VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Quercus oblongifolia | Mexican Blue Oak 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Mexican blue oak has hard, strong wood that is brittle and heavy
[26,44].  The wood checks severely when drying [6].  It is used in small
amounts for fuel and furniture production [20].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Mexican blue oak provides food and cover for livestock and wildlife.  It
is browsed by white-tailed and mule deer [1,38].  In the Pusch Ridge
Wilderness, Arizona, Mexican blue oak is a major browse species for
bighorn sheep [29].  Acorns are consumed by cattle and wildlife such as
deer, collared peccary, squirrels, and other rodents [12,21,30].
Numerous amphibians and reptiles use the communities in which Mexican
blue oak occurs [28].


PALATABILITY : 
Mexican blue oak leaves are highly palatable yearlong to white-tailed
and mule deer [43].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
The habitat in which Mexican blue oak is dominant provides important
cover for mule deer [2].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
On the lower slopes of Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, Mexican blue
oak is codominant with Emory oak in a mixed oak woodland.  In this
community ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) has very low primary
productivity per year (5.7 mg/ha/yr) [18].  These woodlands are
noncommercial and have low net primary productivity [19].  Biomass and
volume equations have been developed for Mexican blue oak stand
assessments [10,11,14].

In open oak woodlands or savannas where Mexican blue oak occurs, oak
establishment should increase if grasses are preferentially consumed by
livestock [31].

In Arizona riparian woodlands at lower elevations, Mexican blue oak has
about 10 to 20 percent canopy cover [33].  At elevations where it is a
community dominant, Mexican blue oak has a density of 9.3 stems per acre
(23 stems/ha) and frequency of 21 percent.  At higher elevations it has
densities of 1.2 to 2.8 (rarely 8) stems per acre (3-7 [rarely 20]
stems/ha) and frequency of 9 percent [31].

Mexican blue oak is susceptible to the wood-decay fungus Inonotus
andersonii.  In the beginning stages of infection rotted branches drop
off, creating cavities which provide habitat for cavity nesting birds
and other wildlife.  Advanced decay results in the death of older trees
[48].

Related categories for Species: Quercus oblongifolia | Mexican Blue Oak