VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Artemisia californica | California Sagebrush 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Little information concerning animal consumption or preferrence for
California sagebrush browse has been published.  Sampson and Jesperson
[73] reported it as "limitedly" browsed by black-tailed deer and rarely,
if at all, browsed by livestock.  Spurlock and others (in [64]),
however, reported it as highly preferred by goats year-round.  Feral
sheep and goats on the Channel Islands browse California sagebrush
heavily [6,56].


PALATABILITY : 
California sagebrush foliage is stronger in aroma and more bitter in
taste than other sagebrush species, which may tend to repel some
browsing animals [73].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The percent crude protein (oven-dry basis) of California sagebrush
browse is as follows [3]:

     March      13.1
     May        12.6
     July       10.4
     September   8.8
     October    10.7

The leaves contain 3.1 percent nitrogen and 0.25 percent phosphorus (Mooney
and Chu, in [59]).


COVER VALUE : 
As a dominant species and one of the tallest subshrubs in the coastal
sage scrub community, California sagebrush provides thermal and escape
cover for small birds and mammals.  Many species of birds utilize it for
roosting and nesting cover, including the California knatcatcher [93].
The orange-throated whiptail lizard, another threatened species,
habituates openings between California sagebrush and other coastal sage
scrub shrubs [76].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
California sagebrush is commonly selected for rehabilitation of degraded
coastal sage scrub and watershed, and for improvement of wildlife
habitat.  A natural colonizer, it is easily established from
commercially available seed.  It also transplants well [7].
Hydroseeding is the common method of seed application.  One such seeding
involved the replanting of a coastal sage scrub community following
construction of the Point Pederrales Pipeline in Santa Barbara County.
In the first year, average frequency of seedlings was 33 percent, and
average seedling density in 100-meter-square plots was 50.7 [12].
Project leaders working at other sites have reported similar success in
establishing California sagebrush by hydroseeding [5,33,35].  Hillyard
and Black [35] provide a list of coastal sage scrub species suggested
for coplanting and the ratio of seed of each species included in various
seed mixes.

California sagebrush seedlings outplanted in an old field in the
Sepulveda Wildlife Reserve near Van Nuys showed 75 percent survival in
the first year [33,67].  Transplantings on other project site have also
been successful [18,39].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Chumash Indians used California sagebrush for windbreaks.  Branches were
used as firesticks and arrow foreshafts.  Poultices or hairwashes were
applied for treating headaches.  The shrubs were also used for ritual
purification, especially in ceremonies relating to death.  Plants were
soaked in water used for ceremonial bathing or sprinkling, or were
burned.  Bundles of California sagebrush were erected along paths to
shrines [79].

Spanish settlers regarded California sagebrush as a panacea for most
ailments.  They drank tea made from the shrub to treat bronchial
problems and used it externally as a wash for wounds and swellings [11].
Early miners put California sagebrush sprays in their beds to repel
fleas [11].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Coastal sage scrub occupies about 2 percent of the state's total area:
about one-fourth of the total area of chaparral.  Because it occurs at
low elevation, coastal sage scrub not under the public domain has been
greatly reduced in size due to agricultural and urban development [75].
  
Rangeland:  A bare zone often develops around California sagebrush,
particularly on coastal sage scrub-annual grassland ecotones.  Causes of
this bare zone are complex and are at least partially attributable to
climate, herbivory, and allelopathic inhibition [59,71].  Halligan
[26,27] found that ecotonal bare zones were revegetated in one growing
season where small animal exclosures were constructed.  In a later study
[28], he found that California sagebrush leaf leachate inhibited growth
of some herbaceous species, especially exotic annuals, while growth of
other herbaceous species was not affected.

Establishment and survival of coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia)
seedlings were significantly greater (p<0.4) under California sagebrush
than in adjacent open areas [8].

California sagebrush populations have greatly decreased in numbers on
Santa Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands under heavy browsing by feral
sheep and goats.  On portions of these islands where livestock has been
excluded, California sagebrush has rapidly colonized denuded areas
[6,56].

Control:  California sagebrush is sensitive to aerosol application of
2,4-D and sensitive to intermediate to such application of 2,4,5-T [66].

Related categories for Species: Artemisia californica | California Sagebrush