• GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
• ECOSYSTEMS
• STATES
• BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
• KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS
• SAF COVER TYPES
• SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES
• HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:

Gambel oak occurs from New Mexico west to Arizona and southwestern Nevada and north to Utah, Colorado and southeastern Wyoming [13]. Isolated patches occur in Texas [92]. The Natural Resource Conservation Service provides a map of Gambel oak's distribution in the United States (http://plants.usda.gov/plants/cgi_bin/topics.cgi).

ECOSYSTEMS [83]:

FRES20 Douglas-fir
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES23 Fir-spruce
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES36 Mountain grasslands
FRES40 Desert grasslands

STATES:

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [17]:

6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau

KUCHLER [120] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

K018 Pine-Douglas-fir forest
K019 Arizona pine forest
K020 Spruce-fir-Douglas-fir forest
K021 Southwestern spruce-fir forest
K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
K031 Oak-juniper woodland
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K057 Galleta-threeawn shrubsteppe
K058 Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe

SAF COVER TYPES [64]:

217 Aspen
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon-juniper
241 Western live oak

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [180]:

107 Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
109 Ponderosa pine shrubland
207 Scrub oak mixed chaparral
210 Bitterbrush
401 Basin big sagebrush
402 Mountain big sagebrush
403 Wyoming big sagebrush
404 Threetip sagebrush
405 Black sagebrush
408 Other sagebrush types
411 Aspen woodland
412 Juniper-pinyon woodland
413 Gambel oak
415 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
416 True mountain-mahogany
417 Littleleaf mountain-mahogany
418 Bigtooth maple
420 Snowbrush
421 Chokecherry-serviceberry-rose
503 Arizona chaparral
504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
505 Grama-tobosa shrub
509 Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
733 Juniper-oak
734 Mesquite-oak

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:

In the southern extent of its distribution, Gambel oak occupies a minor role as an associate within ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and mixed-conifer habitats. Moving north, long-lived Gambel oak clones form dominant to monotypic overstories [157].

Harper and others [92] constructed a list of common plant associates in a 1985 literature review. The following table lists common plant associates of Gambel oak.

Kunzler and others [126] evaluated 23 Gambel oak brush stands in central and northern Utah to compare presence or absence of major plant associates. Gambel oak stands on average supported 25 plant species; cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and stickywilly (Galium aparine) were the 2 most abundant species. The most abundant shrub associate was mountain snowberry (Symphoricarpos oreophilus).

Gambel oak is a typical riparian species in New Mexico, occurring from 6,580 to 8,080 feet (2,006 - 2,463 m) within the Black and Sacramento mountain ranges [74]. 

Gambel oak is a dominant species in the central Utah mountain brush zone at 6,500 to 7,800 feet (1,981-2,377 m) on southern exposures. On northern exposures Gambel oak either shares dominance with bigtooth maple (Acer grandidentatum) or is completely replaced by bigtooth maple [36].  Bigtooth maple is a common Gambel oak associate at the southern end of the Wasatch Mountains. On the west flank of the southern and middle Wasatch range, Gambel oak and bigtooth maple form a dense woodland [91].

In Arizona Gambel oak is represented as shrub thickets over the majority of its range. It occurs as a tree throughout the ponderosa pine habitat type. The habit of Gambel oak within ponderosa pine-Gambel oak habitat types corresponds to the overall density of ponderosa pine. In dense ponderosa pine stands, Gambel oak is sparse and short; stems are taller and clumped in open stands [144]. At an elevation range of 8,000 to 8,600 feet (2,440-2,620 m) in Arizona, Gambel oak is subdominant to ponderosa pine with southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) [20]. On heavier-textured soils in Colorado, serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.) is an important associate [185]. 

Published classifications listing Gambel oak as an indicator or dominant are listed below:

A classification of forest habitat types of the northern portion of the Cibola National Forest, New Mexico [3]
A classification of forest habitat types of the Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico [4]
Douglas-fir habitat types of northern Arizona [5]
Classification of the forest vegetation of Colorado by habitat type and community type [6]
Forest Vegetation on National Forests in the Rock Mountain and Intermountain Regions: habitat and community types [7]
Forest vegetation of the Medicine Bow National Forest in southwestern Wyoming: a habitat classification [8]
Classification of the forest vegetation on the National Forests of Arizona and New Mexico [9]
Climax forest series of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado [49]
Forest habitat types south of the Mogollon Rim, Arizona and New Mexico [50]
A classification of forest habitat types of northern new Mexico and southern Colorado [51]
Forest habitat types in the Apache, Gila and part of the Cibola National Forests, Arizona and New Mexico [70]
Grassland, shrubland and forestland habitat types of the White River-Arapaho National Forest [99]
Forest vegetation of the Routt National Forest in Northwestern Colorado: a habitat classification [103]
Forest vegetation of the Gunnison and parts of the Uncompahgre National Forests: a preliminary habitat type classification [117]
Forest and woodland habitat types (plant associations) of northern New Mexico and northern Arizona [129]
A classification of spruce-fir and mixed conifer habitat types of Arizona and New Mexico [146]
Aspen community types of Utah [148]
A classification of forest habitat types: southern Arizona and portions of the Colorado Plateau [149]
Plant associations (habitat types) of the forests and woodlands of Arizona and New Mexico [191]
A management-oriented classification of pinyon-juniper woodlands of the Great Basin [211]
Forest habitat types on the Medicine Bow National Forest, southeastern Wyoming: preliminary report [215]
Coniferous forest habitat types of central and southern Utah [220]

Related categories for SPECIES: Quercus gambelii | Gambel Oak