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Quercus taxonomy
Quercus grisea Liebm.
EOL Text
More info for the terms: mesic, tree
Gray oak occurs along drainages, arroyos, rocky slopes, foothills,
bajadas, stream sides, and terraces [16,19,41,50]. It is a facultative
riparian species [40]. Gray oak has a low-growing form in open savannas
[16]. It reaches tree size in mesic canyons [12,17]. Gray oak occurs
in semiarid climates characterized by mild winters, hot summers, and dry
springs [14,37,52]. It is found on shallow, rocky soils with textures
that range from clays to sandy loams. The soils often are derived from
igneous or dolomitic parent materials [13,41,44,50].
Gray oak can be found from lower slopes to ridgetops [20]. It occurs
from 4,000 to 9,000 feet (1,219-2,743 m) throughout its range
[17,37,50]. Gray oak predominantly occurs on north-facing exposures on
lower slopes, but it has been reported from all aspects [12,20,22,41].
At higher elevations, it may be restricted to sun-exposed or
southeastern aspects [1,20].
Flowering spring.
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More info for the terms: association, codominant, series, shrub, tree
Gray oak is a dominant or codominant member of the Madrean evergreen oak
woodlands, encinal, and pine-oak (Pinus spp.-Quercus spp.) communities
[5,6,7,25,34,38]. It is a codominant or a common mid-story tree in
juniper (Juniperus spp.)-Mexican pinyon (Pinus cembroides) and
juniper-true pinyon pine (P. edulis)-oak habitat series or community
types [13,28,41,43,49,54,56]. Gray oak is a dominant species in the
juniper-gray oak association [7,24,26,43]. It is the principal tree in
gray oak series and community types [3,41,56]. Gray oak occurs as a
dominant shrub in pinyon-juniper woodlands [30,47,57]. In riparian
habitats, gray oak is an important subdominant species in the bigtooth
maple (Acer grandidentatum)-oak series, in the western soapberry
(Sapindus saponaria) and lanceleaf cottonwood (Populus acuminata)/
sandbar willow (Salix exigua) habitat types, and in mesophytic
communities of New Mexico and Texas [22,40,42,46,56]. It may replace
little walnut (Juglans microcarpa) in wet areas [46]. Gray oak is an
indicator species in the ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) series and
occurs in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests that have a lower
stratum of oaks [2,14,20,34,42,56]. Some of the publications in which
gray oak is listed as a dominant or indicator species are:
(1) Classification of the forest vegetation on the National Forests of
Arizona and New Mexico [2]
(2) Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of Arizona
south of the Mogollon Rim and southwestern New Mexico [3]
(3) Forest habitat types in the Apache, Gila, and part of the Cibola
National Forests, Arizona and New Mexico [20]
(4) Woodland communities and soils of Fort Bayard, southwestern New
Mexico [41]
(5) Plant communities of Texas (Series level): February 1992 [56].
Several woody species associated with gray oak that were not previously
mentioned in the Distribution and Occurrence information include
fendlerbush (Fendlera rupicola), bushy sage (Salvia ramosissima), Texas
madrone (Arbutus texana), Fremont barberry (Berberis fremontii),
Louisiana sagewort (Artemisia ludoviciana), and soaptree yucca (Yucca
elata) [9,12,16,40].
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked
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More info on this topic.
This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):
FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure
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| Rights holder/Author | NatureServe |
| Source | http://explorer.natureserve.org/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Quercus+grisea |
More info on this topic.
This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):
66 Ashe juniper - redberry (Pinchot) juniper
67 Mohrs (shin) oak
210 Interior Douglas-fir
235 Cottonwood - willow
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
240 Arizona cypress
241 Western live oak
More info for the term: importance value
Gray oak often occurs on sites of poor quality for timber production [20].
Equations have been developed to estimate gray oak volume and biomass as
measures of current production and utilization [10,37].
In the southwestern United States, herbicides and mechanical methods
have been used with good grazing practices to control woody plants such
as gray oak [26]. Angora goats are not effective in controlling gray
oak [29].
Gray oak appeared to decrease under grazing in an evergreen woodland in
Texas. The importance value of gray oak on plots protected from grazing
from 1946 to 1962 in livestock grazed plots was 133; the importance
value on grazed plots was 83 [23].
Converted pinyon-juniper woodlands provide grasslands or enhance
watersheds. These large scale clearings of pinyon-juniper woodlands
reduce gray oak populations [30,54].
More info on this topic.
This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):
K018 Pine - Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands