VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Quercus velutina | Black Oak 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
The wood of black oak, which is light brown with a nearly white sapwood,
is sold as "red oak" and used for furniture, flooring, and interior
finishing [25,56].  It is also used for barrels and railroad ties [61].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Black oak acorns provide food for numerous wildlife species including
squirrels, mice, voles, white-tailed deer, and wild turkey.  In
Illinois, fox squirrels have been seen feeding on black oak catkins [56].
Black oak has a high cavity value for wildlife [15].  Trunk cavities in
live black oaks were important nest sites for the northern flicker on
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts.  Mean nest height was approximately 3.3
feet (1 m) above the ground [43].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Black oak acorns are 5.7 percent crude protein, 17.5 percent crude fat,
0.19 percent calcium, and 0.10 percent phosphorus [58].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Black oak naturally regenerated on abandoned lead-zinc mine sites in
Wisconsin and Iowa.  The soil has high concentrations of lead and zinc,
but soil pH is not very low [9].  Minor amounts of black oak were
planted on Indiana surface mines between 1928 and 1975 [10], but its
success on these sites has not been documented in the literature.


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
The bark of black oak contains enough tannin to make commercial
extraction worthwhile.  A yellow dye, suitable for coloring natural
fibers, can be obtained by boiling the inner bark [28].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Forest managers have noticed a decrease in black oak frequency in newly
regenerated stands after clearcutting, especially on good sites.  The
reason for the decrease is the inability of oak seedlings to compete
successfully with faster growing species in the absence of fire.  Oak
seedlings that are repeatedly top-killed develop well-developed root
systems, and the sprouts (advance regeneration) grow faster than true
seedlings and are better able to compete successfully.  To regenerate
oaks successfully, advance regeneration must be 4 to 5 feet (1.2-1.5 m)
tall before the overstory is removed.  Successful regeneration of a
mixed oak forest can be accomplished by clearcutting only if there are
adequate numbers of large advance regeneration [56].  Otherwise, a
shelterwood silviculture system is recommended in order to allow advance
oak regeneration to grow [55,56].

In a study designed to determine the optimum light levels necessary for
shelterwood regeneration, there was no significant difference in black
oak diameter and height growth between 20 and 94 percent transmission of
full light.  Black oak diameter and height growth was poor under 8
percent of full light, which is similar to uncut stands.  It was
recommended that shelterwoods be cut to permit 20 to 60 percent light
transmission [20].

In a shelterwood cut in Arkansas, understory control (cutting of nonoak
stems and spraying stumps with 2,4-D and picloram immediately after
cutting) resulted in an increase in the number of black oak, white oak
(Quercus alba), and northern red oak regeneration in the 1.1 to 5 foot
(0.3-1.5 m) height class and the over 5 foot (> 1.5 m) class [21].  The
application of nitrogen fertilizer in a shelterwood cut did not
stimulate the growth of black oak, white oak, or northern red oak
advance regeneration.  The fertilizer may have even decreased the
drought tolerance of oaks.  During a drought in 1980, more seedlings
died on fertilized plots than on nonfertilized plots [22].

The use of a shelterwood system does not guarantee the continued
regeneration of black oak.  On a sandy loam site in Michigan, black oak,
which formed two-thirds of the original stand, was reduced 50 percent
during the 20-year period following the initiation of a shelterwood
harvest.  While the shelterwood system was better for oak regeneration
than group or single tree selection systems, the regenerated stand will
have more red maple (Acer rubrum), black cherry (Prunus serotina),
sassafras (Sassafras albidum), dogwood (Cornus spp.), and hickory (Carya
spp.) and less black oak than the original stand [55].

Once black oak is regenerated on a site, thinning of a stand can
increase the growth of remaining trees.  Thirty-two-year-old black oaks
showed 10 to 12 years of increased differential diameter growth after
thinning [14].  

Black oak is susceptible to a number of diseases and insects.  Oak wilt,
caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum, is a vascular disease that
is spread by sap-feeding beetles (Nitidulidae spp.), oak bark beetle
(Pseudopityophthorus minutissimum), and natural root grafts.  The tree
usually dies within several weeks after the symptoms of wilting,
bronzing, and premature leaf defoliation appear [56].

Gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar), an introduced species, defoliates black
oak, and two or three successive defoliations can kill a tree.  It is
potentially the most destructive insect to black oak [56].

Black oaks that are stressed from drought, gypsy moth defoliation, old
age, fire, poor site conditions, or other factors often succumb to
secondary agents such as twolined chestnut borer (Agrilus bilineatus),
Hypoxylon canker (Hypoxylon mammatum), and shoestring root rot
(Armillaria mellea).  This scenario, in which a primary agent stresses
the tree and a secondary agent kills it, is known as "oak decline" and
is responsible for considerable black oak mortality.  For instance,
between 1911 and 1921, 46 percent of black oaks in coastal regions of
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine died when gypsy moth defoliation
and drought was followed by twolined chestnut borer and shoestring root
rot attack [44].  Based on site factors, a general stand classification
of mortality risk from oak decline has been developed [60].

Foliage diseases include anthracnose (Gnomonia quercina), leaf blister
(Taphrina spp.), powdery mildews (Phyllactinia corylea and Microsphaera
alni), oak-pine rusts (Cronartium spp.), and leaf spots (Actinopelte
dryina).  A root rot, Phytophthora cinnamomi, kills seedlings in
nurseries.  Strumella spp. and Nectria spp. cause bole cankers [56].

Tunneling insects that attack black oak boles include carpenterworm
(Prionoxystus robiniae), red oak borer (Enaphalodes rufulus), oak
timberworm (Arrhenodes minutes), and Columbian timber beetle (Corthylus
columbianus).  Oakleaf caterpillar (Heterocampa manteo), orange
striped oakworm (Anisota senatoria), and browntail moth (Euproctis
chrysorrhoea) defoliate black oak.  Acorns are damaged by nut weevils
(Curculio spp.), gall-forming cynipids (Callirhytis spp.), filbertworm
(Melissopus latiferreanus), and acorn moth (Valentinia glandulella)
[56].  

Black oaks that had recently invaded a prairie in Illinois were
successfully removed by cutting stems (mostly smaller than 4 inches
[10.2 cm] in d.b.h.) and painting stumps with 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T mixed
with fuel oil to prevent sprouting [32].

Related categories for Species: Quercus velutina | Black Oak