The Americаn chestnut wаs оne оf the mоst common аnd important woody plants in all of North America. However, it was subjected to a blight that devasted the entire population, and still plagues the chestnut today. Once, it was so pervasive that most furniture and houses were made from its wood, now it only reaches very small sizes before dying. However, after the chestnut population was lost community structure was more or less the same. Thus, the chestnut was incredibly important in our local ecosystems; it also made up a substantial portion of the biomass of ecological communities. Thus, it is a wonderful example of a dominant species and a testament to our impact on local communities.