VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Juniperus californica | California Juniper 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
California junipers are rarely used for sawn products because they are
small and have poor growth form [24].  California juniper has a low tree
volume and is too poorly formed to have measurable volume in main-stem
sections [6].  Juniper fenceposts are well known in rangelands, where it
is said that "a juniper post will outlast two post holes" [6].  Besides
a source of fenceposts, California juniper is also a source of fuelwood
and Christmas trees.  As technology improves and demand increases,
California juniper may become more important [24].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
California juniper in pinyon-juniper woodlands provide food and shelter
for deer, elk, pronghorn, wild horses, Merriam's turkeys, and other
animals.  The berry crops that are produced annually are consumed by
birds and mammals [2].  As California juniper matures, its foliage
becomes too high for deer to reach, thus providing little winter forage
[4,9].  On winter range, California juniper serves as emergency food for
sheep and goats and as staple browse for deer [31].

On Christmas Tree Pass, Nevada, areas of dense California juniper
supported birds such as Scott's oriole (Iclerus parisorum), Lesser
goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria), bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus), mourning
dove (Zenaida macroura), ladder-backed woodpecker (Picoides scalaris),
ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula), and ash-throated flycatcher
(Myiarchus cinerascens) [5].


PALATABILITY : 
Palatability of California juniper is fair to poor for deer and goats,
poor to useless for sheep, and useless for cattle and horses [31].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
California juniper provides fair to poor cover for deer and other
similar-sized mammals when vegetation is sparse; the cover value
improves as vegetation becomes more dense [24].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Native Americans used California juniper wood for sinew-backed bows.
They also ground up the berries (ie. fleshy cones) and molded them into
cakes, which were said to taste sweet [33].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Silvicultural information pertaining to pinyon-juniper is sparse.
Silvicultural situations and methods depend on management and stand
characteristics.  California juniper is not suitable for seed-tree
regeneration [12].  Rotations for wood production are long because of
slow growth rates.  These vary from 100 years at best sites to 300 years
at poor sites.  For Christmas trees, the rotation is 20 to 50 years
[24].

Harvests of California juniper should remove merchantable trees with
poor growth form that are infested with mistletoe, or those not expected
to survive until the next harvest.  Slash burning after a harvest should
reduce fire hazard to acceptable conditions.  Christmas tree cutting
should be exclusive to younger stands [24].

Thinning pinyon-juniper woodlands is usually not cost effective unless
Christmas trees or some other product can be removed [32].  

California juniper can be important for watershed management [19].

Juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperinum ssp. juniperinum) is
specific to juniper species and is the most important pathogen in
pinyon-juniper woodlands [24].  In lower parts of the Sierra San Pedro
Marti, California, juniper is susceptible to another mistletoe,
Phoradendron bolleanum ssp. densum [16].

For trees infected with dwarf mistletoe (Arceuthobium spp.), the
shelterwood method (even-aged management) can be effectively used for
treatment in stands if seedlings are not infected.  In severely infected
stands, clearcutting is often the only effective method for treatment
and preventing its spread.  Prescribed fires when used with clearcutting
to increase forage yield kill infected seedlings and reduce logging
slash [32].

Related categories for Species: Juniperus californica | California Juniper