VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Black huckleberry provides food, shelter, and cover for wildlife.
Numerous birds including sharp-tailed grouse, greater prairie chicken,
bobwhite quail, wild turkey, mourning dove, catbird, and scarlet tanager
eat the berries [19,52].  Black bear, gray fox, and fox squirrel also
eat the berries.  White-tailed deer, snowshoe hare, and cottontail
rabbit browse stems lightly [19,50].


PALATABILITY : 
Black huckleberry was not highly preferred by white-tailed deer and
snowshoe hare [50].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Black huckleberry is used for erosion control on sterile acidic sites [19].

In Lehigh Gap, Pennsylvania, black huckleberry cover and density were
less where soil was contaminated with heavy metals from a nearby smelter
than in uncontaminated areas [23].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Black huckleberry fruits are edible [8].

Black huckleberry is occasionally used in ornamental plantings [19].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Niering and Goodwin [36] recommend black huckleberry for right-of-way
clearings in Connecticut where trees interfere with powerlines.  Dense
black huckleberry thickets resisted invasion of trees for at least 15
years in a right-of-way from which trees were originally removed by
herbicide application [36].

Black huckleberry is recommended for restoration of the native dwarf
pitch pine-oak forests of the New Jersey pine barrens.  Black
huckleberry is a native component of this forest and provides long-term
stability, structural diversity, and wildlife benefits [17].

Propagation techniques are described for black huckleberry [19].

Equations for predicting black huckleberry biomass are available [43,44].

Related categories for Species: Gaylussacia baccata | Black Huckleberry