• IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE
• PALATABILITY
• NUTRITIONAL VALUE
• COVER VALUE
• VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES
• OTHER USES AND VALUES
• MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:

Because of its abundant herbage production and widespread distribution, pinegrass is considered an important or principal forage species over much of its range [30,45,70,98,106,111,144,149].

Pinegrass is primary forage on southern British Columbia summer ranges, providing over half of the weight of forage for cattle in the Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, and fir-spruce zones [1,30,98]. Cattle readily consume pinegrass from spring through midsummer but tend to avoid it by August [13,98]. Pinegrass is grazed by domestic sheep as well [146,149].  Pinegrass is sensitive to overgrazing, and its forage value decreases over the course of the season [1,13,30,56,98,149]. 

Pinegrass provides forage or other value to various wildlife species. Grizzly bears forage on pinegrass in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and in the Bitterroot Mountains of southwestern Montana, especially in the spring [16,38]. Pinegrass is also utilized by black bear, white-tailed deer, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and elk [,24,45,59,77,81,105,146]. Pinegrass-dominated ledges are often utilized by Rocky Mountain goats in Glacier National Park, Montana, for feeding and bedding from May through September [25]. Douglas-fir/pinegrass and subalpine fir/pinegrass habitat types are used by boreal owls for nesting and roosting in the northern Rocky Mountains [67].

PALATABILITY:

Pinegrass is most palatable in the spring but declines over the growing season.  It is considered 1 of the least valuable of the important western range grasses [13,30,97,146,147,149]. Pinegrass appears to be less palatable when growing in shaded conditions [98]; on some clearcuts in Montana it was preferred to rough fescue (Festuca altaica) and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) early in the season [13]. Pinegrass palatability is improved by burning [110,150]. Overall, the palatability of pinegrass to livestock and wildlife has been rated as follows:

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:

In general, pinegrass is moderate quality forage, but its overall value declines throughout the growing season [30,98]. It is rated moderate in crude protein value in the spring and early summer which then declines, and moderate in crude fiber value in early summer.  Crude fiber increases toward fall [30,75,98]. The following crude protein (%) and digestible dry matter (%) values for elk were reported in the beginning of July and the end of September on burned (postfire year 3) and unburned quaking aspen sites [24]:

	Crude Protein - July	Crude Protein - Sept.	IVDMD* - July	IVDMD -    Sept.
Burned	14.1	8.8	66.0	56.6
Unburned	18.0	9.8	68.5	57.7

*in-vitro dry matter digestibility

In other studies comparing nutritive values in similar situations, the increased flowering and seed production on the burned aspen sites had apparently caused the decrease in forage quality (decreases in  percent IVDMD, crude protein,  phosphorus, and calcium) [40].

Other authors have also found higher protein values and higher in-vitro digestible dry matter values for pinegrass growing under a forest canopy than in open or thinned areas [98,145]. Hedrick and others [68], however, found crude protein values higher in openings versus under heavy shade in grand-fir-mixed conifer forests in northeastern Oregon.

Pinegrass has higher protein content than timothy (Phleum pratense) or orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) (both of which are used to seed burned Douglas-fir sites) from late June to mid-September [94,134].

Johnston and Bezeau [75] have listed seasonal nutrient composition of pinegrass in Alberta as follows:

Stage	Dry Matter	Protein	Crude Fat	Crude Fiber	Ash	Ca	P
Leaf	91.85	14.90	3.55	28.00	12.25	0.22	0.19
Head	92.37	8.03	2.30	32.73	10.00	0.28	0.17
Ripe Seed	91.70	8.40	3.60	29.00	9.00	0.53	0.17
Cured	92.30	3.33	2.50	29.70	15.70	0.52	0.08
Weathered	95.47	4.40	2.23	35.23	7.77	0.60	0.06

Trace element content analysis of pinegrass shows that copper and molybdenum levels are satisfactory for livestock most of the growing season, whereas zinc is below the minimum requirements for livestock [30].

COVER VALUE:

Because of its low stature, pinegrass provides some cover only to small mammals and birds [41].

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Pinegrass frequently exhibits vigorous growth following disturbance [27,84,85,107,134,155]. Its rhizomes and dense network of fine roots form a thick sod, which holds up under trampling [28,147,149]. In addition, the thick sod provides control of surface soil erosion for watershed protection [30,147]. Pinegrass sod may also play a role in rehabilitation by excluding the establishment of more competitive species [30]. Pinegrass has been included in seed mixtures developed for restoration of disturbed western redcedar-western hemlock sites in Glacier National Park [92].

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

No entry

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Pinegrass abundance and productivity are best on open sites [27,68,145]. In grand fir-mixed conifer types in Oregon, pinegrass production decreased from 260 pounds per acre (291 kg/ha) in unlogged open areas to 60 pounds per acre (67 kg/ha) under closed canopies. In logged areas, pinegrass produced 380 pounds per acre (425 kg/ha) on open sites and 70 pounds per acre (78 kg/ha) on shaded sites [44,68]. Other authors have also reported increases in pinegrass following overstory removal of grand fir in central Idaho [131]. Thinning of ponderosa pine increased pinegrass production by 47% in Oregon [44]; pinegrass cover increased 40% in thinned ponderosa pine in eastern Washington where spacings were greater than 16.5 feet (5 m) [30]. Thinning of lodgepole pine in eastern Oregon resulted in an average increase of 90% in pinegrass [145]; canopy removal increased pinegrass abundance in subalpine forests in British Columbia [97] and in Douglas-fir/pinegrass types in various locations [97,133]. However, on some drier sites overstory removal may cause a decrease in abundance. Pinegrass decreased following logging on low elevation, open Douglas-fir/fescue (Festuca spp.) sites in the Similkameen Valley, British Columbia [97], and in bluebunch wheatgrass phases of the Douglas-fir/pinegrass types in Montana [113].

Pinegrass is a major competitor with conifer seedlings throughout its range [14,50,66,86,108,112,134]. Its ability to aggressively compete for soil moisture is often detrimental to conifer seedling establishment and growth [13,30,84]. This aggressiveness may be useful in areas where overstocking of lodgepole pine is a problem [30]. Due to the lack of a favorable conifer seedbed, seedling establishment is also hindered where thick pinegrass sod occurs [114,122,126,127,134]. Extensive scarification is often required to reduce competition for seedling establishment [113,155]; a 2-by-2-foot (60 × 60 cm) scalp may not be adequate to reduce pinegrass' competitive edge [127,134]. In general, profuse pinegrass flowering can be prevented on conifer/pinegrass sites if some tree cover is left during harvesting [86].  Planting artificial regeneration early, before pinegrass becomes well established, also favors conifer establishment [30,86,114,122,155]. Herbicide control and application rates for pinegrass have been reported by various authors [27,30,100,136]. 

Light to medium soil disturbance from mechanical site preparation or other means is favorable to pinegrass, while heavy disturbance may retard pinegrass growth and reduce its cover by displacing the rhizomes and roots [27,30,53]. Anchor chain drag scarification can increase pinegrass abundance and cover. Disc trenching or patch scarification will initially reduce pinegrass, but the control will be short-lived [27,30]. On Douglas-fir sites in central Idaho, pinegrass underwent a major increase in vegetative growth in response to clearcutting with no additional site preparation. A minor decrease in cover was reported following shelterwood cuts and clearcuts followed by mechanical scarification. A major increase in cover due to vegetative expansion and some establishment of seedlings occurred in clearcuts followed by burning and after wildfires [134].

Pinegrass is susceptible to heavy grazing [27,86,98,159]. This is partially due to the fact that large clumps can easily be pulled out of the ground [30,98,143]. Environmental conditions, especially summer rainfall, affect the response of pinegrass to grazing or clipping, and year-to-year fluctuations in growth because of variability in conditions can exceed variation from grazing treatments [30]. Simulated grazing studies have revealed that pinegrass will decrease in yield and vigor after 1 season of heavy grazing (clipping to 2 inches (5 cm) every 2 weeks), with successive years of grazing causing increasing deterioration. Effects of clipping were less severe in years of high rainfall and/or cool temperatures. It has been estimated after heavy grazing for 4 consecutive years, pinegrass would require 20 years to fully recover. Clipping to 6 inches (15 cm) did not affect pinegrass vigor, and pinegrass was most sensitive to herbage removal in July, when growth was slowing down and summer dormancy was setting in [1,64,98,143]. It has been recommended that pinegrass range be utilized early in the season or in the spring and again in late summer and fall. Grazing pinegrass throughout the growing season is not recommended [1,64,79,98,143]. According to McLean [98], deterioration in pinegrass range is hard to detect in the early stages.

Pinegrass has increased dramatically in abundance and cover following applications of nitrogen-based fertilizers [27,30].

Related categories for SPECIES: Calamagrostis rubescens | Pinegrass