Quercus monnula
Overview
A detailed profile for this species is sourced from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as assessments become available.
Quercus monnula faces severe population decline due to extensive deforestation and agricultural conversion throughout its limited range in Mexico's cloud forest regions. The species is particularly vulnerable to climate change as rising temperatures force its optimal habitat zone to higher elevations, while logging operations continue to fragment the remaining forest patches. Urban expansion and cattle ranching have eliminated much of its historical lowland habitat, leaving only scattered populations in increasingly isolated mountain refugia.
Habitat
This oak species inhabits montane cloud forests and humid pine-oak forests at elevations between 1,200-2,400 meters in the Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. It requires consistent moisture from fog and cloud cover, typically growing on steep slopes with well-drained volcanic soils in association with other endemic oak species.
