Arbuckle Mountain Area Chapter
Sumac Thickets

Sumac thickets are fine summer time vegetation that quail use to escape heat in our area.  Sumac can be found in much of the sandy loamy soil types in areas and are encouraged by soil disturbance.  They are very drought tolerant and a good choice for variety of cover type.  In On Bobwhites, it is stated that the ambient temperature can be as low as 15 degrees cooler on a hot summer day under a sumac thicket. 

These thickets form dense over story structure at just the height for quail and generally have bare soils underneath.  The leaves are somewhat large and provide not only very good shade, but allow breezes to flow in and amongst them.  Quail can also easily escape up through them or out the other side of the thickets.  The leaves fall off in the winter and there is very little structure other than a larger sticklike trunk up from the ground which provides no escape cover other that in the summer.  Therefore, it should not be the primary, most abundant cover, but is a nice complimentary thicket.

Fire can set back the above ground growth, but does not kill the plants.  You should however, plan to protect the thickets from prescribed burning with disk strips.  An advantage of the disk strips is that it stimulates the production of forbs and legumes as food sources near the thickets, and can cut the spreading roots of the sand plums to promote sprout ups in the event you are trying to increase the diameter of the thicket.  Should fire run through the thicket, if it has bare ground, minimal damage occurs, otherwise expect 3-5 years of recovery time for the over story structure to be recreated.

Cattle can also trample the thickets.  Rotational grazing and/or fences around the thickets could be considered.