Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) is frequently used for species demography, evolution, and species discrimination of plants. However, the lack of efficient and universal markers often brings particular challenges for genetic studies across different plant groups. In this study, chloroplast genomes from two closely related species (Quercus rubra and Castanea mollissima) in Fagaceae were compared to explo...

The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), is an introduced defoliator that preferentially feeds on oaks, Quercus spp. (Fagaceae) in the north-eastern USA. As the gypsy moth expands its geographic range, the extensive oak component in forests and urban environments of the USA assure its successful establishment. Given their economic and ecological importance, and the gyp...

About 12 miles to the northeast of Carrizozo lies the “ghost town” of White Oaks. This once thriving mining community rests in a small valley surrounded by three wrinkled and rounded mountain peaks: the remains of a ancient cluster of laccoliths (see attached Figure 1). To the northwest lies Lone Mountain with its associated peak, Baxter Mountain, while to the southeast lies Patos Mountain and ...

Although prolonged seed retention, or serotiny, is believed to be an adaptation to highly variable environments such as the Mediterranean regions of California, no prior study has systematically investigated the prevalence of seed retention among California oaks (family Fagaceae), the dominant woody taxon in California foothill woodlands. We quantified the extent to which acorns were retained i...

Two aspects of the genetics of floral traits in Aquilegia have been studied: flower color and flower development. A recent comparative study showed that species that did not produce floral anthocyanins (the red and blue pigments in most flowers) also had significantly lower expression levels for multiple genes needed to produce the pigments. However, crossing studies suggest that a single gene ...

Frelich, Lee E.; Reich, Peter B.; Peterson, David W. 2015. Fire in upper Midwestern oak forest ecosystems: an oak forest restoration and management handbook. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-914. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 64 p. We reviewed the literature to synthesize what is known about the use of fire to maintain and restore oak f...

In historically open-canopied and fire-dependent upland oak (Quercus spp.) forests of the central eastern United States, fire exclusion is contributing to an increase in competing non-oak tree species that are often shade-tolerant fire-sensitive. As these encroach abundance declines, becoming denser will likely become cooler, moister, less flammable through a hypothesized feedback loop termed m...

The California Oak Disease and Arthropod (CODA) host index database is a compilation of information on agents that colonize or feed on oaks in California. Agents in the database include plant-feeding insects and mites, nematodes, microorganisms, viruses, and abiotic disease agents. CODA contains summarized information on hosts, agents, information sources, and the details of the host-agent inte...

Potential insect vectors for transmission of oak leaf scorch caused by Xylella fastidiosa Wells et al., in pin and red oaks in New Jersey were surveyed by placing yellow sticky card traps in tree canopies and fogging with pyrethrin insecticide during 2002-2006. Thirty-seven Cicadomorpha species were collected from 20 genera in Membracidae, Cicadellidae, Aphrophoridae, and Clastopteridae. Of th...