An estimated 31% of the world’s oak species are threatened with extinction according to data compiled in a new report by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), The Morton Arboretum and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Tree Specialist Group. The report — The Red List of Oaks 2020 — was published alongside the 2020 update of the IUCN Red List, and details for the first time the distributions, population trends and threats facing the world’s estimated 430 oak species, and will serve as a roadmap for conservation action.

According to the researchers, an estimated 41% of the world’s 430 oak species are of conservation concern. Nearly one-third (31%) are considered threatened with extinction. This proportion of threatened species is higher than threat levels for mammals (26%) and birds (14%). The report indicates that the countries with the highest number of threatened oak species are Mexico (32 species), China (36), Vietnam (20), and the United States (16).

The Red List of Oaks 2020 is the culmination of five years of research and consultation with more than 100 experts from around the globe to assess the extinction risk of the world’s oak species. This initiative represents the collaborators’ contribution to achieving one of the 16 targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation: to have an assessment of the conservation status of all known plant species by the end of 2020.

“The comprehensive assessment of all oak species is a major achievement,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, Head of the IUCN Red List Unit. “Having this information about such an ecologically and economically important group of trees is vital for informing conservation efforts.”

Thumbail image: Quercus bambusifolia, EN (Joeri S. Strijk, Alliance for Conservation Tree Genomics)