International Oaks International Oaks

other hand, black oak acorns often respond display its characteristic bark and growth favorably to a period of cold stratification with form as well as the cycle and quality of mast, rapid germination. the acorn crop. California Native Oaks: Seedling oaks are temporary. Huge popula­ The life of a tree can be divided into three tions of seedlings come and go following good stages: young, mature and declining. Young seed crops. Seedlings suc­ Past and Present cumb to a variety of problems including drought, herbivory (both above­ and below-ground) and fire. Although physiologi­ by James R. Griffin and Pamela C. Muick call y equipped to sprout University of California at Berkeley, USA after above-ground dam­ age, very few seedlings survive and grow to the he fossi l record indicates that oaks have been in California for at next stage of maturity, the least the past ten million years. Relat1ves of most of the Cahforn1a short sapling stage. T oaks have been found in late Miocene sediments deposited five Short sapling oaks have to thirteen million years ago. an increased likelihood to There are approximately sixty species of oaks in the United States, survive to adulthood. Short and an estimated three hundred worldwide, primarily in the Northern saplings, under four and Hemisphere. Ten tree and eight shrub species of Quercus grow in one-half feet in height, California. California species fall into three different subgenera: the have a woody stem and a Photo by David Cavagnaro white oaks, Lepidobalanus (now Section or Subgenus Quercus); the well-developed root sys- Huck/eben yoak (Quercus vacciniifolia). intermediate oaks, Protobalanus; and the black oaks, E1y throbalanus tem which serves as a (also known as Section Lobatae of Subgenus Quercus). The prefix reservoir of energy. Short saplings sprout trees usually have a strong ability to sprout Erythro is derived from the Greek word for red. Generally, taxonomists readily after injuries from fire, drought or from the base after injury. Mature trees may and foresters refer to the Erythrobalanus group as red oaks. However, in browsing, and may be kept in a hedged sprout from the stumps of broken branches. California and the northeastern United States, this group is known as condition for decades. Only after the sapling's However, the ability of mature trees to sprout black oaks. The local usage probably arises from Q. kelloggii (California leader reaches above the deer browse line does from the stump is more variable. For instance, black oak), a species in the Erythrobalanus that is physically similar to the sapling proceed to the next level of blue oak (Q. douglasii) and Garry or Oregon the red oaks in the eastern part of the United States. Hybridization, which maturity, the tall sapling stage. oak (Q. garryana) appear to stump sprout well is naturally restricted to crosses within a subgenus, has result in eleven Tall saplings, greater than four and one-half to mid-size classes, while valley oak (Q. named hybrids and ten unnamed hybrids. feet (above the browse line), gain height and lobata) loses this ability earlier. The black and girth rapidly. At this stage, after top death due intermediate oaks, as well as most of the shrub Oak life cycle to burning, they may regain their previous species, sprout vigorously after fire. Oaks are monoecious, bearing male catkins and female flowers upon stature within a few years. Saplings gain height Disease plays a large part in the life of the the same individual plant. Flowers are wind pollinated, and acorns before adding girth, and then develop into the adult oak. To quote the British ecologist M. J. mature in either one- or two-year cycles. The acorns of the white oaks next stage of maturity, young trees. Penistan, in his paraphrase of Dryden: "The characteristically mature in the fall of the same year the flowers Tree status can be considered the beginning monarch oak, the Patriarch of trees, springs bloomed. In contrast, most of the black oaks exhibit delayed ferti li zation of the productive stage of an oak's life. rising up, then spreads by slow degrees; one similar to some of the pines; acorns mature in fall of the second year. Although timing and triggering mechanisms hundred years he grows, one more he stays Cali fornia white oak acorns do not require a period of dormancy and for sexual maturity are unclear, root and shoot supreme in state, then in one more decays." generally germinate in the fall or winter after dropping. In fact, emerging mass, as well as vigor and crown position, are roots are visible on some blue oak acorns while still on the tree. On the components. As an oak matures, it begins to contd. on pg . 42

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California Native Oaks . bers of gold miners also • • had a lasting and negative effect on California oaks. contd. from pg. 41 Sonora and Auburn are two classic examples of foothill sixty-seven different types of oak habitat. oak woodland gold-mining Wildlife and oak habitats Oaks dominate or co-dominate in twenty-five communities. The Gold During their long history in California, oaks natural plant communities, and are character­ Rush also adversely af­ have evolved strong interrelationships with istic members of forty-three others. fected the Central Valley wildlife. Today, an estimated 5000 species of oak savannas where agri­ insects use oaks, and 1000 are dependent upon Humans and oaks culture rapidly developed oaks. Approximately 170 species of birds use California's human history is inextricably to support the growing oaks at some point in their life cycle. Fifty­ interwoven with its landscape and vegetation. population of gold miners. eight species of li zards, snakes and amphibians Over millennia, native Californians developed Even some mining ven­ are associated with oak habitats. One hundred many uses for oaks. Acorns were a major item tures well up into the Photo by David Cavagnaro five species of mammals, including most of the in their diet; acorns were also important for the conifer forests seriously game species in the state, use the oak resource. animals they used for food. Many native affected the Central Valley CoasT live oak (Quercus agrifolia). Interactions between diseases, wildlife American cultures acknowledged their depen­ riparian oak forests. For (including feral hogs), and introduced annual dence upon oaks through ritual and legend. example, massive hydraulic mines above Before we enter the next century, Californians plants are avenues of research being explored The near extinction of these indigenous Nevada City led to long-term flooding should critically evaluate the role of oaks in by contemporary researchers. However, peoples from their ancestral oak populations problems in the lower Sacramento Valley. modern society and how these ancestral research efforts are uneven across the species marked a loss of a sophisticated understanding Siltation from the Malakoff Diggings and landscapes can be preserved amid rapid in the state. about oak stewardship. Today we cannot fully associated placer mines raised the Yuba River population growth and land speculation. Approximately ten million acres of Califor­ recover the loss of oak management lore that bed on the valley floor well above the its Although it is difficult to imagine California nia are habitat to the nineteen native species of passed away with these people. normal level. Graphic reminders of this devoid of oaks, with treeless foothills or oak. The California Department of Fish and When Franciscan missionaries arrived in problem still occur in wet years, when the coastal landscapes, the history of Europe and Game Natural Diversity Data Base recognizes 1769 they often located missions in oak Yuba River floods Marysville and Yuba City. the British Isles gives us pause. At one time woodlands. These missions, Riparian oaks in the Central Valley were Ireland, England and Wales were almost and the associated Mexi­ first cut to fuel steam boats. As agriculture entirely covered with trees-mostly oaks. For can ranchos, had a pro­ expanded, there was increasing pressure from many Californians, blue gums and other exotic found impact on oak wood­ powerful farming interests to control flooding. trees are not an acceptable alternative for our lands. The introduction of Much of the riparian forest, which included native oaks. aggressive Mediterranean impressive valley oaks, was cleared following annual grasses and forbs various flood control projects. Kenneth Historic glimpses of California Oaks along with Mex ican cattle Thompson, a great student of Sacramento Many California explorers and botanists changed forever the nature Valley riparian forests, wrote that "with the recorded observations of the oak-filled of the California grassland coming of white man the pristine vegetation landscapes they encountered. Their comments and oak woodlands. How (of the Sacramento Valley) was modified with remind us of the rich diversity of California many current California a rapidity and completeness unmatched in oaks, ranging from low, arid Mojave Desert residents know, or care, other parts of the United States." slopes to high, wet ridges in the Klamath that much of the green Throughout California, major areas of oak ranges. woodland understory in woodland remain; but locating healthy, George Vancouver, commander of the spring has been here for mature, or young regenerating oak stands, English ship Discovery, described valley oaks in the Santa Clara Valley in 1792: "For about Photo by David Cavagnaro less than two centuries? unthreatened by agricultural or urban develop­ ment, is becoming increasingly difficult. Ca/i/(ml.ia black oak (Quercus kelloggii). The arrival of vast num- contd. on pg. 44

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and dusty trails, although for a few brief days Castroville: "On the uplands and low hills east California Native Oaks ... at the end of the rainy season the white trunks of town there is an almost inexhaustible supply rise everywhere from a many-colored cloth of good oak cordwood, and large trade in contd. from pg. 43 woven from the slender treads of innumerable which with San Jose and other points is carried millions of flowering annuals." on by medium of the Southern Pacific Jepson was also greatly impressed with Railroad" (Resources of California, April twenty miles it could only be compared to a smooth and grassy; the forest bad no canyon live oak (which has many common 1881). These coast live oak forests on Aromas park which had originally been closely planted undergrowth; and in the open valleys or names). "In the Sierra Nevada the species is sand hills near Castroville did sprout and with the true old English oak; the underwood, rivulets, or around spring heads, the low most common and of largest size between formed a new forest. However, the resprouted that had probably attended its early growth, groves of live oaks give the appearance of 1500 and 5000 feet, being chiefly confined to forest is now being rapidly cleared for had the appearance of having been cleared orchards in an old cultivated country." the canyons. lin size of individuals it reaches strawberry farms and new homes amidst Charles S. Sargent in greatest development in Mendocino and controversy over heavy soil erosion from the 1905 described coast live Humboldt counties, where the most massive steep, sandy hill sides. oak as "a tree, occasionally trees grow on bottomlands in the valleys. The In the 1900s the charcoal industry began to eighty to ninety feet high, narrow floor of Hupa Valley is distinguished impact the oak woodlands. San Luis Obispo with a short trunk three to by its maul oaks, their great size and port. One County was the major charcoal-producing four or rarely six to seven of these trees, named Old feet in diameter, dividing a Scotty, is ninety-five feet few feet above the base high and one hundred into numerous great limbs twenty-five across the often resting on the ground crown. The tallest trees and forming a low round­ grow on the sharp walls of topped head frequently deep cool canyons, and as 150 feet across ... usually in such habitats so commonly open groves of great extent exhibit well-developed from Sonoma Counly trees the species is often southward over the coast called canyon oak." Photo by David Cavagnaro ranges and islands to San Even during the late Pedro Matir. .. very abun- Canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis). 1800s Jepson was well dant and of its' largest size aware of the tremendous in valleys south of San diversity of oaks in Califor­ away and left the stately lords of the forest in Francisco Bay and their commonest and nia. Not only does Califor­ complete possession of the soil which was characteristic tree; frequently covering with nia offer a wealth of oak Photo by David Cavagnaro covered with luxuriant herbage." semiprostrate and contorted stems the sand The magnificent valley oak woodlands of dunes of the Coast." species, but also the luxury P'llmer's oak (Quercus palmeri). of an even greater number the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, as Willis Jepson, who hiked and rode for many of interesting oak habitats. area in the state, with the greatest concentra­ well as the larger foothi II valleys, are noted years gathering information and specimens of tion in the Adelaide region west of Paso repeatedly in journals of early travelers. John California's wild plants, commented on the Major disturbances in the oak woodlands Robles. There over I 000 acres per year were C. Fremont discovered the interior live oak on blue oak in a way that rings familiar to all who As California's rural and urban populations cleared for charcoal at the peak of production. the South Fork of the American River in have trod the dry foothills in summer. "Not in grew after the Gold Rush, there was an ever­ From the 1940s and 1950s, several March, 1849 after crossing the Sierra Nevada. itself an attractive tree, the blue oak by reason federally-funded programs encouraged agri­ Later, on a journey from Sutter' s Fort to Los of its form, color and habit plays a strong and increasing demand for oak products. Ranchers . needed fuel, fencing, and cleared land. The cultural development and land clearing. One Angeles, he passed through impressive interior natural part in the scenery of the yellow-brown cities also created an ever-growing demand on program, started in 1941 , was the War Food live oak groves on the Consumnes, Mokelumne, foothills. Always scattered about singly or in oak resources. One early example of fuel Stanislaus, and other streams on the east side open groves, the trees are well associated in wood harvest for distant urban areas was near of the San Joaquin Valley. "The country is memory with bleached grass, glaring sunlight, contd. on pg. 46

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as the Year of the Oak, and California Native Oaks ... was instrumental in two resolutions which were contd. from pg. 45 passed by the state's legis­ lature. The first declared 1990 the Year of the Oak, Program. Another was the Agricultural regeneration of blue oak and the practice of and the second contained Adjustment Administration' s range improve­ removing blue oaks from foothill pastures to more far-reaching lan­ ment program for the Eradication and Control increase livestock forage. In September 1978 guage. It called for every of Destructive and Competitive Plants. Peter Steinhart penned a penetrating summary state agency with responsi­ Between I 950 and I 980, 4.8 million acres of of the oak situation in Audubon magazine bility for oak lands to forest and rangeland were converted to urban entitled "As the old oaks fall ," illustrated with develop a plan for the and irrigated agricultural land uses. David Cavagnaro' s super photographs. And protection and conserva­ the October I 983 issue of Fremontia was tion of their oaks. These Public involvement in oak affairs devoted solely to the subject of oaks. plans are to be submitted to Unlike the state' s conifer resources, oaks During this period the Heritage Oak the legislature in the fall of Photo by David Cavagnaro inhabit private land and have received little Committee of Sacramento published a classic 1991. management scrutiny from traditional forestry booklet, Native Oaks: Our Valley Heritage. Blue oak (Quercus douglasii). interests. The first public expressions of The efforts of the committee are an Era of oak meetings the State Forestry Board) with many co­ concern over the long-term future of outstanding example of a public service Interest in oak woodlands grew in the late sponsors, including CNPS. All the major California's oak communities sUifaced in project carried out by Mike Weber and others. 1960s, partly due to California Department of interest groups were represented, and a great many parts of the state in the I 970s. Articles Over 20,000 copies have been distributed Fish and Game concerns about declining oak deal of constructive dialogue about current and news items about regeneration problems without advertising. habitats. U.S. Forest Service, University of oak affairs took place. Regular, informal of valley oak and blue oak began appearing in In the fall of 1987 the organization of a California, and California State University meetings of researchers working on oak­ ecological and popular journals. In the April California Native Plant Society oak-hardwood researchers were concerned about adequate related topics are held annually. Throughout 1973 Fremontia, James Griffin discussed committee was announced with Pam Muick oak regeneration. These issues prompted an the state, local workshops and seminars are valley oak regeneration problems. In the April and Joan Stewart as committee co-chairs. The oak symposium at Scripps College, Claremont being held for education and information I 976 Fremontia V. L. Holland considered committee defined oak policy issues for the in June 1979. It attracted about two hundred exchange. Regional meetings have been held society, assembled educa­ attendees who heard fifty-two research at Santa Rosa, Chico, San Diego and tional materials, and n1et reports. Tuolumne County, and more are planned. with other groups to estab­ The success of this meeting Jed to a larger Finally, another symposium for oak lish research priorities on meeting at California State Polytechnic researchers will meet at Davis, October 31 oak issues. University, San Luis Obispo in November through November 2. 1990, sponsored by the In I 988 the California 1985. That event included some five hundred University of California Cooperative Exten­ Oak Foundation was cre­ attendees hearing eighty-five research reports. sion and the Department of Forestry and ated as a statewide organi­ Proceedings of both meetings were published Resource Management. zation to promote "conser­ by the Pacific Southwest Forest and Range vation, restoration, and Experiment Station, U.S. Forest Service, and Major players in oak politics management of our native were instant best-sellers. These publications The State Board of Forestry has a long oak heritage through prac­ had considerable impact on the direction of history of establishing harvesting rules for tices that encourage its new oak research and on the continuing coniferous forests on private lands. Only perpetuation and through dialogue about oak regulations. recently has the Board and their Range focus on public education In January 1989 an oak symposium was Management Advisory Committee considered and coordination between convened in Sacramento sponsored by the expanding into the role of regulating Photo by David Cavagnaro the pri vale sectors." The Range Management Advisory Committee (to Cony oak (Quercus garryana). Foundation declared I 990 contd. on pg. 48

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California Native Oaks ... contd. from pg. 47 hardwoods. In 1983 the Board appointed a oak and the valley oak, the two species hardwood task force to study the future elevated to List 4 status in the 1988 Inventory stability of oak woodlands used for grazing. of Rare and Endangered Vascular Plants of The task force identified nineteen specific California. Engelmann oak is considered problems patently affecting oak woodlands; threatened by loss of habitat. Valley oak is also most of the problems involved specific needs threatened by loss of habitat and lack of for research and broad educational programs. natural regeneration. Significantly, the actual A coalition of several agencies joined together acreage of valley oak woodland still remaining to help solve these woodland problems in in the state is unknown. The Society also 1985. represented the conservation/environmental The California Department of Forest and viewpoint at advisory committee meetings Fire Protection (CDF), with their Forest and where research priorities were establi shed. Rangeland Resources Assessment Program The California Oak Foundation rose swiftly (FRRAP), emerged as the lead agency for the and effectively to embrace the diminishing cooperative Integrated Hardwood Range urban and suburban oaks not addressed by the Management Program (IHRMP). CDF spon­ state's program. The statewide Oak Founda­ sored new, short-term research projects and tion arose from the successful Sacramento monitoring. The University of California, Tree Foundation, and moved rapidly to Division of Agriculture and Natural Re­ produce informational brochures and supply sources. provided five new Natural Resource educational materials to the non-ranching oak Specialists and, in addition, two farm advisors constituency. In identifying a different public were added to the program. The University of and addressing their needs, the Foundation Cali fornia sponsors long term research broadened the viewpoint of the state and projects. California Department of Fish and university's hardwood program. Game addresses wildlife problems. The Range Management Advisory Committee provides A Quercus revival additional policy input. A total of 9.6 million Until recently, most California residents dollars was budgeted for the program, with an and state agencies have taken oaks for annual budget- of approximately one million granted. At the turn of the century, between dollars. Of the annual budget, about forty 1890 and 1925, a number of books were percent supports the natural resource special­ published containing natural history informa­ ists, twenty percent goes to long-term tion about oaks by authors such as Kellogg, competitive grants, and thirty-five percent is Jepson, Sudworth, Eastwood, and others. used for short-term research and monitoring. Then came a long hiatus. The California Native Plant Society has For over sixty years, little attention was paid promoted its concerns for the native oaks and to oak preservation or conservation, although their habitats. Although the state and specific programs existed for eradicating oaks. university programs focused primarily on the During this time few researchers, in academia, blue oak grazing lands, the Society emphasized the need for more research on the Engelmann contd. on pg . 49

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alifornia Native Oaks ...

ontd . f rom pg . 48

11 1 in state or federal agencies, studied )11/' I"CII S. Since the late 1970s, public and Editor's note: James R. Griffin has served with 1 \ '~ l' l lr ·h in terest has been enhanced by two the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, U. C. t lSI-'S sponsored oak symposia ( 1979, 198 5). Berkeley, at the Hastings Reservation in 'l'h1·s · conferences, coupled with state Carmel Valley, California USA, and has been l11nd in '. have resulted in new generations of. in volved with oak concern s for more than 25 ll'"t·: u·chcrs foc using their attention on oak s. years. Pamela C. Muick is with the U. C. , 'uhst· qucntly, our knowledge about oaks has Berkeley Department of Fo restry and Re­ lwpun to increase rapidly. source Management on the main campus at lis w · look towards the next century, we Berkeley, California USA, and since this II'I'Op 11i 1. • that tremendous changes will article was originally published has become 111 11tinu · to occur on the landscape. known to many International Oak Society C 'ulil'ol'llia's popul ati on is predicted to members as one of the authors of the book tl l ll'IIS • hy twenty million in the nex t twenty Oaks of California. This article originally was Y l ' ll l ~ . Many of th ese people will, like us, be reproduced from the July 1990 issue of livl 11 p umong the oaks. However, many of Fremontia with the kind permission of the lli l '~ l ' p •ople may not initially value oak California Native Plant Society, and is hullltuts in lhe same ways we do. Our only reprinted with corrections here. Photographer 1111111 ' l'or meeting the needs of the new David Cavagnaro graciously has permitted c 'ullhu 11i uns and sustaining the va lues of an International Oaks to reproduce some of his 11 1 1~ lilk'd landscape is to develop workable photographs used in the original Fremontia 1t lu lio11 s, ·ombining good information and publication for this commemorative issue. Wil l ~ I t hi • policies.

No.1 Republication I March 1999 Page 49