Eastern Kentucky
Cooperators
at the University of Kentucky have been planting chestnut in Pike County in
eastern
KY
since 2005 on tail-dumped spoil.
In that study, experimental plots were established on grey
sandstone,
brown, weathered sandstone and run-of-the mine spoil. Better growth is probably
occurring on the brown sandstone and
brown sandstone portions of mixed spoil than on grey
sandstone,
but the difference is not yet statistically significant. Most seedlings are chlorotic.
The
cooperators also are comparing direct seedling to planting of seedlings, and
currently feel
that
direct seeding is at least as good as planting seedlings.
Ohio
Cooperators
at universities in Ohio have been planting chestnut on reclaimed mined lands
since
2005.
They are evaluating direct seeding versus seedlings, mycorhizzal
treatments and also are
comparing
growth of backcross trees with varying fractions of American and Chinese
chestnut. Independently, foresters with the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources have
been
planting pure American chestnut seedlings on reclaimed mined land since
2003. The
seedlings
had been inoculated or not inoculated with Pisolithus
tinctorius, an
ectomycorrhizal
fungus. The seedlings had been
established and inoculated by TACF
cooperators
with the U.S. Forest Service in Delaware, OH. In some plantings but not others,
mycorrhizal
inoculation increased growth and seedling height.