VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Aralia nudicaulis | Wild Sarsaparilla 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Wild sarsaparilla is browsed by livestock and wildlife [71].  Grizzly
and black bear consume the fruits [73,104,105,106].  Wild sarsaparilla
is frequently browsed in summer by caribou, and it is a preferred spring
food of moose [12,28,36].  In Minnesota, use of wild sarsaparilla by
ruffed grouse occurs throughout the year [86].  Wild sarsaparilla seeds
have been found in the stomachs of thrushes [36].  White-tailed deer in
northeastern Minnesota used wild sarsaparilla 18 percent of the time
during feeding in June [63].  Wild sarsaparilla was so heavily browsed
by white-tailed deer on Fire Island National Seashore, New York, during
periods of overpopulation that it was only found in deer exclosures or
within dense thickets [95].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The current year's growth of wild sarsaparilla in Manitoba had 11.1
percent crude protein, 34.1 percent acid detergent fiber, and 63.4
percent dry matter digestibility [107].  It had only 1 percent dry
matter digestibility on Isle Royale, Michigan [12].  Leaf dry matter
contained 1.2 percent nitrogen [89].


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
The Nuxalk of east-central British Columbia collected wild sarsaparilla
rhizomes for food from May to September [82].  The rhizomes have been
used to make beverages such as root beer [48,75,116].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
After 6 years, wild sarsaparilla was infrequent to numerous on various
logged areas (370 acres [150 ha] logged in alternate strips, a 32-acre
[80 ha] clearcut, and an 81-acre [200 ha] clearcut) [37].  Winter and
spring clearcuts had significantly (p<0.05) less wild sarsaparilla
biomass 2 years after logging compared to an uncut control [100].  Three
years after clearcutting, wild sarsaparilla had higher frequency (22.5
percent) on sites prepared by V-blade than on sites prepared by toothed
brush rake (7.5 percent) or disking (2.5 percent) [65].  Wild
sarsaparilla decreased on clearcuts and shelterwood cuts in areas open
0.25 mile (0.4 km) or more in virgin western white pine (Pinus
monticola)-western redcedar in northern Idaho, possibly due to increased
air and soil temperatures and evaporation [79,80].  Data on wild
sarsaparilla abundance have been used in multiple regression models for
predicting forest site quality for regeneration of spruce-fir, lodgepole
pine (Pinus contorta), and white spruce (Picea glauca) [78,121,124].
Two years after a clearcut was mulched with various straws, wild
sarsaparilla was less frequent in mulch treatments (8.3 percent) than in
controls (10 percent) [66].

In ecological classifications that are useful for biomass and
productivity estimates, wild sarsaparilla had average rank abundances
between 0.2 and 1.3 in northwestern Michigan [58].  Wild sarsaparilla
was included in a suitability index for summer food for black bear in
the upper Great Lakes Region [104].  Herbivory can reduce the number of
wild sarsaparilla flowering stems and fruit production.  Clipped shoots
produced significantly (p<0.005) fewer fruits and smaller leaves
compared to intact shoots.  One year later, chance of flowering and leaf
production were significantly (p<0.05) less [36].  Wild sarsaparilla was
indirectly affected by aerial spraying for spruce budworm in New
Brunswick.  Wild sarsaparilla had lower fruit set in sprayed areas
compared with unsprayed [10].

Fruit collection, seed extraction, and nursery methods have been
discussed in detail [17].  Wild sarsaparilla top-growth increased but
stem density did not after shoot removal and rhizome transplantation
into uniform soils during summer [42].

Wild sarsaparilla was the most common forb in an area impacted by metal
aerosols from a zinc smelter in Pennsylvania.  Wild sarsaparilla was
generally chlorotic [68].  In a boreal forest in Ontario, wild
sarsaparilla leaves were significantly (p<0.005) less able to neutralize
simulated acid raindrops at pH 3.8 or 5.6 [43].

Related categories for Species: Aralia nudicaulis | Wild Sarsaparilla