Physiographic features

This site occurs on alluvial flats and axial stream floodplains on all exposures. Slopes range from 0 to 4 percent, but slope gradients of 0 to 2 percent are most typical. Elevations are 1000 to 5400 feet.

Table 2. Representative physiographic features

Climatic features

The climate is hot and arid, with mild winters and very hot summers. Precipitation is greatest in the winter with a lesser secondary peak in summer, typical of the Mojave Desert. Average annual precipitation is 3 to 12 inches. Mean annual air temperature is 55 to 76 degrees F. The average growing season is about 140 to 360 days.

Table 3. Representative climatic features

Influencing water features

There are no influencing water features associated with this site.

Soil features

The soils associated with this site are deep alluvium from mixed sources. Textures are medium to moderately coarse. They are strongly salt and sodium affected. The soils are mostly somewhat poorly to poorly drained and have a seasonally high water table at depths of 20 to 60 inches.

Animal community

Livestock Interpretations:
This site is suitable for livestock grazing. Grazing management should be keyed to perennial grass production. Alkali sacaton is a valuable forage species in arid and semiarid regions. Plants are tolerant to moderate grazing and can produce abundant herbage utilized by livestock. Saltgrass's value as forage depends primarily on the relative availability of other grasses of higher nutritional value and palatability. It can be an especially important late summer grass in arid environments after other forage grasses have deceased. Saltgrass is rated as a fair to good forage species only because it stays green after most other grasses dry. Livestock generally avoid saltgrass due to its coarse foliage. Saltgrass is described as an increaser under grazing pressure. Baltic rush is described as a fair to good forage species for cattle. On average, Baltic rush’s palatability is considered medium to moderately low. Baltic rush is considered palatable early in the growing season when plants are young and tender, but as stems mature and toughen palatability declines. Sedge provides good to fair forage for domestic grazing. Livestock browse the leaves, though toxicity of big saltbush may be a problem in some areas. Fourwing saltbush is one of the most palatable shrubs in the West. Its protein, fat, and carbohydrate levels are comparable to alfalfa. It provides nutritious forage for all classes of livestock. Palatability is rated as good for domestic sheep and domestic goats; fair for cattle; fair to good for horses in winter, poor for horses in other seasons. In general, livestock forage only lightly on rubber rabbitbrush during the summer, but winter use can be heavy in some locations. Fall use is variable, but flowers are often used by livestock. A few leaves and the more tender stems may also be used. Wolfberry is sometimes used as forage by livestock. 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.

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:
Leaves and seeds of big saltbush are eaten by many species including mule deer, pronghorn, small rodents, game birds, and insects. Dense stands of big saltbush provide excellent cover for several species. Fourwing saltbush provides valuable habitat and year-round browse for wildlife. Fourwing saltbush also provides browse and shelter for small mammals. Additionally, the browse provides a source of water for black-tailed jackrabbits in arid environments. Granivorous birds consume the fruits. Wild ungulates, rodent and lagomorphs readily consume all aboveground portions of the plant. Palatability is rated good for deer, elk, pronghorn and bighorn sheep. Wildlife forage only lightly on rubber rabbitbrush during the summer, but winter use can be heavy in some locations. Fall use is variable, but flowers are often used by wildlife. A few leaves and the more tender stems may also be used. The forage value of rubber rabbitbrush varies greatly among subspecies and ecotypes. Palatability of 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. 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 Wolfberry grows in dense thorny thickets which provide good cover for quail and other small wildlife. The western salt desert shrub and grassland communities where alkali sacaton is common support an abundance of mule deer, pronghorn, carnivores, small mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Saltgrass provides cover for a variety of bird species, small mammals, and arthropods and is on occasion used as forage for several big game wildlife species. Baltic rush provides food for several wildlife species and waterfowl. Baltic rush is an important cover species for a variety of small birds, upland game birds, birds of prey, and waterfowl. Sedges have a high to moderate resource value for elk and a medium value for mule deer. Elk consume beaked sedge later in the growing season.

Recreational uses

Aesthetic value is derived from the diverse floral and faunal composition and the colorful flowering of wild flowers and shrubs during the spring and early summer. 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

Native American’s practice of pit curing and drying big saltbush seeds before using them to make a thick gruel, as well as use of the flour to make small cakes, use of leaves as a soap, and use of flowers, stems and leaves as a treatment for nasal congestion. The seeds were likely used in a similar way to fourwing saltbush. Seeds of fourwing saltbush were also reportedly ground into flour. Other uses for fourwing saltbush that may have been similar for big saltbush are the use of the ground meal as an emetic, use of ground flowers or roots moistened with saliva in treating ant bites, and addition of ashes to water for dyeing meal greenish-blue. Fourwing saltbush is traditionally important to Native Americans. They ground the seeds for flour. The leaves, placed on coals, impart a salty flavor to corn and other roasted food. Top-growth produces a yellow dye. Young leaves and shoots were used to dye wool and other materials. The roots and flowers were ground to soothe insect bites. 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. The stems of Baltic rush were historically used by Native Americans as a foundation for coiled basketry.

Other information

Big saltbush is a suspected hay fever plant. Big saltbush is a recommended revegetation species in riparian areas throughout its range. It has been planted in projects with varied goals, including soil stabilization and improvement or creation of habitat and forage for wildlife and those with constraints, such as the need for quick growth or revegetation sites with high salinity. Fourwing saltbush is widely used in rangeland and riparian improvement and reclamation projects, including burned area recovery. It is probably the most widely used shrub for restoration of winter ranges and mined land reclamation. Alkali sacaton is one of the most commonly used species for seeding and stabilizing disturbed lands. Due to alkali sacaton’s salt tolerance, is recommended for native grass seeding on subirrigated saline sites. Given its extensive system of rhizomes and roots which form a dense sod, saltgrass is considered a suitable species for controlling wind and water erosion. Baltic rush's production of deep and fibrous roots originating from a mass of coarse and creeping rhizomes makes it a valuable species for stabilizing streambanks and protecting against soil erosion.

Type locality

Other references

Fire Effects Information System (Online; http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/).

USDA-NRCS Plants Database (Online; http://www.plants.usda.gov).

Contributors

HA

Approval

Sarah Quistberg, 2/24/2025