | They're not providing a lot of habitat. |
| 0:21.6 | At some points in some locations, American chestnuts were upwards of 50% of the forest canopy. |
| 0:27.1 | The largest documented trees were 15 to 17 foot in diameter. Those studies showed that we've lost |
| 0:33.3 | at least 25% of hard mass production just by virtue of losing American chestnut that the species |
| 0:40.1 | that took over haven't been able to reinstate. So, you know, it was a really important food |
| 0:45.8 | source, producing nuts every year, producing a consistent nut crop that hasn't been restored |
| 0:52.1 | with oaks or beaches or hickories that took its place. |
| 1:04.4 | Welcome to Wild Turkey Science, a podcast made possible by Turkeys for Tomorrow. |
| 1:12.5 | I'm Dr. Marcus Lashley, Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Florida. |
| 1:18.3 | And I'm Dr. Will Gulsby, Professor of Wildlife Ecology and Management at Auburn University. |
| 1:24.2 | We're both lifelong hunters and devoted scientists who are passionate about hunting, managing, and researching wild turkeys. |
| 1:31.3 | In this podcast, we'll explore turkey research, speak to the experts in the field, and address the difficult questions related to wild turkey ecology and management. |
| 1:41.3 | Our goal is to serve as your connection to wild turkey science. |
| 1:52.2 | Well, guess what, Marcus? |
| 1:54.0 | Are you excited? |
| 1:55.1 | I am excited. |
| 1:56.0 | I'm always excited about the topics we talk about on this show. |
| 2:00.2 | But particularly today, you know, because anytime we get a chance to go into the ecology |
... |
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