VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Chamaebatia foliolosa | Sierra Mountain Misery 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Sierra mountain misery is usually considered unpalatable browse of low
nutritional quality [8,32].  The resinous oils of the foliage have a
penetrating odor throughout the growing season that repels most animals.
In winter, when rains have washed the glutinous leaves, wildlife utilize
the plant in varying degrees.  Black-tailed deer consume more of the
foliage than other wildlife.  Deer eat it while migrating, and in some
localities it comprises a great portion of their winter diet.  On the
Jawbone Ridge winter deer range of Tuolumne County, where Sierra
mountain misery has a frequency occurrence of 75 percent, stomach
analysis shows that Sierra mountain misery provides 37 percent by volume
of the deer's winter feed.  This degree of ingestion is more striking
when compared to the volume percentage consumed of better known browse
species.  Wedgeleaf ceanothus (Ceanothus cuneatus) makes up only 12
percent by volume of winter diets of deer on Jawbone Ridge.

Livestock find Sierra mountain misery unpalatable even after winter
rains [29].


PALATABILITY : 
The value of Sierra mountain misery as browse is good to fair for
black-tailed deer, fair to poor for domestic goats, poor to useless for
sheep, and useless for cattle and horses [29].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Nutritive value is reported to lessen in winter months [29], but
quantitative nutritional studies of Sierra mountain misery were not
found in the literature.


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Sierra mountain misery has high value for watershed protection because
it checks runoff, prevents erosion, and maintains the moisture
absorption capacity of soils [32].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Timber:  Sierra mountain misery greatly reduces survival and growth of
conifer seedlings [20,22,23,32].  The deep roots are strong competitors
for limited water resources.  Tappeiner and Radosevich [30] examined its
effect on ponderosa pine seedlings on a good site at the Blogett
Research Station of El Dorado County.  Treatments were: (1) untreated
Sierra mountain misery, (2) Sierra mountain misery sprayed with a
mixture of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T prior to tree planting, and (3) Sierra
mountain misery eliminated by a combination of herbicides, clipping, and
grubbing to stop root and rhizome invasion.  After 3 years, ponderosa
pine seedling survival was only 13 percent on untreated plots.  Spraying
prior to planting resulted in 71 percent survival, and complete control
resulted in 97 percent survival of trees.  After 19 years, tree heights
averaged 5.2 feet (1.6 m) with no treatment, 6.2 feet (1.9 m) with the
herbicide mixture, and 18.7 feet (5.7 m) with the combination of
treatments.  When this loss is extended to 50 years, net wood production
would have been reduced an estimated 75 percent as a result of Sierra
mountain misery competition.

Control:  Sierra mountain misery is sensitive to intermediate in
response to foliar spraying of phenoxy herbicides and is susceptible to
such applications of dicamba and tricolpyr [5,18].  Aerosol application
of tricolpyr temporarily reduced Sierra mountain misery canopy volume by
94 to 96 percent on the Tahoe National Forest [18].  Sierra mountain
misery may sprout vigorously following herbicide treatment, and one
application probably will not provide adequate contol.  Plants may
actually be rejuvenated by a single treatment.  Thorough site
proparation, which controls Sierra mountain misery before planting and
permits good establishment of conifer seedlings, followed by sraying of
Sierra mountain misery sprouts is recommended.  Growth of conifer
seedlings and competing Sierra mountain misery should be evaluated for
at least 10 years after planting [30].  Best results are obtained when
herbicides are applied in spring or early summer during the period of
new leaf initiation [18]. Sierra mountain misery can also be controlled
by grubbing.

Plywood, used as an unusual mulch for Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga
menziesii) seedlings on a plantation in the central Sierra Nevada,
killed Sierra mountain misery beneath it and increased soil moisture
available to seedlings in midsummer [22].

Control of Sierra mountain misery is problematic for forest managers.
Although it greatly inhibits growth of young conifers, it is of
considerable value as a slope stabilizer of watersheds and because it is
a host species for nitrogen-fixing bacteria [32,35].  Additionally,
Sampson and Jesperson [29] believed that heavy black-tailed deer use on
some winter ranges should be taken into consideration when managing this
species.

Related categories for Species: Chamaebatia foliolosa | Sierra Mountain Misery