Ankang, Day 1 - Chestnut Orchards
After resting during the morning and a very, very, very heavy lunch, our group set out to the chestnut producing region of Jihe. We visited several pieces of an orchard that was terraced on a steep slope in the area.
The trees at this orchard were infected with several maladies, including chestnut blight. It did appear, though, that the chestnut blight was the least of the problems for these trees. It also appears as though there were two major influences on the amount of problems encountered by these trees.
The first would be that the trees were planted on very marginal land. The second major influence appears to be the poor pruning/maintenance employed on the trees. Not all problems on the trees were identified, but did include a fungus not Cryphonectria parasitica as well as light gall wasp infection.
Also of interest at this site were that there were planted individuals of Castanea crenata.
Gall wasp on Chinese chestnut. This appears to be an older gall, probably from an infection from last year. Infection did not seem to be pervasive or detrimental at this orchard.
Fred Paillet stands next to an individual at the orchard that appears to be in very bad shape. The tree is infected with a couple of different kinds of fungi, including Cryphonectria parasitica. The cambiium layer on almost half the main stem appears to be missing. Many of the trees at this site appeared in similarly poor health.
The substrate on which the trees were planted. The substrate appeared very similar to a shale-type that one would find in the US. I'll need to confirm w/ Paillet what this stuff actually was.
Our group poses in the orchard. From left to right is Dr. Kim Steiner, Mr. Chen (Director of Forest Regeneration in Ankang), Sara Fitzsimmons, Dr. Fred Paillet, Dr. Fred Hebard, Mr. Cao ((Director of Extension for the Ankang Region (almost 9000 mi^2!!!), Dr. Lu Zhoumin (from Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Xi'an).
A woman shakes a tree in the orchard so she can collect the nuts that fall. There were several local people at the orchard working to gather nuts while we were observing the trees.
The largest Castanea mollissima we saw on the trip. This is what we all think is a "naturalized" specimen, likely from another orchard. The tree was spared with the land was cleared for the current chestnut orchard. I believe our hosts said the tree was about 200 years old. But, also like the other trees in the orchard, it was not in the best of health.
The trees at this orchard were infected with several maladies, including chestnut blight. It did appear, though, that the chestnut blight was the least of the problems for these trees. It also appears as though there were two major influences on the amount of problems encountered by these trees.
The first would be that the trees were planted on very marginal land. The second major influence appears to be the poor pruning/maintenance employed on the trees. Not all problems on the trees were identified, but did include a fungus not Cryphonectria parasitica as well as light gall wasp infection.
Also of interest at this site were that there were planted individuals of Castanea crenata.
The orchard we visited in the Jihe region just south of Ankang.
Gall wasp on Chinese chestnut. This appears to be an older gall, probably from an infection from last year. Infection did not seem to be pervasive or detrimental at this orchard.
Fred Paillet stands next to an individual at the orchard that appears to be in very bad shape. The tree is infected with a couple of different kinds of fungi, including Cryphonectria parasitica. The cambiium layer on almost half the main stem appears to be missing. Many of the trees at this site appeared in similarly poor health.
The substrate on which the trees were planted. The substrate appeared very similar to a shale-type that one would find in the US. I'll need to confirm w/ Paillet what this stuff actually was.
Our group poses in the orchard. From left to right is Dr. Kim Steiner, Mr. Chen (Director of Forest Regeneration in Ankang), Sara Fitzsimmons, Dr. Fred Paillet, Dr. Fred Hebard, Mr. Cao ((Director of Extension for the Ankang Region (almost 9000 mi^2!!!), Dr. Lu Zhoumin (from Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University in Xi'an).
A woman shakes a tree in the orchard so she can collect the nuts that fall. There were several local people at the orchard working to gather nuts while we were observing the trees.
The largest Castanea mollissima we saw on the trip. This is what we all think is a "naturalized" specimen, likely from another orchard. The tree was spared with the land was cleared for the current chestnut orchard. I believe our hosts said the tree was about 200 years old. But, also like the other trees in the orchard, it was not in the best of health.
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