VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Adenostoma fasciculatum | Chamise 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Chamise is important forage more because of its abundance and widespread
distribution than its palatability [121].  It furnishes a large quantity
of low to medium quality browse for both livestock and big game [121].
Chamise is a staple deer food (by volume) throughout much of California
[76,121].  Deer use is often year-round, particularly in northern
California [9,121], but is most concentrated during the summer and fall
[9,50,76,121].  Limited livestock use occurs, primarily during the
spring and summer [95,121,123].  Chamise in mature chaparral is seldom
browsed because stands are too dense for livestock or big game species
to penetrate, making the current growth largely inaccessible
[76,96,121,132].

Chamise sprouts on recently burned sites contribute greatly to total
available forage within chaparral communities [9,76,113,121,123].
Sprouts provide a large volume of medium quality browse for domestic
sheep and goats, and mule deer [9,34,48,121] but are browsed for only
one to two postfire seasons because they rapidly become unpalatable
[9,76,112].  Mule deer and domestic sheep frequently strip the leaves of
sprouts, which are larger, more succulent, and less sclerophyllous than
those of unburned plants [76,121].  Seedling leaves are eaten by
domestic sheep and cattle [25].  Dusky-footed woodrats gather chamise
leaves and bark and store them in dens for year-round consumption [55].

Chamise provides habitat for a variety of small and large wildlife
species [96].  Dense stands serve as hiding, resting, and nesting sites
for many smaller birds and mammals.  Wirtz [132] compiled a list of
common mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds associated with southern
California chaparral.


PALATABILITY : 
Chamise is largely unpalatable to most livestock and wildlife [121];
burning, however, greatly enhances its palatability [9].  Domestic goats
often show a preference for chamise on recently burned chaparral
[34,122,123].  Following goat depletion of California scrub oak (Quercus
dumosa), the animals readily consumed chamise, preferring it over
Eastwood manzanita (Arctostaphylos glandulosa) and desert ceanothus
(Ceanothus greggii) [34,96].

Chamise browse has been rated useless for horses, useless to poor for
cattle, and fair to good for sheep, goats, and deer [121].  Goats
preferrentially select the flower clusters [34].



NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The nutritive content of chamise is not particularly high.  Chamise is a
satisfactory source of digestible energy, but it is not high in
digestible protein [121].  Crude protein values are highest in newly
initiated leaves [121].  Seasonal trends in the crude protein content of
the current growth (stems and leaves) are as follows [8]:

                                      Average % 
                                   (oven-dry basis)    

         winter  (Dec.- Feb.)          7.0
         spring  (Mar.- May)          13.3
         summer  (Jun.- Aug.)          8.3
         fall    (Sept.- Nov.)         5.8

Sprouts contain nearly twice as much water, minerals, and crude protein
per unit of total dry weight as does the current growth of mature plants
[112].  Chemical composition (percent of oven-dry weight) of samples
taken in August in Lake County is compared below [112].

                              young              mature stems/
                             crown sprouts       seeds formed 

    silica-free ash            6.16                1.79
    calcium                    1.26                0.38
    phosphorus                 0.55                0.08
    calcium:phosphorus         2.3                 4.7
    crude protein              17.53               2.89
    crude fiber                12.89               28.71
    moisture content           130                 39


COVER VALUE : 
Chamise provides escape, bedding, resting, and thermal cover for mule
deer [18,96].  In southern California chaparral, bighorn sheep prefer
relatively open habitats on steep, south-facing slopes where the
vegetation consists of a 30 percent cover of chamise, birchleaf
mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides), and chaparral whitethorn [12].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Chamise is suitable for revegetation because of its well-developed root
system and drought resistance.  Horton [52] listed it as useful for
roadside erosion control plantings within chaparral.  Recommended
locations include sunny sites with deep or shallow soils at elevations
between 500 and 3,500 feet (152-1,067 m) and sites with deep soils at
elevations between 3,500 and 6,000 feet (1,067-1,829 m).  Planting of
pot-grown, bareroot stock produces satisfactory results [52].  Bareroot
stock showed a 58 percent survival at the end of 2 years when planted at
2,700-foot (823 m) elevation in soils 2 to 6 feet (.6-1.8 m) deep;
surviving plants reached heights of 4 to 6 feet (1.2-1.8 m) within 8
years.  Two-year-old seedlings transplanted from a burn, however, had
only 5 percent survival [52].

Plants may be propagated in flats from seed sown in winter or spring
[52].  Seeds should be soaked in 10 percent sulfuric acid for 15 minutes
prior to sowing.  Within 4 to 6 months, seedlings usually reach heights
of 2 inches (5 cm) and can be transplanted to pots.  Most seedlings are
ready for field planting after approximately 1 year in the pot stage
[52].  Plants may also be propagated from green wood cuttings taken in
the spring [128].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Chamise was used by Native Americans for a variety of medicinal
purposes.  Chamise oils were used to treat skin infections, and an
infusion of the bark and leaves was used for syphilis [18].  A binding
agent for arrows and baskets was made from scale insects found on
chamise plants [18].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Browse tolerance:  Access to new growth is greatly improved following
fire, and chamise is fairly tolerant of concentrated use at this time
[9,76].  Moderate cropping by deer prolongs the period of enhanced
palatability by keeping sprouts in younger growth stages and by
stimulating additional browse production [6].  Without browsing sprout
bases become woody and are no longer preferred [6,9].  Continued close
browsing, however, kills most plants within 2 to 3 years [9,10].

Chamise is heavily browsed on Santa Cruz and Santa Catalina islands.
Decades of severe overgrazing by feral animals (pigs, sheep, and goats)
has removed more palatable species and given chaparral stands an open,
arborescent structure.  Chamise exhibits a noticeable browse line and a
trend towards increased trunk diameter, canopy coverage, and height
[15].  Chamise produces few basal sprouts under such intense browsing
and is very susceptible to eradication [15,87].

Herbicides:  Chamise is sensitive to 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T [14,37,63,97].
Plants exhibit a wide range of response to ammonium sulfide or benzoic
acid application [37].

Related categories for Species: Adenostoma fasciculatum | Chamise