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Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks
Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks
Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks
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Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks

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Glimpse the marvels of these remarkable communities
LanguageEnglish
PublisherHeyday
Release dateAug 1, 2014
ISBN9781597143721
Secrets of the Oak Woodlands: Plants and Animals among California’s Oaks

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This books covers the plants & animals that make up an Oak Woodlands. It has a lot of detailed information on each of the inhabitants & the habitat, so much information that I could barely process most of it.As it was gifted to every Garden Docent, I know I'll be using the information in it for my tours, which makes it very useful.I did not really like the writing or the manner in which it was arranged, so I knocked it down 2 stars.

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Secrets of the Oak Woodlands - Kate Marianchild

content.

INTRODUCTION

Thirteen years ago I moved to a piece of land in Mendocino County that rustled, hummed, and sang with the sounds of wild things— snakes, crickets, coyotes, birds. The hills were studded with oaks— gnarled old trees as well as middle-aged and youthful ones—and a medley of companions—madrones, buckeyes, bays, toyons, and others.

I wandered on deer trails, ducked under old-growth manzanitas, and clambered around poison oak. I crouched by woodrat mansions and bounced on moss-covered limbs. Once I glued my binoculars for four hours on a screech owl perched in an oak hollow. Little did I know that soon I would be writing about the marvels I was encountering—lizards with third eyes, squirrels perfumed with eau d’rattler, and fungi that manage forests.

In the beginning I was interested mainly in birds. After learning to recognize most of the regulars, I was curious about more than their names. I wondered what foods they ate, what materials they gathered for their nests, and what plants they nested and slept in. Then I wanted to know about the plants—how were they pollinated, who dispersed their seeds, how did they protect themselves against herbivores? Such questions led to curiosity about ants, bees, butterflies, squirrels. Soon I was like a garden spider, alive to everything vibrating in the web around me.

It is not surprising that this oak woodland, where I still live, is so rich in life. Every year the oaks produce millions of nutrient-rich acorns (18 percent fat, 6 percent protein, and 68 percent carbohydrates) that directly and indirectly feed a myriad of animal species. Animals also make use of the flowers, leaves, twigs, branches, trunks, and roots of oaks for food, shelter, and foraging substrate. Standing dead trees and mature large trees of various species provide cavities for creatures ranging from salamanders and bats to owls and bears.

Poison oak flourishes in this woodland and feeds more than fifty species of birds with its berries and seeds. The mistletoe that dots the canopies of oaks and bays provides food and warmth for birds and mammals. Woodrat houses shelter hosts of uninvited guests who wouldn’t otherwise survive our dry summers. Cavities in downed trees are havens for opossums and raccoons. In fact, oak woodlands such as these are home to more species of plants and animals than any other terrestrial ecosystem in California.*

Twenty-two species of oaks grace the state of California, ranging in size from magnificent grandmother trees to knee-high shrubs. They are divided into three evolutionary lineages: white oaks, red oaks, and intermediate (or golden) oaks. In California, the best-known members of the white oak group are Oregon, valley, scrub, Engelmann, and (confusingly) blue oak. The most familiar red oaks are coast live, interior live, and black oak (also confusing), while the commonest member of the intermediate group is the canyon oak.

An oak woodland is officially defined as an oak stand in which at least 10 percent of the land is covered by oaks and other species, mostly hardwoods. Here, however, I include oak savannas (grassy expanses sparsely dotted with oaks), oak forests (where canopies overlap and species other than oaks may dominate), and edge habitats where oaks and chaparral meet.

This book focuses not on oaks but on plants and animals that live among them. (See the bibliography for several wonderful books about oaks themselves). I have written mostly about species that are visible during the day and that live in both northern and southern California. Some, such as woodrats and mistletoe, are considered keystone species because they have a large and positive impact on species diversity in proportion to their abundance. Others, like oak titmice and acorn woodpeckers, are iconic oak woodland characters. Still others—California newts and oak galls, for instance—are just plain fascinating. Some belong in all three categories. All have had to adapt to California’s unusual Mediterranean climate, with its long, dry, brutal summers and cool, moist winters.

I hope you will become as excited about oak woodlands as I am. Perhaps after reading this book you’ll kneel next to a woodrat mansion and wonder where the leaching room is. When you next see a newt, maybe you’ll tell your friends about coevolutionary arms races and three dead hunters. Above all, I hope this book will lure you into California’s oak woodlands to walk slowly or sit quietly, listening and looking until you start seeing, hearing, and wondering.

Oak Woodlands: Past, Present, and Future

Twelve to fifteen thousand years ago, humans began living among the oaks of the land we now call California. They harvested acorns, hunted animals that depended on oaks for food and cover, and gathered foods and other necessities from a variety of plants that lived among the oaks. To enrich their lives materially and spiritually and to care for their plant and animal relations, California Indians shaped and managed the land for thousands of years, selectively harvesting plants and carefully burning, pruning, sowing, tilling, weeding, and transplanting. By burning the understory and grasslands every few years, many tribes protected their homelands from catastrophic fires while reducing populations of acorn pests, improving germination of seeds, and opening vistas that afforded better hunting and easier access to plants.*

Unaware of the sophistication of native horticulturalists, early Europeans were amazed at the beauty of the untouched wilderness they discovered. After European Americans outlawed burning, removed tribes from their lands, disrupted their cultures, and killed people with guns and disease, Indian stewardship of the land all but ended. As a result, the oak woodlands of today look very different from those of 250 years ago. Gone are the vast fields of wildflowers, the bushes nearly breaking from the weight of berries, and the enormous herds of deer reported by early European Americans and remembered by the Native Californian elders. But even with the severe environmental impacts imposed by two hundred years of modern civilization, existing oak woodlands still reflect the profound influence of their first human stewards.*

Oaks are key to the character and legacy of California—its visual beauty, the vigor of its rivers and streams, the clarity of its air, the richness of its wildlife. To many people, oaks epitomize this state more than any other plant. Sadly, oaks have long been in trouble and they are now facing serious new challenges. Many ranchers and farmers, who historically thought of California’s oaks as weeds that stole water from crops, routinely chopped oaks down. The denuded lands were then colonized by non-native annual grasses that interfere with the regeneration of certain oak species, wildflowers, and other native plants.

In many places blue and Engelmann oaks are failing to regenerate, and populations of our magnificent valley oaks are declining as bottomlands are converted to farms, freeways, and suburban developments. Douglas-fir trees, which used to be kept in check by regular burning, are shading out oaks and their companion plants, transforming oak woodlands into dark fir forests that support far fewer plants and animals.

Another problem is Phytophthora ramorum, the fungus-like organism that causes sudden oak death. Since the early 1990s it has caused widespread devastation along the California coast, killing one million oaks and probably infecting another million. The invasive gold-spotted oak borer beetle, which is migrating north from San Diego County under the bark of firewood, is also killing large numbers of oaks.

Modern human development is probably the greatest overall threat. Millions of acres of oak woodlands have been cleared for agriculture, ranching, roads, cities, suburbs, and other human constructions. With California’s population expected to grow from 38 million in 2013 to 60 million by 2050, the 8.5 million acres that remain will be under severe pressure.† Eighty percent of California’s remaining oak woodlands are on privately owned land and have few legal protections.

If you feel inspired to protect oak woodlands, you will find many opportunities to help, both locally and nationally, via environmental groups, land trusts, land-use planning organizations, political initiatives, and more, as well as your own personal, land-based efforts. Only through the focused and widespread efforts of many people will future generations be able to breathe cleaner air, enjoy sweeter streams, and hear plenty of rustling, humming, and singing among the oaks.

Housekeeping Notes

Binoculars I refer frequently to close-focusing binoculars, marvelous tools that focus within eighteen inches of an object and are also effective at longer distances. They make it possible to see mind-boggling details on lizards, dragonflies, and other animals that would scurry or flit away if you got close to them with a hand lens. These binoculars transform flowers into wondrous microcosmic galaxies and require no bending or muddying of knees. Mine are lightweight, so I wear them simultaneously with my distance binoculars, which are better for viewing birds, mistletoe berries, and squirrel nests. Binocular harnesses are available that take the weight of heavy binoculars off your neck.

Ticks When you walk or camp in oak woodlands, please take measures to avoid ticks, whose bites can cause Lyme disease and other equally debilitating diseases. Guidelines for minimizing the chance of tick bites can be found at: www.lymedisease.org/pdf/protect_yourself.pdf (allow a few seconds for it to load).

Tick-borne diseases are widely under-diagnosed, misunderstood, and mistreated. They are far more common than statistics indicate, and if not caught early can become chronic and require years of expensive and time-consuming treatment with uncertain results. All Americans should familiarize themselves with the symptoms of the various tick-borne diseases, which can mimic many other diseases. Information on symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment is available at www.lymedisease.org and http://www.lymenet.org/BurrGuide200810.pdf.

Ecology Reference Guides The lists of species in the Ecology Reference Guides are hard-won. It is often maddeningly difficult to find out who eats what or who is eaten by whom. Many books and articles speak only in generalizations, such as Eats seeds and berries. I have made it my job to find the particular kinds of berries and seeds (or insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals as appropriate) whenever possible. It hasn’t always been possible, and you will sometimes see words as general as snakes or garter snakes (that don’t name the species). I have also unavoidably left many relevant species out entirely––either because they have not been recorded or because I missed them.

For most of my gleanings I have combed through books, journal articles, reliable websites, and blogs by reputable naturalists. In some cases I have resorted to online photographs or YouTube videos to confirm my hunches, searching with a leading phrase, such as California sister on buckeye flower. Some hunches have taken a ridiculous amount of time, and each confirmation has felt like a minor victory. My information on the insects eaten by birds and squirrels is scanty because everyone finds it difficult, even with binoculars, to tell what insect a bird has in its bill.

Conservation Status Listings Various organizations list the conservation status of plants and animals––ratings that indicate whether a species is threatened, endangered, of special concern, or on a watch list. For animal species, I have consulted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CADFW), the International Union of Concerned Scientists (IUCN), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Oregon and Washington Departments of Fish and Wildlife, the National Audubon Society’s 2007 WatchList, the American Bird Conservancy list, and the website Butterflies and Moths of North America. For plant species I have consulted the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. If you would like to see the shocking number of species listed as endangered, threatened, or of concern in California, search the comprehensive lists at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/biogeodata/cnddb/plants_and_animals.asp.

Become a Citizen Scientist! Citizen scientists––amateurs whose observations of the natural world help scientists piece together larger environmental patterns––are playing a critical role in determining changes in plant and animal populations worldwide. Professional scientists simply cannot put in enough hours in the field to keep track of everything that is happening in the environment, particularly in the face of accelerating climate change. Most of the knowledge we have of changing bird populations, for instance, comes from the Christmas Bird Count, a citizen-based program of the National Audubon Society. The CBC has been held every year since 1900.

Websites such as iNaturalist, eBird, and BugGuide now make it possible for ordinary people to share their observations with scientists as well as with other amateurs. These sites benefit participants by providing detailed online records of their observations and by connecting them with other knowledgeable naturalists who can help them identify species. Numerous subject-specific online programs, such as The Great Sunflower Project (for counting pollinators), Spider WebWatch, and Mountain Watch, also offer citizen science opportunities. Some provide cell phone applications that enable you to report observations, complete with longitude and latitude, on the spot. Organizations like the California Academy of Sciences organize species surveys that utilize citizen volunteers. The California Naturalist Program offers courses around the state that train ordinary people to become Certified California Naturalists equipped to educate people in their communities about native plants, animals, and ecosystems. They may also become voices for conservation when local or larger-scale environmental issues arise.

Citizen scientists are irreplaceable players in the fight to prevent extinctions, save endangered local populations, and mitigate global climate change.

_________

*   Over three hundred vertebrate species (birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals) and almost five thousand insect species. The intertidal zone, the watery interface between sea and land, hosts an even greater diversity of species.

*   M. Kat Anderson, Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources.

*   I believe humans may have been a keystone species in the California landscape during the millennia that California Indians cared for it.

†   No one knows exactly how many acres of oak woodlands existed before the Europeans arrived.

ACORN WOODPECKER

Melanerpes formicivorus     Family: Picidae

In Greek melas means black and erpo means to creep; in Latin formica means ant and voro means to devour; hence, creeping black bird that eats ants. In many California Indian languages, the acorn woodpecker’s name translates as red-headed woodpecker.

Highlights

Tight-knit clans · Unique communal acorn granaries · Storm prediction · Nest cavities, diapers · Flying ants and ACORNS · Extraordinary family structure · Lifelong group marriage · Nest sharing and egg eating · Cooperative childcare · Incest avoidance · Inter-clan warfare · Sibling-group rivalry · Bedtime shenanigans, imitation sex · Uses by Native Californians · Coyote and Woodpecker

Descending the steps of my yurt on a recent summer morning, * I approached a platform-style bird feeder that hung from a curved shepherd’s hook post. Four woodpeckers turned their clown heads to stare at me, calmly waiting until I was three feet away before flying off in a flash of black, white, and red.

A fall fledgling eyes acorns from an acorn granary limb.

Known as acorn woodpeckers, these colorful and hardworking folk are my closest neighbors. I don’t know when this particular clan first occupied our shared patch of earth and sky, but their ancestors arrived in what is now known as Mendocino County millions of years ago. Filling the air with boisterous laughter, resonant hammering, and flashy flights, they envelop me in such cheerful activity that I’m seldom lonely when I’m out of doors. A few years after moving here I was astonished to learn that these birds probably have the most complex social structure of any vertebrate species in the world––including humans.

Tight-knit clans, waka, waka, waka!

Acorn woodpeckers live in tight-knit clans consisting of two to sixteen individuals. Like many social birds, they aren’t shy about expressing themselves. Listen for raucous wakas ricocheting through oak woodlands, usually several times in quick succession. These calls, which can sound like laughter, mean Hello, hello, hello, or This territory is ours! Also tune your ears for the Karrit-cut call (Where is everybody? or What’s happening?) and other mellifluous utterances, such as Urrk and Garrick.

You are most likely to hear or see acorn woodpeckers in ecosystems that support at least two species of oaks, a habitat choice that ensures the birds a backup food supply in case the acorn crop of one species fails. The birds prefer oak or oak-pine woodlands with plenty of standing dead trees and dead limbs. Look for largish birds with clown-like heads. Their white-irised eyes are set in black cheeks and they have white foreheads and red caps; on females a wide black band separates the forehead and cap. When the birds fly you can’t miss their flashing white wing windows and rump patches.

Unique communal granaries

Once you have found an acorn woodpecker, glance around for a trunk, limb, telephone pole, or house peppered with finger-sized holes. With sharp eyesight or binoculars you may see the fat ends of glossy brown or green acorns peeping out. If so, you have found an acorn granary.

These food storage units, which may contain as many as fifty thousand acorns, are unique in the animal world. Several bird and mammal species cache nuts, but acorn woodpeckers are the only ones that drill an individual hole for each nut they stash. And unlike other acorn-hoarding animals, acorn woodpeckers do not individually own any of the acorns in the granary. Any member of the clan is welcome to eat any acorn from any hole at any time, no matter who put it there.

After a woodpecker tugs an acorn from an oak twig, it carries it in its bill to a granary tree––a hardwood such as an oak or a sycamore, or a thick-barked conifer. The bird tests the acorn for size in several holes before pounding it home, narrow end first. Home may be short-lived, however. Plump and juicy when they are first cached, acorns quickly dry and shrink, becoming loose enough to be teased out by

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