Planted blue oaks may need help to survive in Southern Sierras

Competition from annual herbaceous plants is one of many factors inhibiting establishment of blue oaks in California. Other factors include drought and large and small mammal depredation; gophers are a particularly serious threat to the seedling's emergence and survival. To measure the impact of these and other factors, a series of studies compared the emergence and survival of directly seeded acorns and 2-month-old nursery stock. Results show that careful site selection, control of competition, and protection from mammal predators may all be needed to promote success of restocking programs on California rangelands.