Imperiled Ecosystems in a Shifting Climate
2016 Atlantic White Cedar Symposium
May 24-26, 2016

Hotel 1620, 180 Water St., Plymouth, MA

Genetic Resource Conservation of Atlantic White Cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) in the Eastern United States
Andrew Whittier, Robert Jetton, Gary Hodge, North Carolina State University, Camcore; Barbara Crane, Don Duerr, USDA Forest Service Southern Region

The 19th and 20th centuries experienced extensive overharvesting of forests in the eastern United States. Wetland drainage and conversion for agriculture use, coupled with heavy logging of coastal forests, resulted in dramatic losses to Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides (L.) B.S.P.) forests. With a more recent understanding of wetland values and the importance of AWC in these ecosystems, interest in preserving, managing, and restoring the species has grown.  One of the primary components to restoration is the availability of locally adapted germplasm for reintroduction.  Over the last 36 years the Camcore cooperative in the College of Natural Resources at North Carolina State University has worked to help conserve tree species throughout the world in tropical, sub-tropical, and temperate forests.  In 2003 Camcore began a partnership with the USDA Forest Service (USFS) to preserve genetic resources of threatened tree species in the eastern United States.  In 2012 Camcore entered into an agreement with the USFS to collect seed from natural AWC populations across the entire species range.  Using the climate modeling software FloraMapTM  Camcore divided the AWC range into four separate seed zones.  Within each of the four seed zones our goal was to sample 10 trees from each of 10 natural populations.  To date, cones have been collected from a total of 205 individual trees in 28 separate populations stretching from the southern coast of Maine to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.  Cones were brought back to North Carolina State University where seed was extracted and cleaned.  Processed seed was divided between the USFS and Camcore and placed in cold storage, cryostorage, and at USFS seed orchards for eventual re-establishment.  In addition to seed, foliage was sampled from the majority of sites visited.  DNA has been extracted from sampled foliage in order to assess the genetic diversity of seed collections.  This presentation provides an overview of Camcore’s work to date with AWC conservation as well as plans for the future. 

Biography: Andrew Whittier has worked as a research forester with the Camcore cooperative in  NCSU's College of Natural Resources since 2003.  In this position he has been involved with gene conservation projects of numerous threatened tree species in the eastern United States.  Today he will provide an overview on some of these projects with a focus on a Camcore and US Forest Service partnership to collect and conserve seed from across the range of Atlantic White Cedar.