Animal community
Livestock Interpretations:
This site is suited to livestock grazing. Grazing management should be keyed to perennial grass production. Indian ricegrass has good forage value for domestic sheep, cattle and horses. It supplies a source of green feed before most other native grasses have produced much new growth. When actively growing, galleta provides good to excellent forage for cattle and horses and fair forage for domestic sheep. Although not preferred, all classes of livestock may use galleta when it is dry. Domestic sheep show greater use in winter than summer months and typically feed upon central portions of galleta tufts, leaving coarser growth around the edges. Galleta may prove somewhat coarse to domestic sheep. Shadscale is a valuable browse species, providing a source of palatable, nutritious forage for a wide variety of livestock. Shadscale provides good browse for domestic sheep. Shadscale leaves and seeds are an important component of domestic sheep and cattle winter diets. White bursage is an important browse species. Browsing pressure on white bursage is particularly heavy during years of low precipitation, when production of winter annuals is low. White bursage is of intermediate forage value. It is fair to good forage for horses and fair to poor for cattle and sheep. However, because there is often little other forage where white bursage grows, it is often highly valuable to browsing animals. Bailey’s greasewood is an important winter browse plant for domestic sheep and cattle. It also receives light to moderate use by domestic sheep and cattle during spring and summer months. Greasewood contains soluble sodium and potassium oxalates that may cause poisoning and death in domestic sheep and cattle if large amounts are consumed in a short time. Shockley's wolfberry is sometimes used as forage by livestock. Palatability of Shockley's wolfberry browse is presumably fair to low. This species is used as forage only when more desirable species are unavailable. The fruit, however, appears to be moderately palatable.
Stocking rates vary over time depending upon season of use, climate variations, site, and previous and current management goals. A safe starting stocking rate is an estimated stocking rate that is fine tuned by the client by adaptive management through the year and from year to year.
Wildlife Interpretations:
Shadscale is a valuable browse species, providing a source of palatable, nutritious forage for a wide variety of wildlife particularly during spring and summer before the hardening of spiny twigs. It supplies browse, seed, and cover for birds, small mammals, rabbits, deer, and pronghorn antelope.
White bursage is an important browse species for wildlife. Bailey’s greasewood is an important winter browse plant for big game animals and a food source for many other wildlife species. It also receives light to moderate use by mule deer and pronghorn during spring and summer months. Palatability of Anderson wolfberry browse is presumably fair to low. This species is used as forage only when more desirable species are unavailable. The fruit, however, appears to be moderately palatable. Anderson wolfberry is sometimes used as forage by feral burros. The red berries are eaten by some birds and mammals. Berries of this plant constituted 2 percent of the diet of chukar partridges. In some areas of southern Nevada, the fleshy leaves and juicy berries provide part of the succulence permitting Gambel quail to occupy desert areas devoid of drinking water. In desert washes Anderson wolfberry grows in dense thorny thickets which provide good cover for quail and other small wildlife. Indian ricegrass is an important forage species for several wildlife species. Galleta provides moderately palatable forage when actively growing and relatively unpalatable forage during dormant periods. Galleta provides poor cover for most wildlife species.
Hydrological functions
Runoff is negligible to very low. Permeability is moderate to rapid.
Recreational uses
Aesthetic value is derived from the diverse floral and faunal composition. This site offers rewarding opportunities to photographers and for nature study. This site is used for camping and hiking and has potential for upland and big game hunting.
Other products
Seeds of shadscale were used by Native Americans of Arizona, Utah and Nevada for bread and mush. White bursage is a host for sandfood, a parasitic plant with a sweet, succulent, subterranean flowerstalk. Sandfood was a valuable food supply for Native Americans. The leaves, seeds and stems of greasewood are edible. Native Americans used the fleshy berries of Anderson wolfberry either fresh or boiled and then dried them for later use. This shrub is also used as an ornamental valued chiefly for its showy red berries. Indian ricegrass was traditionally eaten by some Native Americans. The Paiutes used seed as a reserve food source.
Other information
White bursage may be used to revegetate disturbed sites in southwestern deserts.
Indian ricegrass is well-suited for surface erosion control and desert revegetation although it is not highly effective in controlling sand movement.
