VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Shepherdia argentea | Silver Buffaloberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Silver buffaloberry is a valuable forage species for mule deer,
pronghorn, and grizzly bear [11,54,75,86].  It is browsed by mule deer
in Montana and constituted 15 percent of mule deer summer diets in 1969
[11].  In North Dakota silver buffaloberry is an important browse
species in mule deer winter diets [39].  In the northern Great Basin,
deer and elk browse silver buffaloberry [54].

In Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, silver buffaloberry fruits
are eaten by sharp-tailed grouse, cedar waxwings, other passerine
species, and small mammals [14,41,44,76].  In the northern Great Plains,
the fruit of silver buffaloberry provides the best native winter food
source for sharp-tailed grouse [15,44].  In Montana sharp-tailed grouse
feed primarily on silver buffaloberry buds in the winter [76].

Silver buffaloberry is nearly worthless as livestock forage due to its
thornlike twigs [39,41].  In Utah cattle and sheep make limited use of
silver buffaloberry [41].  In the northern Great Basin, silver
buffaloberry is fair forage for sheep [54].  Forage production under
dense, thorny, monotypic stands of silver buffaloberry is low; as stands
open up, forage production increases due to invasion by Kentucky
bluegrass [28].


PALATABILITY : 
Palatability ratings for silver buffaloberry are as follows [10,85]:  

                CO       MT       ND       UT       WY

cattle         poor     poor     poor     poor     poor
sheep          poor     fair     fair     fair     fair
horses         poor     poor     poor     poor     poor



NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Silver buffaloberry nutritional values are rated as follows [10]:

                           UT      CO      WY      MT      ND

elk                       fair    fair    fair    ----    ----
mule deer                 fair    ----    good    good    good
white-tailed deer         ----    ----    fair    fair    poor
pronghorn                 fair    ----    poor    poor    fair
upland game birds         good    ----    fair    fair    good
waterfowl                 fair    ----    poor    ----    ----
small nongame birds       good    good    fair    fair    good
small mammals             good    ----    fair    fair    ----

Energy rating is fair and protein content is poor [31]; however,
Erickson [13] stated that the protein content of silver buffaloberry is
sufficient to meet maintenance requirements of sheep and cattle during
the growing season.  Silver buffaloberry fruit gross energy is
4.937 kcal/gram oven-dry matter and crude protein is 8.4 percent of
oven-dry matter [14].
  


COVER VALUE : 
Silver buffaloberry cover values are rated as follows [10,28]:

                            UT      CO      WY      MT      ND

elk                        fair    ----    poor    good    ----
mule deer                  fair    fair    good    good    good
white-tailed deer          good    fair    good    good    good
pronghorn                  fair    ----    poor    ----    fair
upland game birds          good    ----    good    good    good
waterfowl                  fair    ----    poor    ----    ----
small nongame birds        good    ----    good    good    good
small mammals              ----    ----    good    fair    ----

In the northern Great Plains, silver buffaloberry provides nesting cover
for sharp-tailed grouse and many species of passerine birds [15,17,26].
In Montana the distribution of sharp-tailed grouse increases in areas
containing high densities (10-15% canopy cover) of silver buffaloberry
[59].

In Montana silver buffaloberry provides thermal and hiding cover for
livestock, upland game birds, small mammals, and big game [28].  In
North Dakota silver buffaloberry provides bedding sites for mule deer
[39].  


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Silver buffaloberry adapts well to disturbed or degraded sites in the
Intermountain region [36,58].  It is used for multiple-row windbreaks,
shelterbelts, erosion control, wildlife habitat enhancement, and land
reclamation [36,44,77,85].  Nursery-grown stock readily establishes on
disturbed sites and once established, silver buffaloberry is a good soil
stabilizer [29].  Silver buffaloberry is used for erosion control in
riparian areas in the Intermountain region [52].    

In the northern Great Plains, silver buffaloberry is not recommended for
shelterbelt plantings because of high winds which may uproot plants
[21,22].  Silver buffaloberry is an actinorhizal pioneer species that is
widely planted for land reclamation in the northern Great Plains [44].
It is used for rehabilitating mine spoils in the northern Great Plains
and Utah [4,5,39,85].  Restoration of coal mine spoils increases when
trickle irrigation is used for 2 years.  In North Dakota this technique
increased the survival rate of silver buffaloberry by 257 percent [5].
Dryland techniques for establishment of silver buffaloberry on bentonite
and low-salt coal spoils was moderately successful; survival rate of
silver buffaloberry at the start of the third year was 7 percent [4].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Plains Indians and pioneers preserved the fruit of silver buffaloberry
and made a sauce from the berries that was eaten with bison meat
[28,36,39,41,68].  Today the fruit is used to make pies, jams, and
jellies [41,39,68].

Silver buffaloberry is planted as an ornamental [36,70].  
   


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
In the Black Hills silver buffaloberry has strong browsing resistance,
aided by thorny branches and the ability to sprout from the root crown
[85].  In Nevada silver buffaloberry decreases with grazing [43].  In
the Badlands of North Dakota, three green ash draws exposed to different
grazing intensities were selected to determine the effects of browsing
on silver buffaloberry height.  The mean height of silver buffaloberry
on the lightly browsed, moderately browsed, and heavily browsed sites
was 8.2 feet (2.49 m), 7.1 feet (2.17 m), and 7.3 feet (2.21 m),
respectively.  Both shrub- and tree-height silver buffaloberry had
highest density and percent cover on moderately browsed sites [8].

Silver buffaloberry fixes nitrogen [77].  

Silver buffaloberry is susceptible to leaf spot, white heart rot, and
insect parasites [21,44,61].  White heart rot can lead to brittle wood
and subsequent breakage of branches by wind and snow [21].  Rodents may
harvest planted seeds and girdle young plants [85].  

Silver buffaloberry is difficult to transplant from its native habitat
[39].  For field transplanting, root cuttings will give best results
[52].  At the Woodward Field Station in Oklahoma, 9-year-old silver
buffaloberry transplants were 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and similar in spread
to plants growing in native ranges, but were less vigorous [40].

In silver buffaloberry stands trails are established by livestock and
deer which may open the stands to invasion by weedy species [28].

Related categories for Species: Shepherdia argentea | Silver Buffaloberry