VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Atriplex gardneri | Gardner's Saltbush 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Gardner's saltbush provides nutritious forage for livestock and wildlife
species throughout its range [19,42].  Antelope, mule deer, rabbits, and
mourning doves browse Gardner's saltbush [44].  Its persistent leaves
are an important winter food source.  It is particularly important for
sheep because it provides the minimum nutritional requirement for
maintenance of gestating ewes [1,10,18,43].



PALATABILITY : 
Gardner's saltbush is a generally palatable, year-round food source for
livestock and wildlife [8,45].  In Utah, it is rated as fair in
palatability for cattle, pronghorn, mule deer, and small nongame birds,
good for sheep and small mammals, and poor for horses, elk, and
waterfowl [8].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Gardner's saltbush is rated fair in energy and protein values [8].
Crude protein, expressed as percentage of dry matter, averages 7.2 for
Gardner's saltbush [7].  Mineral content is as follows [23]:

                                             Percent Dry Weight
                                   P         Fe       K        Ca       Na
Gardner's saltbush (dry site)    0.22      0.14     2.48     1.86     6.21
Gardner's saltbush (irrigated)   0.19      0.12     1.03     1.41     8.46


COVER VALUE : 
In Utah, Gardner's saltbush provides poor cover for pronghorn, elk, mule
deer, and waterfowl, and fair cover for upland game birds, small nongame
birds, and small mammals [8].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Gardner's saltbush has an extensive, highly branched root system, and
tolerates poor site conditions.  It is used to stabilize soils and to
reclaim disturbed sites [45,46].  It had one of the highest survival
rates of all shrubs planted on processed oil shale in the Uinta Basin of
Utah.  Processed oil shale is low in available phosphorous, nitrogen,
and potassium.  It was one of only two species to establish on coal mine
spoils in Wyoming [12,31].  Cover and biomass, by year, for the Wyoming
mine spoil plots are shown below [31]:

       Cover (%)             Biomass (%)        Biomass (g/m2)
      1976  1978             1977  1978          1977   1978
      <1.0   5.0              2.3  32.2           1.4   18.3

Direct seeding of Gardner's saltbush seed is usually unsuccessful due to
conditions required for germination.  Under laboratory conditions, seeds
required a combination of stratification, scarification, afterripening,
and washing to completely overcome dormancy [1].  Seedlings can be used
to revegetate a site.  Survival of transplanted Gardner's saltbush at
one Wyoming site was 100 percent [15].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Although overgrazing may reduce plant vigor, winter grazing of up to 35
percent of total plant biomass allows for maintenance of Gardner's
saltbush populations [10].  Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus), a species
poisonous to livestock, is unable to invade moderately grazed Gardner's
saltbush sites [10].

Related categories for Species: Atriplex gardneri | Gardner's Saltbush