Quercus emoryi

Cattle grazing is common in oak woodlands where Emory Oak codominates, and conversion of pine-oak woodlands and chaparral stands to grassland for livestock has been common through Emory Oak's range. However, it seems this practice of clearing habitat for rangeland is slowing, at least in the United States. Harvest of Q. emoryi is a definite threat, and although there are regulations to protect against over-harvest for firewood within US National Forests, the rate of mortality for firewood, construction materials, as well as acorns for food, is unknown in the species' Mexican range. Heavy browsing by White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in combination with climate shifts towards hotter and dryer conditions have revealed in some cases a skewed age distribution where seedling recruitment of Q. emoryi is low to none. Fire suppression as well as recreational activities threaten Emory Oak as human populations increase in southern Arizona (Pavek 1994, Gottfried and Folliott 2013). Another major threat to Q. emoryi is climate change; in a study by Potter and Hargrove (2013) Quercus emoryi is projected to lose 45.48% of its suitable habitat area by 2050 under the the Hadley B1 Global Circulation Model/ scenario combination. A later study also used projection data along with species specific intrinsic traits to asses tree vulnerability in three areas: 1) exposure to climate change, which included projected area change by 2050 and distance to future habitat; 2) sensitivity to threat, which included rarity, area of distribution, dispersal ability, and disturbance tolerance; and 3) adaptability to threat, which included regeneration, genetic variability, and ecological requirements. Quercus emoryi was found to be a "potential persister" meaning it had high exposure to climate change pressure and low potential to adapt to that threat, but only moderate threat sensitivity.  As such it may be able to may be able to withstand climate change in situ, because of its area of distribution, dispersal ability, and disturbance tolerance, but close monitoring will be required to verify this (Potter et al. 2017).

Quercus emoryi is located ex situ in 17 sites within botanic gardens and arboreta globally, according to Botanic Gardens Conservation International (2016).