The Sand Live Oak, Quercus geminata, is an evergreen species of oak native to the southeast United States. It can be found around coastal areas, upland pine forests and in dry sandy hardwood hammocks. What you might also notice is that this is a dead sand live oak tree. This tree is one of many dead sand live oaks in Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park located in Jacksonville along one of the area beaches. Unfortunately these trees succumbed to salt water intrusion during Hurricane Matthew’s storm surge. In honor of Halloween, for this month's tree we wanted to showcase that even dead trees can have tremendous value. Dead trees are an important part of any ecosystem and bring a multitude of ecological services that no living tree can. It’s important to keep dead trees in our urban forests. Many bird species require dead and decaying wood in order make homes and are very particular about what trees they will nest in. A host of small mammals also utilize dead trees for their homes and nesting sites. Insects utilize dead and decaying wood as well and these insects make up a large portion of the diet for many species of birds and mammals. Without dead and decaying trees in our ecosystem and urban forests our wildlife populations would suffer to a much greater degree than most people realize. As urban foresters we try and keep these valuable dead trees wherever appropriate. Just because a tree is dead does not mean it does not add value to our urban forest.