VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Ribes oxyacanthoides | Northern Gooseberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Inland gooseberry berries were 0.3 percent of total annual grizzly bear
diet volume in Yellowstone National Park [23].

Mule deer browse inland gooseberry foliage in summer and fall.  In
southern Montana inland gooseberry was 3 percent by volume of mule deer
diet in the fall [40].  Umatilla gooseberry was browsed by elk July
through September in the Selway Game Preserve in Idaho [41].


PALATABILITY : 
Palatability of inland gooseberry foliage is poor for sheep, cattle, and
horses [6].  Umatilla gooseberry is not highly palatable to elk [41].
Ribes oxyacanthoides fruit is more or less palatable to humans [15,39].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The nutritional value (based on dry weight) of inland gooseberry fruit
collected when ripe in Yellowstone National Park was 7.2 percent
protein, 5.2 percent ether extract, 9.7 percent fiber, 66.7 percent
nitrogen-free extract, and 11.2 percent ash.  The fruit contained 0.36
percent calcium and 0.29 percent phosphorus [23].

Protein content (dry weight) of inland gooseberry foliage was 7.6 to
12.1 percent on unburned sites and 11.2 to 19.1 percent on recently
burned sites in central Montana [19].


COVER VALUE : 
Cover values for inland gooseberry are as follows [6]:

                           ND       WY
Pronghorn                 poor     poor
Elk                       ----     poor 
Mule deer                 good     fair 
White-tailed deer         good     fair
Small mammals             ----     good
Small nongame birds       ----     good
Upland game birds         ----     good 
Waterfowl                 ----     poor


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Ribes oxyacanthoides is an alternate host for white pine blister rust
(Cronartium ribicola) which infests five-needled pines.  Because of
their association with the rust, Ribes spp. have been a target of
various eradiction studies [27].  Efforts to eradicate Ribes spp. have
had some success only in the Great Lakes States.  Only a few Ribes
bushes per acre are sufficient to perpetuate blister rust [12].

Inland gooseberry occurs in riparian woodlands in the Upper Missouri
Basin which are in decline from overuse by cattle [37].  Ribes spp.
generally decrease in abundance and canopy cover with moderate grazing
[4].  However, inland gooseberry showed no statistically significant
differences in height between grazed and ungrazed areas and cut and
uncut areas during a 6-year study in a riparian woodland in southwestern
North Dakota [37].

Umatilla gooseberry, once found along many drainages in the palouse
prairie region of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon, has
declined because streambanks in the region have been highly modified by
grazing and agriculture.  Sinnott [31] located only one population.

Related categories for Species: Ribes oxyacanthoides | Northern Gooseberry