Birds and mammals as vectors of the chestnut blight fungus (Endothia parasitica)

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Abstract
The potential of birds and mammals to vector the chestnut blight fungus in mixed hardwood forests was studied. Animals were shot or trapped in established woodland plots in southern Connecticut [USA] where densities of American chestnut [Castanea dentata] sprouts were high, brought back to the laboratory, and examined for the presence of E. parasitica. Birds and mammals can transport virulent and hypovirulent-like strains of E. parasitica in the forest community. Two birds, a mouse, and a shrew were identified as carriers of the blight fungus; the shrew harbored a hypovirulent-like strain introduced onto the plot 2 yr earlier.