Replicating historic elm: Hybridisation and the production of disease resistance

This article addresses efforts to restore elm trees in the UK. In doing so, it gives an example of how conservation efforts can move away from the ideals of fixed species types and genetic purity that are often central features of species-based conservation. Elm trees, a once widespread presence in the UK, were largely lost from the landscape with the arrival of Dutch elm disease in the 1960s. Since their decline, efforts have been made to breed, trial and return a number of different disease resistant elm varieties. Drawing on interviews and site visits with those involved in this restoration, this article analyses perceptions about the relationship between new and historic elm. In particular, it focuses on how this relationship is approached in both visual and genetic terms. Many of those interviewed constructed a broad category of ‘elm’ as the object being replicated, a point which enables a move away from static species categorizations. However, the simultaneous desire to guarantee a tree is resistant requires some degree of true-ness to type through clonal production. This results in a genetically narrow population of elm that lack resilience. In contrast to the tendency to view hybridisation as a threat to conservation goals, the main contribution of this article is to provide an empirical example of a creative approach to restoration that embraces hybrid beings and processes of becoming. This article argues that elm restoration adopts fluid and changing ideas about what is a suitable replacement for missing organisms. This is enabled by the diverging priorities in animal and plant breeding, and the fact that the project of elm restoration involves a diverse collection of public and private actors who work across breeding and conservation. This enables elm restoration to challenge some of the core concepts in mainstream conservation.