The Memorial Oak Woodland contains a vital grouping of healthy Coast Live Oak trees, most of them range in age from 70 to 110 years old with one heritage oak at over 200 years.
The University has stated that they planted “all but 3 or 4 of the trees in the grove”, this not accurate, but more importantly it completely misses the point about what is important at the memorial grove. The reality is that...
• At least 5 oaks predate the stadium
• Many of the oaks were planted by the University when the stadium was built, but...
• MOST IMPORTANTLY there are other oaks in the grove that planted themselves! The importance of the Memorial Grove is that the grove is a healthy functioning native oak ecosystem which is maintaining and reseeding itself.
The California Coast Live Oak is a crucial part of the costal ecosystems of California. Meanwhile, the Coast Live Oak is a threatened species. We are losing oak woodlands to development and sudden oak death syndrome. This makes preserving healthy Coast Live Oaks that much more important.
California Native Plant Society
The Coast Live Oak is an essential “umbrella species.” Oak woodlands like this one provide essential habitat that can support a whole network of other plants and animals. The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) has written a letter in support of this oak woodland which says -
“The Oaks are well established and signs of recruitment (naturally re-seeded oak trees) are present an this site. Since more and more of our coastal woodlands are being developed and being replaced with non-native trees or native trees from improper seed banks, this site is of great value as a gene bank for Coast Live Oak individuals native to the San Francisco Bay Area. The site... may provide habitat for a number of plants and animals that are indicative of the local landscape prior to European conversion. Therefore, beyond the ecological value of this site, the East Bay Chapter of CNPS would like to highlight the educational value of an intact grove of native California trees flourishing within a matrix of urbanization and development. Urban forests are invaluable venues for environmental education, as well as providing ecosystem service and economic benefits for the local area. ”
