Quercus georgiana M. A. Curtis  

The type locality of this species, located at Stone Mountain, DeKalb County, Georgia, is the best-documented and probably the largest occurrence. Another well-documented occurrence, located on Pine Mountain, Harris Co., Georgia, was observed to be relatively large and healthy in the late 1980s (R. Lance and M. Westwood pers. comm. 2015). Houle and Delwaide (1991) observed that Q. georgianawas often the second most frequent and abundant woody species on soil islands on Arabia Mountain, DeKalb Co., Georgia, in addition to noting a high proportion of juvenile trees (seedlings and saplings), suggesting successful reproduction was occurring at that time.

Occurrences in South Carolina are believed to be extirpated, and the single known occurrence in North Carolina, first documented in 2011, is reported to contain too few individuals to be considered viable (i.e., fewer than ten). Additionally, the North Carolina stand shows a high level of putative hybridization, likely due to introgression by other, more common Red Oak species in the vicinity. Therefore, for the purposes of maintaining the true genetic identity of the species, this subpopulation should be considered eradicated(R. Lance and M. Westwood pers. comm. 2015).

Throughout its restricted range, occurrences ofQ. georgiana are small and geographically isolated. However, despite the geographic distance between occurrences,a recent molecular analysis of the species' genetic diversity revealedevidence of gene flow and low genetic isolation between subpopulations, suggesting these occurrences are not genetically isolated enough to be considered severely fragmented (Toppila 2012). The report did note, though, that this apparent gene flow could be a relict of past interconnectedness, and negative consequences of fragmentation may still remain to be seen. This study sampled approximately 25 individual trees each from nine occurrences in Georgia and Alabama (suggesting the population size is at least greater than 225 individuals). Notably, two subpopulations in Georgia were not sampled becausetrees were infrequent or not positively identifiable, indicating that these occurrences may be declining and/or suffering from introgression.

Kramer and Pence (2012) highlighted the successful in vitropropagation ofQ. georgianaand the potential of cryopreservation as a conservation option for recalcitrant species, which cannot be stored in seed banks, such as oaks.

A recent study found that living collections of Georgia Oak exist in 30 institutions around the world, with 50% of accessions from known wild provenance (Toppila 2012). However, these accessions were found to be collected from only two subpopulations (Stone Mountain and Pine Mountain), indicating that future efforts should focus on collecting from other, more distant subpopulations in order to capture genetic diversity from across the species' range.

A research project is currently underway by scientists at The Morton Arboretum and Chicago Botanic Garden to further examine the genetic diversity of Q. georgiana trees, both in its natural stands and those in cultivated collections, which will help inform and guide future conservation efforts.