VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Quercus emoryi | Emory Oak 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Emory oak is managed and used for fuel and infrequently for furniture
[35,52,87,117].  The wood is close-grained, heavy, strong, and brittle
[64,121].  It has a specific gravity of 0.56 to 0.96 [52,68,121].  Emory
oak is refractory with a tendency to degrade due to surface check, end
split, and honeycomb. [52].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Emory oak acorns are valuable food for cattle, mule and white-tailed
deer, wild turkey, band-tailed pigeon, other birds, and small mammals
[35,53,54,96,101].  Collared peccary infrequently consume Emory oak
acorns from July through September [34].  Emory oak is used extensively
by neomigratory birds for foraging during the breeding season [11].
Diverse amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals have been recorded in
the woodland communities where Emory oak occurs [113].

Pronghorn, white-tailed deer, and mule deer browse Emory oak [17,35,96,106].
Reports of Emory oak usage vary.  Humphrey [53] stated that Emory oak
has forage value only when young, and then it is only slightly browsed.
Emory oak was ranked as the most important food item in rumen analyses
of 20 white-tailed deer in Arizona in 1983.  It ranked third in
abundance in white-tailed deer fecal analyses from 1987 to 1989 [106].
However, during late winter in south-central Arizona, Emory oak made up
an average of only 1 percent of the food volume in white-tailed deer
stomachs [73].  In another study, pellet analyses from both white-tailed
and mule deer showed that Emory oak leaves were a minor food item
[106,119].

Emory oak is one of the major tree species in oak and oak-pine habitats
used by the acorn woodpecker.  The acorn woodpecker uses telephone poles
erected in these habitats for nesting sites; few cavity sites are
available to the birds due to the limited availability of snags and the
hardness of the wood in trees present [88].


PALATABILITY : 
Emory oak is highly palatable yearlong to white-tailed and mule deer
[120].  In spring, Emory oak has fair palatability for pronghorn and
poor palatability for cattle and sheep [17].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
From July to September, seasonal estimates of white-tailed deer nutrient
intake from Emory oak acorns consisted of 54 percent protein and 52.2
percent acid detergent fiber, having 27 percent in vitro digestibility
[119].  In a study 15 years prior to this, Emory oak acorns had
"intermediate" protein content and low phosphorus [108].


COVER VALUE : 
Emory oak is a member of oak-chaparral and pinyon-oak-juniper
associations.  These associations provide cover for black bear,
white-tailed deer, antelope squirrel, mice, gray fox, and raccoon [30,81].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Raw Emory oak acorns are sweet, edible, and gathered for commercial
markets [4,54,105].  Emory oak acorns were used for flour and meal by
native Americans [84,96].

Emory oak is one of the most important sources of firewood in Arizona [64].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Emory oak stands have been managed under pinyon-juniper silvicultural
systems [51].  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.  Emory oak was codominant with
Arizona white oak.  Harvests of 50 and 80 percent occurred 7, 15, and 20
years prior to assessment.  Structural changes to the overstory, such as
shrublike trees that originated from prolific stump sprouting, persisted
after 20 years [102].

Emory oak is harvested for fuel with alligator juniper (Juniperus
deppeana) from the oak woodlands on the Coronado National Forest in
Arizona.  Restrictions to ensure sustained yield are discussed in the
literature [7].  Coppice thinning for Emory oak in Emory oak/sideoats
grama (Bouteloua curtipendula) habitat types is recommended 5 years after
harvest.  Growth and yield of sprouts depend on number and age of
sprouts after thinning.  Time to harvest depends on diameter of root
collar.  Approximately 20 to 30 years after thinning, root collar
diameters of 6 to 8 inches (15.2-20.3 cm) are possible [117].

Equations for volume, biomass, net primary productivity, and mortality
of the oak woodlands to which Emory oak belongs are discussed in the
literature [21,22,38,43,44].  Emory oak stands with different management
histories, harvests, and merchantable volumes are also discussed [38].
Equations are available to predict Emory oak regeneration following
cutting [77].

In a ponderosa pine forest on Big Bug Mesa, Arizona, two burned and two
unburned plots were treated at three levels (clearcut, partialcut, and
uncut) and seeded with grass.  Emory oak occurred on unburned
partially-cut and uncut sites at 6.5 trees per acre (16 trees/ha) and
9.7 trees per acre (24 trees/ha), respectively [10].

Emory oak and the other codominant oaks usually do not comprise more
than 10 to 20 percent canopy cover in open oak woodlands.  However,
where it is the dominant species, Emory oak can comprise 50 percent of
the canopy cover [14].  In pygmy conifer (Pinus spp.)-oak scrub, shrubby
Emory oak, other oaks, and manzanita (Arctostaphylos spp.) make up 60 to
70 percent of the canopy cover [85].

In the Dos Cabezas Mountains of southeastern Arizona, the mixed oak
woodland-interior chaparral community is heavily browsed by white-tailed
and mule deer.  Emory oak is dominant but has a skewed age distribution.
Emory oak is not recruiting; seedlings have not survived.  Of the
standing Emory oak, 83 percent were greater than 7.9 feet (2.4 m) tall;
17 percent were dead.  Anthony and Smith [2] attributed this lack of
recruitment to poor reproduction by over-mature trees or gradual climate
change to hotter and drier conditions.

Cattle graze on most encinal woodlands where Emory oak is an important
component [71].  Emory oak grows in pinyon-juniper woodlands and
interior chaparral stands that have been converted to grassland through
fire, mechanical, and chemical methods to increase forage production
[3,18,26,29,47,49,89].  Currently, such single-use management of these
habitats is declining [51].  Several projects converted interior
chaparral into grassland and riparian habitat on the Three Bar Game
Management Area on the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona since
grazing stopped in 1947.  In June 1959, a wildfire killed all shrubs,
and herbicide applications prevented them from reestablishing.  One
hundred Emory oak trees had established in the riparian study area 21
years later [111].

Young Emory oak leaves have higher concentrations of tannin and phenolic
compounds than older leaves [70].  A flash flood flushed double the
normal load (0.15 pounds per square foot [750g/sq m]) of Emory oak
litter into Pena Blanca Lake, Arizona.  The elevated levels of soluble
tannins and phenolic compounds did not harm invertebrates, monitored as
environmental indicators, after 20 to 30 days of exposure [72].

Emory oak resists damage from pests and many diseases [90].  However, it
is susceptible to the wood decay fungus Inonotus andersonii [37].

Sampling methods for classification of riparian communities to which
Emory oak belongs are available [114].

Related categories for Species: Quercus emoryi | Emory Oak