Discussion Questions: American Chestnut Tree
Discussion Questions
- Propose possible explanations why the tree in this slideshow survived the chestnut blight when billions of other American chestnut trees did not.
- Why is maintaining species diversity important to ecosystems?
- Describe the process used to manually pollinate this chestnut tree. Why are the researchers pollinating this chestnut tree manually?
- List specific consequences that are likely to happen in this chestnut tree’s immediate ecosystem after the tree dies.
- Imagine a vast forest of trees, all like the American chestnut tree in this slideshow. Describe specific consequences that would probably happen in the forest’s ecosystem if the majority of the trees in that forest died over a short span of time.
