The Tale of Two Forests: Oak Management in Memphis’s Urban Forested Natural Areas

Management for oak (Quercus spp.) recruitment is difficult for many urban forested natural area managers (Piana et al., 2021a). A common theme in species composition of urban forested natural areas is dominance of oaks in the overstory with little to no oak regeneration (Pregitzer et al., 2019; Fahey et al., 2012). Developing urban silvicultural techniques that promote oak restoration that are also feasible at varying scales and socially acceptable has presented a challenge to managers (Piana et al., 2021b). The Memphis Botanic Garden and Overton Park Conservancy are combining their management and research efforts to improve understanding and management of oak recruitment in urban forested natural areas of the region.

In a nutshell, this resource offers:

• An introduction to forested natural areas in Memphis.
• A description of a study of oak recruitment.
• Management techniques for addressing oak recruitment.

How to use this resource:

• As an example of a collaborative research and development program for urban forestry.
• As study design for examining oak recruitment.
• As a real-world example of urban silviculture.

Author: Anna N. Vo, Lee E Bridges, and Allan Trently

Date published: April 24, 2025

Point of contact: Anna N. Vo anna.vo@membg.org

Citation: Vo, Anna N.; Bridges, Lee E.; and Trently, Allan (2025) "The Tale of Two Forests: Oak Management in Memphis’s Urban Forested Natural Areas," Cities and the Environment (CATE): Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 45. DOI: 10.15365/cate.2020.130145

Resource is available online here.