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Publications that discuss plant communities in which birdfoot sagebrush occurs are listed below. The list is neither restrictive nor all inclusive.
CO: big sagebrush (A. tridentata) vegetation typeBirdfoot sagebrush is a native, dwarf, somewhat mat-forming perennial subshrub that grows from 2.0 to 5.9 inches (5.0-15.0 cm) in height [6,18,46]. Numerous erect stems arise from a branching woody base [11,32]. The root is described as tough and woody [20,27]. Leaves are mainly basal, tufted, and 0.4 to 0.8 inches (1-2 cm) long [6,10]. The inflorescence is raceme- or spikelike, growing from 0.4 to 2.7 inches (1-7 cm) long [20]. Four to seven marginal pistillate ray flowers are produced as well as 5 to 10 perfect but sterile staminate disc flowers [22]. The fruit is a one-seeded achene [29].
RAUNKIAER [38] LIFE FORM:Pollination: Birdfoot sagebrush is pollinated by wind [29].
Breeding system: Birdfoot sagebrush is monoecious [20,21].
Seed production: No information is available on this topic.
Seed dispersal: Seeds of Artemisia species lack any special appendages to aid in seed dispersal. Seeds fall or are shaken from the plant by wind [29].
Seed banking: Artemisia species generally lack a long-lived seed bank [29].
Germination: Germination information specific to seeds of birdfoot sagebrush is lacking; however, it is reported that seeds of Artemisia species in general require light and moist chilling for germination to occur [29].
Seedling establishment/growth: Although the literature reports that birdfoot sagebrush regenerates by seeds [29], information is lacking on the specifics of seedling establishment and growth.
Asexual regeneration: Birdfoot sagebrush lacks any form of asexual regeneration [44].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:Fire regime: Birdfoot sagebrush occurs in plant communities with a wide range of fire frequencies, from the short return interval for many prairie and grassland communities, to the moderate-return intervals for the various sagebrush communities, and the 100+ years possible for some salt desert communities. As of this writing (2006), fire ecology studies are lacking for birdfoot sagebrush. The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where birdfoot sagebrush occurs. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find Fire Regimes".
Community or ecosystem | Dominant species | Fire return interval range (years) |
sagebrush steppe | Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata | 20-70 [36] |
basin big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata | 12-43 [41] |
Wyoming big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis | 10-70 (x=40) [48,53] |
mountain big sagebrush | Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana | 15-40 [4,7,30] |
saltbush-greasewood | Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus | <35 to >100 [36,53] |
blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrass | Bouteloua gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii | <35 [37,39,52] |
wheatgrass plains grasslands | Pascopyrum smithii | <5-47+ [36,37,52] |
mountain grasslands | Pseudoroegneria spicata | 3-40 ( x=10) [2,3] |
Palatability/nutritional value: The palatability of birdfoot sagebrush in Wyoming is rated as follows [13]:
Cattle | Fair |
Domestic sheep | Good |
Horses | Good |
Pronghorn | Fair |
Elk | Fair |
Mule deer | Poor |
Small mammals | Poor |
Small nongame birds | Fair |
Upland game birds | Fair |
Waterfowl | Poor |
Birdfoot sagebrush is rated as poor in nutritional value for elk, mule deer and whitetail deer and fair for pronghorn, upland birds and small mammals [13]. The nutritional value of fresh birdfoot sagebrush for livestock is as follows [34]:
Percent composition | Percent digestible protein | ||
ash | 27.8 | cattle | 3.8 |
crude fiber | 23.7 | horses | 3.5 |
protein | 7.0 | domestic sheep | 3.5 |
domestic goats | 3.1 | ||
domestic rabbits | 4.1 |
Cover value: Mountain plover in Wyoming preferentially nests in birdfoot sagebrush communities [35]. Because of its short stature, birdfoot sagebrush provides little cover for larger wildlife species [13].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:1. Allen, Arthur W.; Cook, John G.; Armbruster, Michael J. 1984. Habitat suitability index models: pronghorn. FWS/OBS-82/10.65. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 22 p. [11709]
2. Arno, Stephen F. 1980. Forest fire history in the Northern Rockies. Journal of Forestry. 78(8): 460-465. [11990]
3. Arno, Stephen F. 2000. Fire in western forest ecosystems. In: Brown, James K.; Smith, Jane Kapler, eds. Wildland fire in ecosystems: Effects of fire on flora. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-vol. 2. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 97-120. [36984]
4. Arno, Stephen F.; Gruell, George E. 1983. Fire history at the forest-grassland ecotone in southwestern Montana. Journal of Range Management. 36(3): 332-336. [342]
5. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals, reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p. [434]
6. Booth, W. E.; Wright, J. C. 1962. [Revised]. Flora of Montana: Part II--Dicotyledons. Bozeman, MT: Montana State College, Department of Botany and Bacteriology. 280 p. [47286]
7. Burkhardt, Wayne J.; Tisdale, E. W. 1976. Causes of juniper invasion in southwestern Idaho. Ecology. 57: 472-484. [565]
8. Collins, Ellen I. 1984. Preliminary classification of Wyoming plant communities. Cheyenne, WY: Wyoming Natural Heritage Program/The Nature Conservancy. 42 p. [661]
9. Costello, David F. 1944. Important species of the major forage types in Colorado and Wyoming. Ecological Monographs. 14(1): 107-134. [693]
10. Cronquist, Arthur; Holmgren, Arthur H.; Holmgren, Noel H.; [and others]. 1994. Intermountain flora: Vascular plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol. 5. Asterales. New York: The New York Botanical Garden. 496 p. [28653]
11. Davis, Ray J. 1952. Flora of Idaho. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown Co. 828 p. [12656]
12. Deblinger, Robert D. 1988. Ecology and behavior of pronghorn in the Red Desert, Wyoming, with reference to energy development. Fort Collins, CO: Colorado State University. 227 p. Dissertation. [24909]
13. Dittberner, Phillip L.; Olson, Michael R. 1983. The plant information network (PIN) data base: Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. FWS/OBS-83/86. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. 786 p. [806]
14. Dorn, Robert D. 1988. Vascular plants of Wyoming. Cheyenne, WY: Mountain West Publishing. 340 p. [6129]
15. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
16. Fisser, Herbert G.; Johnson, Kendall L.; Moore, Kellie S.; Plumb, Glenn E. 1989. 51-year change in the shortgrass prairie of eastern Wyoming. In: Bragg, Thomas B.; Stubbendieck, James, eds. Prairie pioneers: ecology, history and culture: Proceedings, 11th North American prairie conference; 1988 August 7-11; Lincoln, NE. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska: 29-31. [14015]
17. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; Lewis, Mont E.; Smith, Dixie R. 1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
18. Goodrich, Sherel; Neese, Elizabeth. 1986. Uinta Basin flora. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Region. 320 p. [23307]
19. Great Plains Flora Association. 1986. Flora of the Great Plains. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. 1392 p. [1603]
20. Hall, Harvey M.; Clements, Frederic E. 1923. The phylogenetic method in taxonomy: the North American species of Artemisia, Chrysothamnus, and Atriplex. Publication No. 326. Washington, DC: The Carnegie Institute of Washington. 355 p. [43183]
21. Harrington, H. D. 1964. Manual of the plants of Colorado. 2d ed. Chicago: The Swallow Press, Inc. 666 p. [6851]
22. Hitchcock, C. Leo; Cronquist, Arthur. 1973. Flora of the Pacific Northwest. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. 730 p. [1168]
23. Johnson, Kendall L. 1987. Sagebrush types as ecological indicators to integrated pest management (IPM) in the sagebrush ecosystem of western North America. In: Onsager, Jerome A., ed. Integrated pest management on rangeland: State-of-the-art in the sagebrush ecosystem. ARS-50. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service: 1-10. [2841]
24. Kartesz, John T.; Meacham, Christopher A. 1999. Synthesis of the North American flora (Windows Version 1.0), [CD-ROM]. Available: North Carolina Botanical Garden. In cooperation with: The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [2001, January 16]. [36715]
25. Knight, Dennis H.; Jones, George P.; Akashi, Yoshiko; Myers, Richard W. 1987. Vegetation ecology in the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area: Wyoming and Montana. Final Report. Laramie, WY: University of Wyoming, National Park Service Research Center. 114 p. [12498]
26. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. United States [Potential natural vegetation of the conterminous United States]. Special Publication No. 36. New York: American Geographical Society. 1:3,168,000; colored. [3455]
27. McArthur, E. Durant; Stevens, Richard. 2004. Composite shrubs. In: Monsen, Stephen B.; Stevens, Richard; Shaw, Nancy L., compilers. Restoring western ranges and wildlands. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-136-vol-2. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 493-538. [52844]
28. McCarthy, Judith Colleen. 1996. A floristic survey of the Pryor Mountains, Montana. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 93 p. Thesis. [46912]
29. Meyers, Susan. 2003. Artemisia L. sagebrush, [Online]. In: Bonner, Franklin T., tech. coord. Woody plant seed manual. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service (Producer). Available: http://wpsm.net/Genera.htm [2003, August 27]. [45115]
30. Miller, Richard F.; Rose, Jeffery A. 1995. Historic expansion of Juniperus occidentalis (western juniper) in southeastern Oregon. The Great Basin Naturalist. 55(1): 37-45. [25666]
31. Morris, Melvin S.; Kelsey, Rick G.; Griggs, Dave. 1976. The geographic and ecological distribution of big sagebrush and other woody Artemesias in Montana. Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences. 36: 56-79. [1695]
32. Moss, E. H. 1940. Interxylary cork in Artemisia with a reference to its taxonomic significance. American Journal of Botany. 27(9): 762-768. [48735]
33. Mueggler, W. F.; Stewart, W. L. 1980. Grassland and shrubland habitat types of western Montana. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-66. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 154 p. [1717]
34. National Academy of Sciences. 1971. Atlas of nutritional data on United States and Canadian feeds. Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences. 772 p. [1731]
35. Parrish, Tierny L.; Anderson, Stanley H.; Oelklaus, William F. 1993. Mountain plover habitat selection in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Prairie Naturalist. 25(3): 219-226. [23236]
36. Paysen, Timothy E.; Ansley, R. James; Brown, James K.; [and others]. 2000. Fire in western shrubland, woodland, and grassland ecosystems. In: Brown, James K.; Smith, Jane Kapler, eds. Wildland fire in ecosystems: Effects of fire on flora. Gen. Tech. Rep. RMRS-GTR-42-volume 2. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station: 121-159. [36978]
37. Quinnild, Clayton L.; Cosby, Hugh E. 1958. Relicts of climax vegetation on two mesas in western North Dakota. Ecology. 39(1): 29-32. [1925]
38. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
39. Rowe, J. S. 1969. Lightning fires in Saskatchewan grassland. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 83: 317-324. [6266]
40. Ryder, Thomas J.; Irwin, Larry L. 1987. Winter habitat relationships of pronghorns in southcentral Wyoming. Journal of Wildlife Management. 51(1): 79-85. [4061]
41. Sapsis, David B. 1990. Ecological effects of spring and fall prescribed burning on basin big sagebrush/Idaho fescue--bluebunch wheatgrass communities. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University. 105 p. Thesis. [16579]
42. Shiflet, Thomas N., ed. 1994. Rangeland cover types of the United States. Denver, CO: Society for Range Management. 152 p. [23362]
43. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. FEIS postfire regeneration workshop--April 12: Seral origin of species comprising secondary plant succession in Northern Rocky Mountain forests. 10 p. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT. [20090]
44. Taylor, ElRoy. 1972. Food habits and feeding behavior of pronghorn antelope in the Red Desert of Wyoming. In: Proceedings, 3rd biennial pronghorn antelope workshop; Billings, MT: 211-221. [2309]
45. Thilenius, John F.; Brown, Gary R.; Medina, Alvin L. 1995. Vegetation on semi-arid rangelands, Cheyenne River Basin, Wyoming. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-GTR-263. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 60 p. [26478]
46. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2006. PLANTS database (2006), [Online]. Available: https://plants.usda.gov /. [34262]
47. Van Dyne, George M.; Payne, Gene F., compilers. 1964. Grazing responses of western range plants. Bozeman, MT: Montana State College, Department of Animal and Range Sciences. 69 p. [2418]
48. Vincent, Dwain W. 1992. The sagebrush/grasslands of the upper Rio Puerco area, New Mexico. Rangelands. 14(5): 268-271. [19698]
49. Wambolt, Carl L.; Frisina, Michael R. 2002. Montana sagebrush: a taxonomic key and habitat descriptions. Intermountain Journal of Sciences. 8(2): 46-59. [47358]
50. Weber, William A. 1987. Colorado flora: western slope. Boulder, CO: Colorado Associated University Press. 530 p. [7706]
51. Weber, William A.; Wittmann, Ronald C. 1996. Colorado flora: eastern slope. 2nd ed. Niwot, CO: University Press of Colorado. 524 p. [27572]
52. Wright, Henry A.; Bailey, Arthur W. 1982. Fire ecology: United States and southern Canada. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 501 p. [2620]
53. Young, James A.; Tipton, Frosty. 1990. Invasion of cheatgrass into arid environments of the Lahontan Basin. In: McArthur, E. Durant; Romney, Evan M.; Smith, Stanley D.; Tueller, Paul T., compilers. Proceedings--symposium on cheatgrass invasion, shrub die-off, and other aspects of shrub biology and management; 1989 April 5-7; Las Vegas, NV. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-276. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station: 37-40. [12733]