Home >> Science & Nature >> Nature

The Effects of Southern Red Oak on the Ecosystem

Southern red oak (Quercus falcata) is among the numerous species of oak native to the southeastern U.S. It ranges from eastern Texas and Oklahoma to the Atlantic Coast, and from southern Illinois and New York to the northern quarter of Florida. Common on ridge tops and upland flats, but reaching its maximum development in riparian forests, this sharp-lobed tree, often 50 to 80 feet tall, plays an important ecological role.

Forest Communities
- Southern red oak is a member of several distinct forest communities that help define ecosystems in the Piedmont and Atlantic-Gulf Coastal Plain. The tree often grows in scattered fashion in the beautiful pine-oak woodlands and savannas that describe so much of the landscape in the Southeast. For example, it is among the oak species commonly associated with Virginia and shortleaf pines on dry uplands. It appears more occasionally in woodlands dominated by loblolly pine and longleaf pine, as well as hardwood-defined communities of swamp chestnut oak, cherrybark oak and post oak. Many of these ecological landscapes are prone to wildfire, which helps maintain their open character and the resilience of pines and oaks over more shade-tolerant but less fire-resistant hardwoods.
Acorns
- Among the southern red oak's chief contributions to its ecosystem are its seeds, which, like other oaks, come encased in capped acorns. The roundish acorns of this species tend to be a half-inch or so in length and sport a relatively narrow rufous cup. A host of animal species relish these fruits, the ripening and fall of which occur in autumn as part of the important seasonal event of the mast, or tree-fruit, crop. Songbirds, wild turkeys, eastern gray and fox squirrels, quail, white-tailed deer and feral hogs are among the creatures that will nibble on southern red oak acorns.
Habitat
- A mother black bear might send her cubs up a southern red oak at the sign of danger.
  
  Southern red oak is a large, stout tree that also exerts an ecological influence as wildlife habitat. A cavity-nesting bird like a pileated woodpecker or red-bellied woodpecker might bore out brooding quarters in the trunk, particularly of a standing dead snag. A great horned owl, meanwhile, might utilize the crook of an oak's upper branches for its late-winter nest--or adopt one pre-constructed by a crow or red-tailed hawk. A black bear sow may run her cubs up a southern red oak in an open woodland if she senses the presence of an adult male bear in the vicinity.
Other Effects
- Southern red oaks also perform other ecological functions common to trees of all species. At the fringe of a grove they help shunt wind up and over the treetops, encouraging stiller air in the heart of the timber to create a particular microenvironment. Their roots help stabilize soil, while their respiration and photosynthetic activities affect carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the atmosphere.

Nature