• 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:

Bush muhly is readily eaten by livestock throughout the year when available; however, it is usually not abundant enough to provide much forage. It is grazed heavily in winter when other species become scarce [43]. Because of its branching habit, it is extremely susceptible to heavy grazing [41,43]. Bush muhly is damaged when continuously grazed to a stubble height of less than 4 inches (10 cm) [22].

PALATABILITY:

Bush muhly ranges from average to highly palatability to all classes of livestock, depending on season and precipitation [8,43]. With sufficient moisture, bush muhly may remain green throughout the year and is especially palatable in the winter and prior to summer rains when other grasses are dry [22,40,41].

The palatability of bush muhly for livestock and wildlife species in Utah is rated as follows [12]:

Cattle                 Good
Domestic sheep         Fair
Horses                 Good
Pronghorn              Fair
Elk                    Poor
Mule deer              Poor
Small mammals          Fair
Small nongame birds    Fair
Upland game birds      Poor
Waterfowl              Poor

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:  

Bush muhly is rated good in energy value and poor in protein value [12]. Nutritional value (%) for fresh, mature bush muhly is as follows [33]:

Ash                    6.6
Crude Fiber           37.3
Ether extract          2.1
N-free extract        46.8
Protein (N × 6.25)     7.2
Calcium                0.39
Phosphorus             0.10

COVER VALUE:

Cover value of bush muhly for wildlife species in Utah is rated as follows [12]:

Small mammals           Good
Small nongame birds     Fair
Upland game birds       Poor
Waterfowl               Poor

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Compared with other grasses, bush muhly was rated with regard to its potential in rehabilitation work as follows [12]:

Potential biomass production         Medium
Erosion control potential            Medium
Establishing requirements            Medium
Short-term revegetation potential    Low
Long-term revegetation potential     Medium

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

No entry

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Grazing: Bush muhly can be very susceptible to heavy winter grazing when it is green and other plants are scarce [43]. In southern Arizona there was a marked increase in bush muhly after 4 years of protection from cattle and domestic goat grazing [7]. When growing beneath shrubs, the shrubs may provide some protection from large herbivores [43].

Martin and Morton [28] report that on the Santa Rita grazing unit near Tucson, Arizona, bush muhly density increased more under yearlong grazing than rotation grazing. The yearlong units received higher rainfall than the rotation units.

Other: Bush muhly increased in size when tebuthiuron was used to kill creosotebush, but bush muhly density remained the same [15,32]. Increased growth of bush muhly was not observed when land imprinting and 2-way railing were used because these mechanical methods did not kill the shrubs. Disking killed most of the bush muhly plants [32].

In areas where creosotebush is less than 3 feet (1 m) in stature, bush muhly appears to affect the creosotebush detrimentally and in some instances may be responsible for its death by competing for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight [43].

Related categories for SPECIES: Muhlenbergia porteri | Bush Muhly