California black oak (Q. kelloggii) Leaf print by Ida Geary

Researchers continue to seek to understand the mechanisms involved in oak regeneration for specific sites.

Parker, V.T. and M. Seidl, San Francisco State University. Ecophysiological responses of oak seedlings during establishment—the influence of mychorrhizae.

Zedler, P.H. and D. Lawson, San Diego State University. The effect of fire on seedlings and saplings of Engelmann oak and coast live oak.

Lathrop, E.W. and F.T. Griggs, Loma Linda University. Natural regeneration in the Engelmann oak phase of southern oak woodland.

Riggs, L.A. and C.I. Millar, GENREC. Genetic variability of California oak species—implications for regeneration on hardwood range.

Plumb, T.R. and N. Pillsbury, Cal Poly SLO. Oak woodland regeneration.

Rice, K., J. W. Menke, and J. Welker, UC Davis. Ecology and regeneration of hardwood rangelands—influences of water, herbivory, and competition on stability, productivity, and management options.

Research Area 2: Wildlife Habitat
A second area of concern which helped produce the IHRMP was the continuing loss of critical wildlife habitat. Two research projects have investigated the basic relationships between hardwoods and wildlife, emphasizing birds and other vertebrates. These studies have established the importance of hardwoods to many wildlife species and will lead to further evaluations of the effects of management. Future research in this area will build on previous studies, but will emphasize the influence of urbanization on wildlife habitat and species diversity, an area of crucial concern.

Projects:

Morrison, M.L. and W.M. Block, UC Berkeley, Wildlife-habitat relationships in oak woodlands of California.

Noon, B. and J. Waters, An investigation of the breeding habitat of cavity nesting birds in a hardwood range habitat.

Research Area 3: Changes in Land use
Funding in this area by CDF.

Research Area 4: Management Alternatives
A key to successful hardwood conservation is maintaining the economic potential of the land. Most hardwood land is privately owned and has been historically used for livestock production, an industry with low profitability. The development of alternative management strategies to improve economic efficiency can help reduce pressures for conversion and also lead to more flexibility, which can then allow management for oak regeneration and for wildlife habitat diversity.

A study by Dennis investigated alternative but non-traditional management strategies, including fuelwood plantations, specialized livestock production practices, and recreation development. Standiford and Howitt worked out an economic model for more traditional land uses, while Fitzhugh and Loomis investigated the expanding alternative of fee-hunting operations. Frost and Duncan worked on the development of livestock production practices compatible with oak regeneration. These studies have provided the economic and management information needed for developing and testing alternatives for traditional systems as well as improving overall economic efficiency.

Projects:

Dennis, N. Jones and Stokes. Alternative management strategies for hardwood range.

Frost, W. and D. Duncan, Cal State Fresno. Overstory canopy effects on forage production and utilization, and on soil characteristics on hardwood rangeland.

Standiford, R. and R. Howitt, UC Berkeley. Development of ranch model of California’s hardwood rangelands.

Fitzhugh, E.L. and J.B. Loomis, UC Davis. Price structures at big game hunting clubs in California.

Summary
The largest share of the research effort has been put into regeneration. This effort has paid off. We now understand the process of stand development and regeneration much better, an understanding sufficient to have developed successful artificial regeneration techniques which are now being applied. Understanding of natural regeneration and the causes for success and failure has come more slowly, and will require a few additional years of research. We now understand basic relationships between hardwoods and vertebrate species, but still need to evaluate the impacts of mitigation, development, and management on those species. Alternative management strategies have been evaluated, with good management and economic models developed for the first time for hardwood rangelands. Evaluation of the impacts of these alternative strategies required development of demonstrations and further evaluation. In conjunction with the research projects, several sites for demonstration of results have been put in place.

Valley oak (Q. lobata) Leaf print by Ida Geary

Future Work
The Policy Advisory Committee to the IHRMP met in the spring of 1989 to review research progress and to prioritize future research efforts. $205,000 will be spent on research in fiscal year 1989-90. Of this amount, $69,000 will be spent on continuation of existing projects. The remaining $136,000 will be used to fund new projects in the coming fiscal year. The research areas to be initiated in the coming year are shown below:

Scott, T.A., UC Riverside. The effects of urbanization on wildlife.

Duncan, D.A., Private Consultant. Effects of urbanization on wildlife in a large subdivision in the blue oak type in Madera County.

Byrne, R., E. Edlund, and S. Mensing, UC Berkeley. Long-term changes in structure and extent of oak vegetation types.

Riggs, L.A., GENREC. Genetic architecture and ecotypic variation in oaks.

McBride, J.R., and A. Mossadegh, UC Berkeley. Ecotypic variation in blue oak.

Dahlgren, R.A., M. Firestone, M.J. Singer, UC Davis and Berkeley. Nutrient cycling in managed oak woodland-grass ecosystems.