Southeast and East Asia may be famous for towering dipterocarps or massive conifers, but a new report highlights that the region is also home to more threatened oak species than anywhere else in the world. “While it may not be the region that first comes to mind when we think of oaks, it’s a really important region for oak biodiversity and as a result, oak conservation,” study author Kate Good, a research manager at The Morton Arboretum, told Mongabay in an interview. There are 430 oak species globally and 172 of those occur within Southeast Asia and East Asia. Researchers examined 54 threatened or data deficient oak species found in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Timor-Leste, Korea, Japan and Taiwan. “Many of these species are under dire threat,” Good said. The report found that 46 of 54 oak species surveyed faced “very high” or “high” human pressure in over 50% of their range in 2024. “One of the goals of this report was to really raise the alarm about the urgent need for oak conservation in Asia,” she said. Expansion of agriculture, notably wood and pulp plantations, is a major threat to two-thirds of the species analyzed in the report. Oil palm and rubber plantations also pose a threat, Good said. Other threats identified include small population sizes, ongoing infrastructure and urban development, and climate change. Acorns of the Quercus austrocochinchinensis oak tree, a critically endangered species. Conservation efforts should include collection and propagation of acorns…This article was originally published on Mongabay

From Conservation news via This RSS Feed.