Interpretations
Animal community
Livestock Interpretations:
This site is suitable for spring grazing by sheep and also maginally suitable for cattle grazing where water is available. 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.
Creosotebush is unpalatable to livestock. Consumption of creosotebush may be fatal to sheep.
Desert needlegrass produces considerable basal foilage and is good forage while young. Young desert needlegrass is palatable to all classes of livestock. Mature herbage is moderately grazed by horses and cattle but rarely grazed by sheep.
Indian ricegrass has good forage value for domestic sheep, cattle, and horses. It can be important cattle forage in winter, particularly in salt desert communities. Indian ricegrass is often used most heavily in late winter, when succulent and nutritious new green leaves are produced. It cures well and provides excellent winter forage for cattle,
domestic sheep, and horses.
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:
Many animals bed in or under creosotebush. Desert tortoises dig their shelters under creosotebush where its roots stabilize the soil. Many small mammals browse creosotebush or consume its seeds. Creosotebush is unpalatable to most browsing wildlife.
Indian ricegrass is eaten by pronghorn in moderate amounts whenever available. In Nevada it is consumed by desert bighorn sheep. Indian ricegrass is eaten by mule deer in the spring.
Hydrological functions
Runoff is high and permeability is slow to moderately rapid.
Other products
White bursage is a host for sandfood (Pholisma sonorae), a parasitic plant with a sweet, succulent, subterranean flowerstalk. Sandfood was a valuable food supply for desert people.
Creosotebush has been highly valued for its medicinal properties by desert peoples. It has been used to treat at least 14 illnesses. Twigs and leaves may be boiled as tea, steamed, pounded into a powder, pressed into a poultice, or heated into an infusion. Creosotebush is used as an ornamental throughout its range.
Indian ricegrass seeds make a gluten-free, nutritious flour with a potentially good market. Indian ricegrass was traditionally eaten by Native American people. The Paiutes used the seed as a reserve food source. The large-seeded panicle is often used in dry floral arrangements.
Other information
White bursage may be used to revegetate disturbed sites in southwestern deserts. White bursage may be planted from containerized plants with a high probability of success. Plantings should be made in late winter or early spring, although the time of planting is less important than the vigor of the seedlings. Rodent protectors should be used.
Creosotebush may be used to rehabilitate disturbed environments in southwestern deserts. Once established, creosotebush may improve sites for annuals that grow under its canopy by trapping fine soil, organic matter, and symbiont propagules. It may also increase water infiltration and storage.
Desert needlegrass seeds are easily germinated and have potential for commercial use. Desert needlegrass may be used for groundcover in areas of light disturbance, but it is susceptible to excessive trampling.
Indian ricegrass is well-suited for surface erosion control and desert revegetation although it is not highly effective in controlling sand movement. Certain native ecotypes exhibit desirable characteristics such as drought and salinity tolerance, low seed dormancy, and good nutritional qualities. Indian ricegrass can be difficult to establish.
