Quercus arizonica Sarg.

Arizona white oak
Arizona oak

More info for the term: cover

White-tailed deer utilize mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.)-
pinyon-Arizona white oak habitats for cover [67].

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Arizona white oak is a native shrub or medium-sized tree [21].  As a
tree, it reaches up to 60 feet (18 m) tall with a diameter up to 3.3
feet (1 m) and has an irregularly spreading crown with stout branches
[36,41,67].  The bark on older trees may be up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick
[21].  The thick leaves are evergreen or nearly evergreen and about 3.2
inches (8 cm) long [16,21,61].  Pistillate catkins have two to six
flowers.  The solitary or paired acorns are 0.3 to 0.8 inch (0.8-2 cm)
long [16,21,80].

Arizona white oak is distributed from central Arizona to southwestern
New Mexico [59,66,77].  Scattered populations occur in western Texas and
northern Mexico.  In Mexico, the range of Arizona white oak extends from
the state of Coahuila westward to Baja California Sur [16,27,39,42,61].
It occurs in fewer than 20 locations in Baja California Sur and is a
species of concern in Mexico [40].

More info for the terms: cover, fire frequency, fire regime, fire tolerant, forest, frequency, grassland, habitat type, root crown, woodland

Arizona white oak sprouts from the root crown or stump following fire
[13,35].

Madrean evergreen forests and woodlands are usually bordered by desert
grassland below and coniferous forest above [4].  Historically, fires
probably occurred every 10 to 20 years in oak woodlands adjacent to
semidesert grasslands [2,83].  Mean fire return intervals for pine
communities above oak woodlands have been estimated at every 7 years
[49].  Historical fires in oak-pine woodlands in the Chiricahua National
Monument in Arizona occurred every 1 to 38 years [71].  In Arizona, low-
intensity surface fires occurred very frequently in a ponderosa
pine/Arizona white oak habitat type; fire scars formed in 67 of the
years between 1770 and 1870 [19,84].  Burned ponderosa pine snags in
evergreen oak woodlands in Arizona suggest localized severe fires [55].

FIRE REGIMES have been estimated for different oak cover types.  Mexican
(Madrean) oak-pine woodland is probably a fire tolerant, fire-maintained
community. 

Arizona white oak is common at higher elevations than Emory oak in open
oak woodlands.  Fire frequency is important in determining the structure
of these communities.

Interior chaparral is scattered throughout the oak-pine woodlands [70].
Arizona white oak replaces Pringle manzanita (Arctostaphylos pringlei)
in interior chaparral stands that have not recently burned [57].
Arizona white oak and Emory oak dominate many communities that have not
burned at least since 1910 [13].

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the terms: fuel, fuel moisture, woodland

Arizona white oak foliage can be ignited by low-intensity fires with
flame lengths up to 2 feet (6.7 m).  It should be included in fuel
moisture sampling programs.  In the Chiricahua National Monument,
Arizona, where Arizona white oak can make up a significant portion of
the understory fuels, Arizona white oak sampled on 10 and 11 November
1987 had a mean moisture content of 121 percent.  Live fuel moisture
sampling methods are discussed in the literature [64].

Broadcast understory burning in southwestern ponderosa pine forests,
where shrubby Arizona white oak and silverleaf oak (Q. hypoleucoides)
occurred, reduced the threat of severe crown fires [29].

The open oak woodland can carry fire.  Oaks usually survive the quick,
low intensity fires of open oak woodlands.  However, modern fires in
closed-canopy oak woodlands are more likely to be high-intensity, stand
replacement fires [49].

More info for the terms: grassland, prescribed fire, woodland

Fire is a part of the historic Madrean evergreen woodland [83].  This
prescribed fire did not have any lasting effects on woody vegetation in
the study area.  Burning had little detectable effect on the seedlings
of Arizona white oak.  This is probably due to short duration and low
heat released by the fires.  The authors noted that Arizona white oak
were killed by fire in nearby O'Donnell Canyon during 1974 on the
Appleton-Whittell Sanctuary.

This study was part of an extensive of body of research on fire effects in semidesert
grassland, oak savanna, and Madrean oak woodlands of southeastern Arizona. See the Research Project Summary of this work for more information on burning conditions,
fires, and fire effects on more than 100 species of plants, birds, small mammals,
and grasshoppers.

More info on this topic.

More info for the term: phanerophyte

  
   Phanerophyte

More info for the terms: cover, frequency

Arizona white oak is widespread and occurs in arroyos, canyons,
foothills, bajadas, and on rocky slopes [25,57,81].  It occurs on flat
benches and ridges or steep sideslopes with westerly to northerly
exposures [18,51,76].  Arizona white oak is found from 3,445 to 7,218
feet (1,050-2,200 m) in elevation [43,55,57,61,73].

Arizona white oak occurs in semiarid to arid climates with a bimodal
precipitation regime, mild winters, and hot summers [2,20,44].  Soils
may be shallow to deep and moderate to very fine textured, consisting of
old alluvium from mixed sedimentary, igneous, or granitic rocks
[12,55,76].  Rock cover may be more than 15 percent [18].  Soils also
may be cobbly loams that are deep and well-drained with low
water-holding capacity [56].

Arizona white oak sites are often low in productivity due to semiarid
climate and shallow, rocky, or poorly developed soils.  Arizona white
oak frequency varies within oak woodlands.  In oak woodlands of Arizona,
Arizona white oak increase from 10 percent frequency at about 5,000 feet
(1,524 m) elevation to 45 percent frequency at about 6,000 feet (1,829
m).  It decreases in frequency above 6,562 feet (2,000 m) [49].

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):

    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 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):

More info for the term: shrub

   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES31  Shinnery
   FRES32  Texas savanna
   FRES34  Chaparral - mountain shrub
   FRES35  Pinyon - juniper

More info on this topic.

This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, woodland

   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K019  Arizona pine forest
   K023  Juniper - pinyon woodland
   K031  Oak - juniper woodlands
   K071  Shinnery

More info for the term: severity

Small (1 to 3 inches [2.5-7.5 cm]) Arizona white oak are top-killed by
fire.  Large-sized trees usually survive fires of low severity [7].
Arizona white oak foliage is highly flammable [64].  Surviving stumps
sprout vigorously [4,35].  The acorns probably are killed by fire.
Acorns covered by an insulating layer of soil may survive low-severity
fires.

More info for the term: woodland

Arizona white oak acorns are consumed by cattle and wildlife [32];
however, acorns of other species are used in preference to Arizona white
oak acorns [21].  Arizona white oak acorns comprised 2 percent of the
food volume in white-tailed deer stomach contents collected in late fall
in south-central Arizona [48].  Arizona white oak was one of the most
common trees browsed by white-tailed deer in oak-grasslands and mountain
foothills of Arizona [67].  In southeastern Arizona, Arizona white oak
is used extensively by neomigratory birds for foraging during the
breeding season [6].  Diverse amphibians, reptiles, and mammals have
been recorded in the woodland communities where Arizona white oak occurs
[17,45].

More info for the terms: association, codominant, forest, habitat type, series, woodland

Arizona white oak is found in diverse communities along elevation or
moisture gradients from savannas, semidesert grasslands, and interior
chaparral [10,57] to Madrean evergreen woodland and pine-oak (Pinus
spp.-Quercus spp.) communities [7].  Arizona white oak is codominant
with Emory oak (Q. emoryi) and gray oak in the encinal mixed woodland
series and Madrean evergreen woodland series [9,19,38,52].  Arizona
white oak habitat series occur in savannas of New Mexico [19].  Arizona
white oak is an indicator species in dry Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii), Chihuahua pine (Pinus leiophylla var. chihuahuana),
ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa), and Apache pine (P. engelmannii) habitat
and community types [1,3,55,63].  Arizona white oak is dominant or
codominant in open and closed-canopy pinyon-juniper (Juniperus spp.)
woodlands [28,53].  Occasionally, Arizona white oak is an important
understory species in pinyon-juniper stands [58] and Mexican pinyon (P.
cembroides) forests [46].  Isolated Arizona white oak occur infrequently
in riparian woodland associations, such as Arizona walnut (Juglans
major) and Arizona sycamore (Platanus wrightii) community types with
permanent or semipermanent streams [43,44,69,73,75].  Arizona white oak
occurs on edges of interior chaparral of Arizona in communities such as
the Arizona white oak-yellowleaf silktassel (Garrya flavescens)-Emory
oak association [11,13,35,63].  Some of the publications in which
Arizona white oak is listed as a dominant or indicator species are:

(1)  Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of Arizona
       south of the Mogollon Rim and southwestern New Mexico [3]
(2)  Forest habitat types south of the Mogollon Rim, Arizona and New
       Mexico [18]
(3)  Classification of mixed broadleaf riparian forest in Tonto National
       Forest [37]
(4)  A series vegetation classification for Region 3 [52]
(5)  A forest habitat type classification of southern Arizona and its
       relationship to forests of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico [54]
(6)  Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona: a gradient
       analysis of the south slope [82].

Woody species associated with Arizona white oak but not previously
mentioned in Distribution and Occurrence information include Arizona
madrone (Arbutus arizonica), Arizona rosewood (Vaquelina californica),
and coral-bean (Erythrina flabeliformis) [45,55].

More info for the terms: shrub, tree

Tree, Shrub

More info for the terms: codominant, forest, woodland

Arizona white oak stands have been managed under pinyon-juniper
silvicultural systems [28].  On a fuelwood management area in the
Huachuca Mountains of Arizona, three areas in oak woodland were cut at
different times and intensities to assess harvest effects.  Arizona
white oak was codominant with Emory oak.  Harvest at two intensities (50
and 80%) occurred 7, 15, and 20 years prior to assessment.  Structural
changes to the overstory, such as trees being shrublike due to prolific
stump sprouting, still persisted after 20 years [65].

Volume equations are available for estimating biomass of Arizona white
oak [14,15].  Volume, growth, and mortality estimates and simulation
models of the oak woodlands that include Arizona white oak are discussed
in the literature [24].  Multivariate equations are available for
predicting Arizona white oak regeneration after harvest [50].

Cattle graze on most of the Arizona encinal woodlands where Arizona
white oak occurs [47].  Preferential grazing may favor Arizona white oak
establishment [49].  However, poor oak recruitment during the late
1960's in Arizona was attributed to the effects of livestock grazing and
summer drought [56].  Current recruitment was not found in the
literature.  Burning and subsequent treatment with herbicides prevented
Arizona white oak from establishing in a game management area on the
Tonto National Forest in Arizona [72].

Szaro and King [74] developed sampling methods for classification
of the Arizona riparian plant communities in which Arizona white oak
occurs.

Arizona white oak is susceptible to the wood decay fungus, Inonotus
andersonii [23].

Young Arizona white oak twigs and leaves are rated as poor forage for
wildlife [31].

     AZ  NM  TX  MEXICO

No direct reference to Arizona white oak acorn consumption by humans was
found in the literature.  Arizona white oak belongs to the white oak
subgenus (Lepidobalanus).  Edible acorns are a characteristic of the
group [34].

Arizona white oak is highly palatable to white-tailed and mule deer in
all seasons [79].

More info on this topic.

Arizona white oak flowers as new leaves emerge.  Acorns mature during
the fall (September to November) of the same year [49,56,80].  Leaves
may drop in late winter or just before new leaves emerge in the spring
[21,80].

More info for the terms: prescribed fire, tree, woodland

Fires move quickly through oak woodlands that have a continuous grass
understory.  Arizona white oak root crowns are usually not damaged by
these fires [4].  In a Madrean evergreen woodland in Arizona with an
understory of grasses and herbs, a prescribed fire burned cool and was
of short duration.  Scattered mature Arizona white oak were unaffected
by the fire.  Arizona white oak and other oak seedling densities did not
differ between burned sites and controls during the first 2 postfire
seasons [7,8].  In Box Canyon of the Santa Rita Mountains in Arizona, a
person-caused fire in 1959 moved rapidly over dry grasses in a
drought-stressed oak-juniper woodland.  Drought stress may have
influenced tree response.  In diameter classes from 1 to 9 inches
(2.5-23 cm), 13 percent of Arizona white oak died on the burned sites,
while only 5 percent died on the controls [33].

More info for the terms: root crown, root sucker, secondary colonizer, shrub, tree

   Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
   Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
   Secondary colonizer - off-site seed

More info for the terms: litter, tree

Mature Arizona white oak grows slowly, averaging about 0.1 inch per year
(0.24 cm/yr) in diameter; seedlings also grow slowly [21,49].  Once
topgrowth is removed, Arizona white oak stumps sprout.  In southeastern
Arizona following top removal by cutting, Arizona white oak regeneration
consisted primarily of stump sprouts with low seedling survival [65].
Following harvest of oak woodlands in southern Arizona, a higher
percentage of Arizona white oak stumps than Emory oak stumps failed to
sprout.  Arizona white oak sprouts also grew more slowly than Emory oak
sprouts [50].
 
Acorn production in Arizona white oak is highly variable.  Large acorn
crops, up to 32,600 acorns per tree, alternate with several years of low
acorn production [21,49].  Arizona white oak can lose 1 to 65 percent of
acorns produced to vertebrates and 1 to 50 percent to invertebrates
[49].  While postdispersal acorn loss from the soil surface can be high,
68 percent of the acorns escaped predation in a 1978 Arizona oak
woodlands study.  Arizona white oak acorns had 17 to 73 percent
germination during a study in Arizona.  The acorns have no dormancy.
Most Arizona white oak acorn germination occurs within 30 days of
dropping off of the tree; the acorns are viable for about 60 days.
Germination of Arizona white oak acorns is strongly positively
correlated with moisture during the rainy season [56].  During field
trials, germination of the acorns at 3 or 6 inches (7.5-15 cm) below the
soil surface (73%) exceeded germination rates on the litter or soil
surface (17%) [56].

More info on this topic.

This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

    7  Lower Basin and Range
   12  Colorado Plateau
   13  Rocky Mountain Piedmont

spring fire/low- to moderate-severity

The study site was located in a steep-sided canyon at 4,922 feet (1,500
m) elevation.  Spring months are dry and warm in the semiarid climate.
The average annual precipitation is 16.9 inches (430 mm) and occurs
bimodally.  No information was given on specific topography, slope, or
soils.

More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: climax, forb

Facultative Seral Species

Arizona white oak is a seral species or climax understory species in
pinyon-juniper woodlands and pine-oak forests [4,28,57,60].  Following
cabling or fire in pinyon-juniper woodlands, Arizona white oak and other
oaks begin to establish after about 4 years, during the grass and forb
stages [28,60].  Arizona white oak is a climax species in Madrean
evergreen oak and encinal woodlands.  It is a minor climax species in
Chihuahuan pine forests [38].

The currently accepted scientific name of Arizona white oak is Quercus
arizonica Sarg. It is a member of the oak family (Fagaceae) [34]. No
infrataxa are recognized. Where distributions overlap, Arizona white
oak hybridizes with gray oak (Q. grisea), Gambel oak (Q. gambelii), and
Mohr shin oak (Q. mohriana) [19,34,61,77,80].

More info for the term: fuel

Arizona white oak is used for fuel and infrequently for furniture
[30,56].  The wood is close grained, heavy, hard, and strong [21,41,80].
Trees are seldom straight enough or large enough to be of commercial
value [21].