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Wildlife, Animals, and Plants
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Introductory
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
ABBREVIATION :
QUEPUN
SYNONYMS :
Quercus undulata Torr. var. pungens Engelm. [2]
SCS PLANT CODE :
QUPU
QUPUV
COMMON NAMES :
sandpaper oak
Vasey shin oak
scrub oak
TAXONOMY :
The currently accepted scientific name of sandpaper oak is Quercus
pungens Liebm. It is a member of the beech family (Fagaceae) [17]. In
addition to the typical variety, there is one recognized variety, Vasey
shin oak (Q. p. var. vaseyana [Buckl.] C. H. Muller) [10,27,35].
Sandpaper oak hybrizes with gray oak (Quercus grisea) in the Guadalupe
Mountains of New Mexico and Texas [37].
This report presents information for both sandpaper and Vasey shin oaks.
Information applicable to both is presented under sandpaper oak. When
publications specifically used Vasey shin oak, the information is
presented under that name.
LIFE FORM :
Tree, Shrub
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS :
No special status
OTHER STATUS :
NO-ENTRY
COMPILED BY AND DATE :
Diane S. Pavek, November 1993
LAST REVISED BY AND DATE :
NO-ENTRY
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION :
Pavek, Diane S. 1993. Quercus pungens. In: Remainder of Citation
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION :
Sandpaper and Vasey shin oaks are widespread throughout the Edwards
Plateau and Trans-Pecos region of Texas. Scattered, isolated
populations continue southward into the state of Tamaulipas and proceed
westward into Chihuahua, Mexico [10,21,27]. Populations of sandpaper
oak extend northward into the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas [16,21] and
westward to the mountains of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern
Arizona [17]. Sandpaper oak has been reported from southern Colorado
[4]; however, Harrington [14] was unable to locate any specimens
supporting this range extension.
ECOSYSTEMS :
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral - mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon - juniper
FRES21 Ponderosa pine
STATES :
AZ NM TX MEXICO
ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS :
BIBE CACA CORO FOBO GUMO
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS :
7 Lower Basin and Range
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS :
K019 Arizona pine forest
K023 Juniper - pinyon woodland
K031 Oak - juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna
SAF COVER TYPES :
66 Ashe juniper - redberry (Pinchot) juniper
67 Shin (Mohrs) oak
235 Cottonwood - willow
237 Interior ponderosa pine
239 Pinyon - juniper
240 Arizona cypress
241 Western live oak
242 Mesquite
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES :
NO-ENTRY
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES :
Sandpaper oak occurs with true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus)
and desert ceanothus (Ceanothus greggii) as a dominance type in the
chaparral formations in the Guadalupe Mountains, Texas [9,26] and the
montane chaparral of the Chihuahuan Desert region [15]. Sandpaper oak
is a characteristic member of juniper (Juniperus spp.)-oak (Quercus
spp.) communities and intermixes with desert scrub savanna in the
canyons of central and western Texas [8,33]. In Texas sandpaper or
Vasey shin oaks are a dominant or characteristic species in the Mohr
shin oak (Quercus mohriana) series, oneseed juniper (Juniperus
monosperma) series, and sandpaper oak-true mountain-mahogany series [33].
Sandpaper or Vasey shin oaks are dominant species in the following
publications:
(1) Vegetation and community types of the Chihuahuan Desert [15]
(2) Plant communities of Texas (Series level) [33].
Several species that were not previously included in Distribution and
Occurrence information but occur with sandpaper oak are cane cholla
(Opuntia imbricata), purplefruited pricklypear (O. phaecantha), Mexican
buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa), Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana), hairy
tridens (Erioneuron pilosum), and plateau oak (Quercus fusiformis)
[7,8,9,22].
VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE :
The oaks of Arizona, which includes sandpaper oak, rarely grow large
enough to use as timber. The wood may be used locally for fuel and
fence posts [17].
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE :
Vasey shin oak is lightly grazed in Texas by cattle, sheep, goats, and
white-tailed deer [6].
PALATABILITY :
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE :
Vasey shin oak acorns have a high food value, and its leaves have a
medium food value for white-tailed deer in the Rolling Plains and the
Edwards Plateau of Texas [5]. Actively growing Vasey shin oak sprouts
are nutritious, with a crude protein content of about 13 to 17 percent [29].
COVER VALUE :
Vasey shin oak has high cover value, providing escape and thermal cover
for white-tailed deer [5].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES :
NO-ENTRY
OTHER USES AND VALUES :
NO-ENTRY
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Vasey shin oak, live oak (Quercus virginiana), and Ashe juniper
(Juniperus ashei) have invaded savannas on the Edwards Plateau in Texas
due to suppressed fires and overgrazing [19,22,29]. Mechanical methods
and herbicides have successfully controlled Vasey shin oak [22,30,31].
Vasey shin oak breaks at ground level when chained and sprouts 1 year
later, providing important forage for white-tailed deer. Intense
browsing of the sprouts will kill Vasey shin oak [29].
Browse biomass estimates of Vasey shin oak from various regression
formulae have been evaluated for predictive ability. Log-log models
accounted for the most variability in Vasey shin oak samples at Sonora,
Texas [6].
Poisoning by sandpaper or Vasey shin oak was not described in the
literature, but oak poisoning of cattle, horses, sheep, and goats is a
problem on some rangelands in the southwestern United States. Poisoning
occurs when oak foliage or acorns are exclusively consumed, which may
happen in the spring when other food is scarce [18,24].
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS :
Sandpaper oak is a native, evergreen to subevergreen shrub or
medium-size tree [10,27]. It grows 3.3 to 6.6 feet (1-2 m) tall as a
shrub and to 26 feet (8 m) tall as a tree [11]. The thick, simple,
coarsely toothed leaves are 3.5 inches (9 cm) long [10,27]. Female
catkins produce 1 to 3 flowers; male catkins have numerous flowers.
Fruits are solitary or paired acorns [35] about 0.4 inch (1 cm) long
[10,17].
Vasey shin oak has shallowly lobed leaves [27] and larger (up to 0.9 inch
[2.2 cm]) acorns than sandpaper oak [11].
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM :
Phanerophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES :
Sexual reproduction: Sandpaper oak is monoecious. Acorns are produced
annually [10,35]. No information was found in the literature on seed
germination requirements. However, the other southwestern oaks (Quercus
spp.) have no seed dormancy. Most germination occurs within 30 days
after acorns drop from the trees [23].
On the Edwards Plateau in Texas Vasey shin oak occurs as individuals or
clumps in a semiarid grassland. A seedbank study was done, but plots
were specifically chosen to exclude woody plants. Woody species were a
minimum of 30 feet (10 m) from the plots. No Vasey shin oak germinated
in the plots [19].
Asexual reproduction: Vasey shin oak readily sprouts following
topgrowth removal [29].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS :
Sandpaper oak is found in gravelly or rocky soils [2] that are often
shallow (less than 9.8 inches [25 cm] deep) [29,33]. Soil texture may
be stoney clay [30]. Sandpaper oak grows on middle to upper slopes and
in lower canyons of desert mountains [11,15,27] and along arroyos [35].
Sandpaper oak occurs in open shrublands on dry sites or in closed canopy
woodlands on more moist sites [33].
Sandpaper oak is found in semiarid to subhumid climates with hot
summers and mild winters [30]. It occurs at moderate elevations from
3,500 to 6,000 feet (1,067-1,829 m) [2,10,27,33].
Vasey shin oak has been classified as an edaphic specialist limited to
limestone [25]. Sandpaper oak occurs on but is not restricted to
calcareous soils derived from limestone [11].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS :
Obligate Climax Species
Sandpaper oak occurs in climax oak woodlands or chaparral and
oak-juniper communities. In Texas the mixed-grass prairie has been
replaced by oak-juniper disclimax. Vasey shin oak, plateau oak, and
Ashe juniper have increased due to fire suppression and overgrazing
[29].
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT :
Sandpaper oak flowers in late spring. Fruits mature the first autumn
after flowering [2]. The leaves persist 1 year until new leaves are
produced [2]; however, they may drop in late winter [6,11].
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS :
Sandpaper oak is present as a low-growing form in desert grassland of
southeastern Arizona. Benson and Darrow [2] speculated that these small
trees were possibly the survivors of repeated ancient or recent fires.
Oaks generally survive low intensity fast fires [23]. Fire return
intervals in the oak woodlands are longer than in the past due to fire
suppression and fuel removal by overgrazing [36].
All of the oaks of Arizona, which includes sandpaper oak, sprout
prolifically following top-kill by fire [23].
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY :
Tree with adventitious-bud root crown/soboliferous species root sucker
Tall shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT :
Fire top-kills sandpaper and Vasey shin oaks; surviving plants are
stimulated to sprout [7]. Unburied acorns are probably killed by fire.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT :
NO-ENTRY
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE :
The responses of sandpaper or Vasey shin oaks to fire were not found in
the literature. Because sandpaper oak sprouts vigorously following
removal of top growth, recovery should be fairly rapid, similar to the
response of other southwestern oaks that sprout (e.g., Emory oak
[Quercus emoryi]) [36]. Site factors will influence the length of time
required to achieve prefire crown cover. Potentially, the postfire
community could be more dense from sandpaper oak sprouting than the
original community. If establishment depends on off-site seed, rates of
recovery will vary depending on the proximity of seed trees and animal
facilitation.
DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE :
NO-ENTRY
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS :
Prescribed burning is recommended to open up dense Ashe juniper stands
and to encourage Vasey shin oak, other shin oaks (Quercus spp.), and
plateau oak to sprout [1,7].
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Quercus pungens | Sandpaper Oak
REFERENCES :
1. Armstrong, W. E. 1980. Impact of prescribed burning on wildlife. In:
White, Larry D., ed. Prescribed range burning in the Edwards Plateau of
Texas: Proceedings of a symposium; 1980 October 23; Junction, TX.
College Station, TX: Texas Agricultural Extension Service, The Texas A&M
University System: 22-26. [11430]
2. Benson, Lyman; Darrow, Robert A. 1981. The trees and shrubs of the
Southwestern deserts. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.
[18066]
3. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
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for whte-tailed deer in south and west Texas. In: Lutz, R. Scott;
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7. Bryant, F. C.; Launchbaugh, G. K.; Koerth, B. H. 1983. Controlling
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8. Bryant, Vaughn B., Jr. 1974. Late quaternary pollen records from the
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Index
Related categories for Species: Quercus pungens
| Sandpaper Oak
|
 |
