VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Salix alaxensis | Alaska Willow 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Alaska willow is often the only wood available for fuel in parts of
northern Alaska [44].  


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Alaska willow is an extremely important moose browse.  When browsing,
moose often pull down and break Alaska willow branches and trunks up to
1.5 inches (4 cm) in diameter [44].  A study on the north slope of
Alaska indicated that moose browsing of Alaska willow thickets was
intense, with up to 90 percent of available twigs eaten every winter.
In some areas of the north slope, it provided over 95 percent of winter
moose browse [9].  In Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska willow
accounted for 44 percent of all biomass consumed by moose in winter
[35].

Willows (Salix spp.) in general are a preferred food and building
material of beaver [2].  Willow shoots, catkins, leaves, and buds are
eaten by numerous small mammals and birds [16].  Alaska willow is
browsed by snowshoe hare, sometimes quite heavily [46].


PALATABILITY : 
Alaska willow is highly palatable to moose.  Moose prefer it over tall
blueberry willow (Salix novae-angliae), Park willow (S. monticola),
tealeaf willow (S. planifolia ssp. pulchra), littletree willow (S.
arbusculoides), highbush cranberry (Viburnum edule), paper birch (Betula
papyrifera), balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), and aspen (P.
tremuloides); but it is less palatable than sandbar willow (Salix
interior) [32,47].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Alaska willow stems have relatively high moisture, protein, and caloric
contents [32].  Stems collected in March from the interior of Alaska,
had the following nutritional values [30]:

                    (percent by dry weight)
  protein   ether extract    crude fiber   nitrogen free extract
    7.0          2.7            33.6               54.5

Nutritional data from an analysis of Alaska willow collected between
January and April in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, are
presented below [36]:
                                                            cell wall
gross energy    % in vitro digestible   crude protein      constituents
(Kcal/gram)        organic matter       (% dry matter)    (% dry matter) 
   5.14                 38.8                 7.1              57.6

acid detergent
    fiber              lignin                ash           ether extract
(% dry matter)     (% dry matter)       (% dry matter)    (% dry matter)
   43.6                 16.6                 2.0               7.7


COVER VALUE : 
Alaska willow forms thickets which presumably provide cover for
wildlife.  


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Within its range, Alaska willow is recommended for wildlife habitat
restoration, streambank protection, and reclamation of sites disturbed
by mining and construction.  Alaska willow cuttings successfully
established on sites disturbed by pipeline construction in Alaska [9]
and in the Northwest Territories [27].  The Alaska Plant Materials
Center released the cultivar 'Rhode' for this project in 1985 [48].
Three general methods of planting Alaska willow on disturbed sites in
Alaska are:  (1) planting cuttings [9,10,18,27,33], (2) transplanting
containerized rooted cuttings or seedlings [8,48], and (3) planting
bundles of dormant branches [48].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
All willows produce salacin, which is closely related chemically to
aspirin.  Native Americans used various preparations from willows to
treat tooth ache, stomache ache, diarrhea, dysentery, and dandruff [29].
Native Americans also used flexible willow stems for making baskets,
bows, arrows, scoops, and fish traps [21].  Hulten [19] reported that
native peoples of Alaska ate the inner bark of Alaska willow.


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Species: Salix alaxensis | Alaska Willow