Join the California OakWatch Project
Oaks are vital to supporting biodiversity, but many are in crisis–help us map where they are, especially young oaks! Globally, ⅓ of oaks are vulnerable–in California, that number jumps to nearly ½. Changes in land use and climate contribute to reductions in oak numbers. In many areas, oaks struggle to reproduce, and knowing where seedlings and saplings are is crucial information. This project collects data on oaks native to the California Floristic Province, with a particular focus on young plants.
About
Oaks are messy, but we love them. They hybridize, resprout, and change their leaves depending on herbivory or other stress–so it’s tough to identify them even with good photos! We’ll be posting some identification tips and guides in the coming weeks, but for now are asking for the following:
1) Habitat shot showing oak in context (with an indication of height)
© sea-kangaroo (@sea-kangaroo), some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-ND)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/27870963
2) Close-up of twig (color is important in identification)
© Rebekah Shane (@bexicle777), some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121421917
3) Macro-level shot of upper and underside of leaf (to see the hairs/trichomes), with scale if possible
© docprt (@docprt), some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/107266581
4)Photo of leaf with margin, so we can see waviness, inrolling, etc–also with scale if possible
© JoeJoe Clark (@lilyboy), some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/121168795
5)Add tag, note, or a field on tree life stage: seedling, sapling, mature, resprout, seed
https://www.inaturalist.org/observation_fields/15277
click on the video below to see how to add an observation field to an observation!
6)Put height estimate in notes
If you have young trees with older trees around, make another observation for mature tree with acorn cups
© Mari Villa (@marivillasol) , some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/80325938
You may find it helpful to have a clip-on macro lens and ruler with you, and know that cameras focus in on flesh not leaves so sometimes putting your hand in the picture helps. Here are some other tips and tricks:
Southern Grassland Initiatives: How to Photograph Plants Guide |
https://www.segrasslands.org/recording-species-in-inat-website
UCOaks: Oak Tree Species ID & Ecology |
https://oaks.cnr.berkeley.edu/oak-tree-species-id-ecology/
We’re using height as a proxy for life stage, with seedlings shorter than knee height and saplings below shoulder height, but resprouts can confound that. Resprouts are a separate category–and should be recorded as such. A good indication of resprouting is if they are clustered at the base of an oak trunk or stump!
Jose Esparza, no rights reserved (CC0)
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/120347009
You are tagged in this post because you are among some of the top identifiers and observers of Quercus in California. We hope you take part in this project. Feel free to share this with other Naturalists who you think would like to participate and don't forget to Join and Trust our California OakWatch project.
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Comentarios
This looks fantastic, thank you! I appreciate the guidance on important characters and look forward to seeing the guides. Thank you for setting this up!
I see in the project requirements that the observation must be in but observations at genus level are not included. When we are not sure of the species of the oak, or if there is a disagreement, what do you recommend?
This looks awesome!
I am excited about participating in this project! I love oaks! Oaks are such an incredibly important habitat -- each and every tree. Thank you for inviting me. I am in Sonoma County, and out in parks/lands every day. Is it okay for me to make observations every place I go, regardless of someone else already having visited and potentially recorded observations? Are there any specific species we should be keying-in on? Are there specific habitats or human-interaction places we should pay particular attention to (for instance, at a high-visitation level parkland where some oaks are becoming trampled or experiencing soil compaction around the trunk and under it's canopy? What are the date parameters for this project -- does it start NOW, and is there an end-date or goal? How can we coordinate with others in our immediate area and perhaps help cover more property by not overlapping? And finally, is this project coordinated with a UC project or a research project? Just curious. Thank you for taking the time to set up and support this project! Please reach out to me about Sonoma County if you like. Happy Oaking! -- Sarah Reid, @wildmare64 or email alphamaresr@gmail.com
Another question: will this data help with overlapping SOD data sets as well to help determine how the health of our oaks are faring under the onslaught of proven SOD, as a result of the official SOD Blitzes? I participated in SOD Blitz with SSU Center for Environmental Inquiry at the Galbreath Preserve. I still have my training materials for making observations.
Define "young" plants -- I am sure you will be covering this in an upcoming guide! :) Thank you @jaesparza11
@velodrome it was a tough call in whether to include/exclude genus or subgenus (Lobatae, eg) but after looking at the benefits--getting oaks people weren't certain of in the project--vs drawbacks--a lot of nonnative taxa included even if we filter out 'introduced'--we decided to exclude nonspecific oaks. It's easier for us to ask expert identifiers to "make the rounds" of oaks in California/particular areas of interest and help ID than to parse a bunch of oaks in the project.
It would be great to have folks make a guess and indicate uncertainty; one of the things we're hoping to do is teach enough about oak characteristics that people feel more comfortable putting forward a tentative id.
The way the project is set up now can be changed, so we can alter the requirements later to include them if our calculus is off!
@wildmare64 great questions!
We're estimating age from height, which is not great but the best metric we have--so seedling lower than knee height, sapling lower than shoulder height--right now those instructions are not with the photo instructions, so maybe we should re-order it but we'll have some additional training materials available soon.
Our work is coordinated with CNPS, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and the Morton Arboretum through the Global Conservation Consortium of Oaks. We'll add logos and partners soon, and do a bunch more outreach and trainings, but felt it was important to get the project started!
The primary impetus is tracking regeneration in some of the rare oaks, but that lack of regeneration has been noted in some of the more common ones too. We can use the data to understand where regeneration is or isn't happening and for which species/areas to target conservation and restoration, but also designed the project for broader use (such as combining with SODMapper data) or uses we haven't yet anticipated!
We set the project to "harvest" oak observations going back 10 years, and we haven't set an end date. Overlap with others isn't a bad thing, but making observations where there aren't any (or aren't any seedlings or saplings) is important! You can also go back and attribute old observations with life stage information, particularly if there are young or dead/dying oaks in the photos. That will help us parse out the information we want.
We'll likely be doing some targeted trainings and oak watching regionally, and will be sure to tag you in!
Thank you for the answers and comments @boschniakia ! One of my interest areas will include areas in the 2017 Tubb's/Nun's Fires and 2020 Glass Fire in Sonoma County, as these burns are places I frequent. I will work on recording seedlings and saplings that appear to be recovering from these massive fire events (none of these properties specific restore with plantings, so all would be natural wind/seed dispersal). I will make as many specific notes as possible in my observations to include the fire date data and where possible also indicate location of potential mother tree(s) especially if completely nuked by the fires. Fortunately, many of the largest Valley Oaks and Blue Oaks survived the fires. For these largest ones that I can, I will get trunk diameter measurements as well -- is there a best height from the ground to do this if there is not evidence of other trauma (like used as a fence-post or seriously scarred by human activity like truck/tractor/dozer)? I'm going to have to review my field math measurement techniques to guess the height of the larger mature trees! Also, if I observe severe trauma to a familiar tree -- such as large limb or trunk failure -- I will document that and refer to previous observation of the same individual. I think this can be indicative of our continuing drought conditions and tree failure. Thanks! I hope my observations can be of use. -- Sarah Reid @wildmare64
Looks great! I'm surprised there is no mention of acorns, and also their insides. :)
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