Dutch Elm Disease (City of Moorhead)
MINNEAPOLIS – Since discovered in 1910 Dutch elm disease has destroyed trees worldwide.
Now thanks to funding from the Minnesota Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center, researchers are finding ways to bring resistant Elm varieties to backyards across Minnesota.
U of M Research Fellow Ryan Murphy said resistant elm research is important to the future health of forests and backyards.
“In the face of other incoming invasive pests bringing American elm back to natural areas where it can help fill midges that are being decimated by invasive species is also important from an environmental standpoint,” he said.
Murphy searches forests in the state to find trees that have a natural immunity to Dutch elm disease. He collects samples and grows a clone back in the lab. He said the goal is a greater variety of resistant elm trees.
He said the goal is to continue to expand the palette of available, resistant varieties that can be used either in the traditional current commercial nursery trade or for reforestation efforts.
In addition, the data will help scientists determine if the current commercially-available elm tree varieties are holding up well to the current strain of the disease.
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