Viewing post #945981 by KentPfeiffer

wildflowers said:Yes, that is it - Post Oak, Q. stellata. This is a very old and large tree; there are a few very large trees in this area, some of them are starting to die off, not sure what the life expectancy is. Will have to look further.

Oak trees are starting to die off all over North America. The proximate causes vary from place to place and tree to tree, but the ultimate cause is that the way we generally manage woodlands these days isn't favorable to oaks. They were exquisitely adapted the type of management used by aboriginal people for thousands of years, frequent low intensity fires primarily.

The stands of oaks you see around today are mostly remnants from the past. Woodlands dominated by oaks will persist for some time to come, for the simple reason that individual trees can live a long time, but they are steadily fading off the landscape.