The ecology, disturbance history, and dynamics of Quercus forests have been a focus of forest researchers throughout the world (Abrams et al. 1999, Gonzalez-Espinosa et al. 1991, Petit et al. 2002, Valladares et al. 2002). The Quercusdominated forests of the eastern United States have received some of the closest attention because of their complexity (Abrams 1992, Arthur et al. 1998, McEwan et al. 2011, Sork et al. 1993). This scientific interest is additionally motivated by the abundance of this genus coupled with its high economic value. These two characteristics were noted as early as 1785, when the Italian naturalist Luigi Castiglioni (1983, p. 25) provided this description of the eastern United States: “The major part of the woods consists of oaks, namely the red, the white, the dwarf, called scrub oak by the inhabitants; and the type with chestnut leaves,” and residents were using “huge oaks . . . to build ships and in part were sent elsewhere as lumber.” The dominance of Quercus and its economic importance in the eastern United States continued well into the early 20th century, when forest researchers began to notice and document the conversion of Quercus forests to different tree species (Abrams and Downs 1990, Hix and Lorimer 1991). The recognition of a potential future decline in the abundance of Quercus triggered a flurry of research focused on seedling and sapling germination and regeneration (Gilbert et al. 2003, Dey et al. 2008, Hart and Kupfer 2011, Jevon et al. 2021). As researchers work to untangle the complexities of Quercus-dominated forests, there has not always been agreement among scientists about how to interpret the data sets we have developed; however, there has always been agreement that researching these ecosystems has high scientific and forest conservation value.

Therefore, as the scientific community has conducted over two centuries of observation and research into the ecology of Quercus-dominated forests in North America, it seemed appropriate to Dr. Ryan McEwan, then editor in chief of the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, to initiate a Special Issue of the journal focused on this topic. The special issue has experienced a few delays, but it is my honor, as the current editor in chief, to bring to completion this collection of research papers. The articles in this issue represent our current state of the knowledge about Quercus in the eastern United States; however, the authors, despite their extensive expertise in these ecosystems, readily point readers to topics where our knowledge is still limited and identify additional research opportunities. I am pleased to share with the readers of the Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society six articles from invited authors that help us better understand Quercus-dominated forests, to wit:

Abrams, Nowacki, and Hanberry contrast anthropogenic land use, fire, and climate as drivers of mesophication and the subsequent reduction in the dominance of Quercus within forests of the eastern and central United States.

Dee, Stambaugh, and Dey excavated 180 Quercus muehlenbergii seedlings to compare the ages of roots vs. shoots from an established burning and thinning experimental study area in eastern Kansas. Their results have implications for forest managers and forest demographers.

Nowacki and Thomas-Van Gundy provide a landscape-level examination of the relative importance of fire vs. climate in determining the geographic location of the ecotone separating northern mixed forests from Quercus-dominated southern broadleaf forests in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Abrams, Hanberry, and Ruffner document reductions in Quercus spp. and increases in Acer rubrum L. using historical land survey records and present-day vegetation survey data from old-growth and second-growth forests in western Maryland.

Abadir, Marschall, and Stambaugh reconstructed historical fire frequency and seasonality using fire scar records in Tennessee. Their results will assist The Nature Conservancy in meeting their conservation goal of improving the Quercus-Pinus ecosystem within Bridgestone Nature Reserve.

Beasley, Carter, Coates, Keyser, and Green-berg compared overstory and understory tree species across four silvicultural treatments (control, shelterwood, prescribed fire, and shelterwood-prescribed fire). Their research highlights the need for more field-based experimental research in uncovering the complexity of Quercus regeneration patterns in the Central Appalachian Mountains.