Forests have received much media attention of late, for the employment they provide, the economic development they underpin, the biodiversity and heritage they support, their role in mitigating the effects of climate change and protecting the landscape, and the sense of well‐being or improvement in living conditions they provide (Häggström, 2019). Given their ecological dominance, forest trees are also considered to be model organisms for studies aimed at improving our understanding of the ecological and evolutionary processes underlying plant diversification and adaptation on Earth. This knowledge can be used in the design of conservation strategies for genetic resources and adaptive practices to increase the ability of managed forest stands (Lefevre et al . , 2014) and allow natural populations to evolve (Hamilton & Miller, 2016). New Phytologist has always been a major channel for the publication of important outcomes in this area of active research, as illustrated in a recent Tansley review by Cavender‐Bares (2019) dedicated to American oaks, and a special issue dedicated to Eucalyptus genomics (Strauss & Myburg, 2015). With this Feature Issue dedicated to oaks, highlighting new findings and opinions in the area of ecological and evolutionary genomics, New Phytologist affirms its commitment to studies of the intricacy of ecology and evolution in the age of genomics.