Threats & Opportunities
What role will you play in supporting oak and prairie ecosystems?
Oaks among agricultural fields in Yamhill County, Credit: Ed Alverson
Investing now in oak and prairie systems and species is critical.
We believe that fire and drought-tolerant ecosystems are essential to vibrant communities. Oak and prairie systems are icons of the Pacific Northwest landscape and are intrinsic to where and how people live, farm, and recreate. These habitats are rich in biodiversity and are a unique and vital ecosystem, but they are also slow-growing and under threat. Conserving them now is critical.
Threat Impact
Rural Residential Development
Threat Impact = Very High
The conversion of lands to rural residential use is irreversible—construction of homes and their associated infrastructure means the displacement or removal of plants and wildlife and leads to fragmented landscapes. Future development pressure is the highest in urban fringe areas and along transportation corridors where remnant oak and prairie habitats and associated species are often found.
Conversion to Vineyards, Orchards, and Commercial Tree Farms
Threat Impact = Very High
Wine grapes and fruit orchards thrive in the same spaces and soil types as oak trees. Vineyards, orchards, and Christmas tree farms are profitable and popular, with anticipated increases in demand that will exacerbate the current threat.
Conifer Encroachment and Fire Exclusion
Threat Impact = High
Fire suppression to protect infrastructure and timber investments has resulted in increased fuel loads, creating significant wildfire risk. Additionally, the near elimination of fire as a natural ecosystem process has allowed Douglas-fir and other conifers to grow tall enough to shade out oaks, resulting in oak mortality.
Non-Native Shrubs, Grasses, and Forbs
Threat Impact = Medium-high
Non-native invasive plants are widespread, resulting in loss of biodiversity and reduced habitat quality for pollinators, birds, and other wildlife. Aggressive invasive species pose significant challenges for management and restoration efforts in oak and prairie habitats and working lands farms.
Conversion and degradation are the two major threats to oak habitat.
With significant human population growth forecasted in the coming decades, the remaining habitat is at high risk from rural residential development, the establishment of new vineyards and orchards, conversion to commercial tree farms, and the development of other agricultural systems. Decline of habitat quality, caused by fire exclusion and suppression, conifer encroachment, incompatible livestock grazing, and invasive species also pose threats. Although land use planning laws and local development codes provide some minimal protections, these oak and prairie habitats will continue to decline without intervention and better landowner incentive programs.
Top Conservation Opportunities
BUILD
Ecosystem and Community Resilience
- Create a network of public, private, and tribal conservation lands that sustain functioning ecosystems across the landscape.
- Create more fire-resilient communities and fire-adapted ecosystems.
- Increase forest and soil carbon capture and sequestration through ecosystem restoration.
- Maintain biodiversity by protecting the ecological structure and composition of native oak and prairie plant communities.
- Increase local agriculture viability by connecting grazing strategies and landowner needs with habitat management objectives.
RECONNECT
People to Oak and Prairie
- Expand social, political, and financial support for conservation efforts.
- Help people connect to oak and prairie systems through recreation, education, stewardship, community science, and Indigenous lifeways.
INTEGRATE AND ADVANCE
Tribal Priorities
- Support and contribute to tribally-led conservation initiatives.
- Expand tribal natural resource capacity including tribally-led restoration workforces and capacity for cultural burning.
- Integrate ecocultural stewardship, including Indigenous knowledge, into conservation practice.
- Increase tribal access to ancestral homelands and culturally important resources through ownership and management agreements.