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thexylom OP t1_izbvm2e wrote

Given that the American Chestnut once grew across the entire eastern United States, there is much more space for raw numbers to bounce back before climate change comes into play

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TechnoArcher t1_izdkf3j wrote

Chestnut is one of the species listed to be critically endangered by climate change. I have 2 chestnuts in my garden (in Europe), a young one (15years) and an old one (more than 30 years) they both required watering for 3 of the past 5 summers. Who will go and water the new ones planted when it will be 130F ?

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DavidBSkate t1_izekxbe wrote

It’ll be a while until the eastern us is 130. It’s rare for Death Valley and the Mojave desert (where I live) to hit that.

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TechnoArcher t1_izf1a22 wrote

120 in Lytton, in 2021, remember ? Exceptional until it becomes usual and then 130 will be exceptional and... they will become norms... But by then chestnut will not be the only one struggling.

An european study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8309319/

Beech and chestnut have been flagged as the first trees to suffer from climate change. In Europe we started to replace green oak and chestnut killed by drought with cedar and other trees drought resistant.

The efforts and resources to grow a young tree cannot be wasted on the wrong specie knowing it will only become ever more difficult to grow them in the future if they need to be replaced.

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