VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Deschampsia cespitosa | Tufted Hairgrass 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Tufted hairgrass provides good to excellent forage for all classes of
livestock [70,90].  It is often an abundant source of forage throughout
its growing season [100].  Tufted hairgrass is sometimes cut for hay on
native meadows [46,94].

In Arizona tufted hairgrass provides excellent forage in mountain
meadows [56].  In Colorado it produces an abundance of forage [46].  In
western Montana tufted hairgrass/sedge (Carex spp.) meadows are among
the best summer range for cattle [73].  In the western United States
tufted hairgrass is listed in the category of most desirable as
livestock forage in aspen (Populus spp.) forests [72].  In moist
habitats in California tufted hairgrass furnishes fresh succulent
grazing all summer [84].

In Wyoming tufted hairgrass/sedge alpine and subalpine communities are
the most extensive and most productive vegetation types for grazing by
domestic sheep and wildlife.  Tufted hairgrass is a preferred forage
species, consistently grazed by both sheep and wildlife [53].

Tufted hairgrass forage value for wildlife has been rated fair to good
[90].

Use of tufted hairgrass by wildlife species is variable.  Tufted
hairgrass is frequently grazed by bears [43].  Feral horses in the
foothills of western Alberta consume tufted hairgrass; in 1976, tufted
hairgrass constituted a maximum of 1.7 percent of fecal fragments in
November-December and a low of 0.8 percent in January-March.  Annual
average was 1.3 percent [83].  Sitka black-tailed deer in low-elevation,
old-growth stands of western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)-Sitka spruce
(Picea sitchensis) on Admiralty Island, Alaska, did not eat tufted
hairgrass from January to March.  They ate only trace amounts of tufted
hairgrass in April and June and none from July to September.  Mean
composition (dry weight) of tufted hairgrass was 1 percent of deer feces
from October to December [41].  Columbian black-tailed deer in southern
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, did not eat tufted hairgrass in a
sedge meadow community, even though it was very abundant [22].


PALATABILITY : 
Tufted hairgrass provides palatable early spring through summer growth
[43].

In California cattle admitted to tufted hairgrass range before the
plants are mature readily consume it.  In moist areas the plant
continues to furnish fresh succulent grazing throughout the summer [84].

In Utah during the summer tufted hairgrass ranks good in palatability
for cattle and fair to good for sheep.  However, mature leaves are
grazed only slightly [94].

Tufted hairgrass forage palatability has been rated as follows [26]:

                         UT      CO      WY      MT     ND
         Cattle         good    good    good    good   good
         Sheep          fair    fair    good    fair   good
         Horses         good    good    good    good   good


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Tufted hairgrass energy value is fair; protein value is poor [26].

The following wildlife food values have been reported for tufted
hairgrass:

                            Montana     Utah     Wyoming

     Elk                      good*     good       good
     Mule deer                fair*     fair       fair
     White-tailed deer        fair*     ----       fair
     Pronghorn                fair*     poor       poor 
     Upland game birds        fair*     fair       poor
     Waterfowl                good*     fair       fair
     Small nongame birds      poor*     fair       fair
     Small mammals            poor*     fair       fair

* Values reported in [5].  All other values reported in [26].

In vitro digestibility of tufted hairgrass cellulose was determined
for five growth stages:  leaf stage, heading, seed ripe, cured, and
weathered.  Cellulose content, percent digestibility of cellulose, and
calculated percent digestible protein for each growth stage were as
follows [3]:

                    Percent    Percent Cellulose       Percent
                   Cellulose     Digestibility    Digestible Protein

    Leaf Stage       30.0             44.6               5.0
    Heading          34.5             31.1               2.1 
    Seed Ripe        33.9             25.7               1.6
    Cured            34.7             13.4               0.7
    Weathered        34.2              6.2               0.3

In southeastern Alaska, tufted hairgrass nutritive value was monitored
bimonthly (except March) for 1 year (1981) to assess seasonal changes in
chemical composition.  Reported percent dry weights were as follows [40]:

Percent        Jan 9     May 27       Aug 3      Sept 29      Nov 30

NDF*           70.7       54.9        56.5        78.2         85.3
ADF**          37.3       28.0        25.2        42.9         48.4
Cellulose      22.1       23.1        21.3        33.6         37.4
IVDMD***       29.7       44.9        40.7        22.6         10.8
Total Ash      14.3        5.0         6.0         4.8          3.4
Nitrogen        1.14       3.55        1.26        0.50         0.69      
Phosphorus      0.14       0.29        0.16        0.06         0.06
Potassium       0.60       2.27        1.76        0.44         0.24
Calcium         0.19       0.16        0.48        0.09         0.11

*    NDF:  Neutral Detergent Fiber     
**   ADF:  Acid Detergent Fiber
***  IVDMD:  In-Vitro Dry-Matter Digestibility (12 hour) 


COVER VALUE : 
Tufted hairgrass cover value is reported as follows [26]:

                            MT         UT         WY
 
     Upland game birds     poor       fair       fair  
     Waterfowl             good       fair       fair
     Small nongame birds   poor       fair       good
     Small mammals         poor       good       good


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Tufted hairgrass has a broad ecological range and is useful for
revegetation, particularly on disturbances at high elevation or high
latitude [10].  Tufted hairgrass occurs on acidic or pyritic mine spoils
at high elevations throughout the western United States [10].  It grows
at a medium rate compared to other grasses used at these sites; it has a
poor rate of spread.  Tufted hairgrass has good competitive ability
compared to other plants evaluated for high latitude revegetation [43].
It has low to medium potential for short-term revegetation; it has
medium to high potential for long-term revegetation [26].  It is a
valuable soil stabilizer [43,48], especially in wet, acid locations
[43].

Tufted hairgrass has been successfully established by seeding on alpine
disturbances.  Seeds from locally adapted populations have been most
successful [8,9].  For disturbances on well-developed soils that contain
minimum amounts of toxic substances, seeds can be selected from a broad
range of relatively well-adapted populations.  On sites with limiting
spoil characteristics, selection from metal and/or acid tolerant
populations is more successful.  Some tufted hairgrass populations are
highly tolerant of lead, zinc, copper, or manganese contaminated
tailings [43].  Late fall seeding is most successful; seedling
establishment is improved if seeds are exposed to cold dormancy over
winter [10,17].

Although tufted hairgrass is typically associated with mesic meadows,
the U.S. Forest Service has had success revegetating dry, windblown,
disturbed sites at high elevations using ecotypes from similar habitats
[100].  On sites with severely limiting edaphic factors, a high tufted
hairgrass seeding rate, ameliorative soil treatment, and fertilization
may be necessary for tufted hairgrass establishment [10].  Tufted
hairgrass responds to nitrogen inputs, but has good growth rates over a
broad range of nitrogen and phosphorus availability [8,9].

Tufted hairgrass can be established by transplanting soil plugs or sod
in which it is established.  In Nevada in the Lake Tahoe Basin, tufted
hairgrass seeds and vegetation were part of wetland plugs which were cut
from a mature wet meadow, allowed to grow out, recut, and successfully
transplanted [38].  Tufted hairgrass plugs were planted on spoils of an
open-pit copper, gold, and silver mine at 9,800 feet (3,000 m) elevation
in the Beartooth Mountains of Montana.  Tufted hairgrass survival after
1 year was 72 percent [11].  At the site of a backfilled gas pipeline
trench at Rollins Pass, Colorado, tufted hairgrass sod was removed
during plant dormancy, stored for 2 weeks during construction, and
replaced.  Tufted hairgrass sod recovery after 18 years was excellent;
it was the most successful of the native sods used [12].

In the Rocky Mountain foothills of west-central Alberta, tufted
hairgrass naturally colonized spoils of abandoned coal mines [82].  In
the Sudbury, Ontario, mining and smelting region north of Lake Huron,
tufted hairgrass invaded moist sites on barrens following smelter
closure.  The barren lands had been subject to logging, fire, soil
erosion, enhanced frost action, sulphur dioxide fumigation, and copper,
nickel, and iron particulate fallout [101].

Tufted hairgrass is suitable for boreal revegetation work [93].  In the
Richardson Mountains on the Yukon Territory-Northwest Territories
border, tufted hairgrass seed from a northern collection was planted in
early June 1979, along with 21 other grass seed selections.  At the time
of seeding there was no vegetative cover on the shale borrow pit
material.  Tufted hairgrass was one of the five most successful
selections.  It emerged in 77 percent of microsites in 1979.  By 1985,
tufted hairgrass had increased through natural reseeding and occupied
100 percent of microsites; from the original 3.3 feet (1 m) between
microsites it had spread until it approached a solid stand.  By 1985,
100 percent of extant tufted hairgrass plants were producing seed [93].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Tufted hairgrass is a decreaser with excessive grazing by cattle
[73,97,104].  However, it is tolerant of moderate amounts of fairly
close grazing [43,84] because of dense growth and tillering.  Grazing
practices should allow for ample seedset to maintain stands [94].

Tufted hairgrass is favored by moderate grazing in areas where shrubs
and other vegetation invade in the absence of grazing.  In Marin County,
California, tufted hairgrass bunchgrass terrain dominates on the grazed
side of a road; on the grazing-excluded side, coyotebrush (Baccharis
pilularis) and common velvetgrass (Holcus lanatus) have replaced tufted
hairgrass [27].

Long-term, intensive herbage removal is detrimental to tufted hairgrass
and reduces seed production.  Carabohydrate reserves become depleted
after sustained close grazing, resulting in declines in root length,
basal area, and leaf length.  Eventually stand composition shifts to
other species [97].  A clipping study of tufted hairgrass was conducted
in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, California.  Tufted
hairgrass on treatment plots was given four clippings per growing season
for 4 years.  Control plots were clipped once in late September after
plant senescence.  In the fifth year no clipping was done.  Productivity
during the fifth year on the treatment plots was only 45 percent of that
on the control plots [87].

Tufted hairgrass is a key indicator of condition and grazing utilization
of mountain meadows in California [84].  In Wyoming tufted hairgrass is
a key representative of the desirable grass group in alpine and
subalpine areas and can be used as an indicator of the response of this
group to grazing.  The best-condition alpine and subalpine sedge/tufted
hairgrass communities have the highest proportion of tufted hairgrass
[53].

Seed properties of tufted hairgrass, including percent fill, viability,
and longevity, are variable among years.  It may be necesary to harvest
seeds 1 to several years prior to reclamation of a disturbed area in
order to obtain an adequate supply of viable seeds [14].

High seeding rates of tufted hairgrass may inhibit succession and the
establishment of greater species diversity.  If the objective of
revegetation is to provide immediate surface protection with long-term
successional development of a diverse community, then low seeding rates
are recommended [10].

Species composition and dominance in tufted hairgrass meadows are very
sensitive to fluctuations in the water table.  Lowering the water table
through channel cutting, poor road locations, or drought has changed
site potential and favored the expansion of Kentucky bluegrass (Poa
pratense) and perennial forbs in the central Oregon pumice zone.  Raised
water tables favor sedge and rush (Juncus spp.) dominance.  Livestock
grazing in late spring and early summer may result in severe soil
displacement and pedestalling of tufted hairgrass clumps on wet soils
[97].

Related categories for Species: Deschampsia cespitosa | Tufted Hairgrass