VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Vaccinium angustifolium | Low Sweet Blueberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Browse:  The black bear, eastern cottontail, and white-tailed deer feed
on the foliage of low sweet blueberry [71].  In spruce-fir forests of
north-central Maine, it is preferred deer browse [112].  In central
Pennsylvania, deer use is light year-round [30]; deer often eat
overwintering shoots during the early spring [17] and browse plants
during fall and winter [131].  Low sweet blueberry is an important moose
browse in parts of Maine [112] but is rarely eaten in northeastern
Minnesota [85].  Domestic sheep commonly avoid low sweet blueberry
browse [72].

Fruit and flowers:  Fruit is readily eaten by a wide variety of birds
and mammals [70].  In some areas, it is a particularly important late
summer-early fall ptarmigan food [158].  Flower buds are readily eaten
by ruffed grouse during the winter and are considered a major food
source during February in some areas [131].  

Wildlife species that feed on the fruit include:  mammals - black bear,
red fox, raccoon, red-backed vole, and many species of mice
[17,70,99,132]; birds - American robin, common crow, and eastern
bluebird [70,132].  Wildlife species that eat the fruits of Vaccinium
spp. in general include:  mammals - white-footed mouse, fox squirrel,
red squirrel, eastern spotted skunk, gray fox, and many species of
chimunks [100,108,124,157,160]; birds - wild turkey, ruffed grouse,
spruce grouse, gray catbird, brown thrasher, rufous-sided towhee,
northern mockingbird, black-capped chickadee, red-cockaded woodpecker,
starling, cardinal, scarlet tanager, Canada goose, herring gull,
whimbrel, quail, and thrushes [108,157,160].


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
The food value of berries and browse varies seasonally, and with site
characteristics, geographic location, and fire history [29,143].

Fruit:  Fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, natural sugars,
niacin, and manganese [31,123].  Berries are relatively high in
carbohydrates and soluble solids but contain little sodium or fat
[13,31,123,164]. Fruit averages approximately 41 calories per 0.5 cup
[123], with sugar concentration ranging from 0.03 to 0.34 percent [168].
Overall nutrient value is rated as moderately low [164].  Average
vitamin and mineral content of low sweet blueberry fruit on a wet weight
basis is available [31].

Browse:  Nitrogen typically decreases from July 22 to September 22
during crop years but increases during years in which no fruit
production occurs [147].  Levels of phosphorus, calcium, manganese,
potassium, and magnesium also exhibit seasonal fluctuations [147].
Nutrient content of low sweet blueberry leaves is as follows [72]:

Nutrients -              N          P           K         Ca          Mg
Range of
Concentration (%) -  1.50-2.00  0.08-0.121  0.40-0.55  0.40-0.65  0.15-0.20


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Low sweet blueberry may have potential use for rehabilitating certain
types of disturbed sites.  It is tolerant of metals and grows in stunted
form on industrially damaged sites near Sudbury, Ontario [165].  Plants
have recolonized strip-mined areas in West Virginia [79] and reclaimed
mined peatlands of the Northeast [53].  Rhizomes can sometimes aid in
preventing soil erosion on steep slopes [72].

Low sweet blueberry can be readily propagated from hard, semihard, and
softwood cuttings, and from rhizome segments [26,63,90,95].  Side-shoot
cuttings can be used to supplement regular cuttings where rapid
propagation is desired [90].  Cuttings generally root within 6 weeks
[4]; those taken in fall and winter often root best [82].  Detailed
information on vegetative propagation techniques is available
[14,47,63,82,95].

Low sweet blueberry can also be propagated by seed [124]. Cleaned seed
averages 1,972,174 per pound (4,344/g) [44].  Seedlings can be
transplanted to flats after 6 to 7 weeks [12].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Traditional uses:  Native Americans traditionally valued low sweet
blueberry fruit.  Berries were eaten fresh, dried, baked and added to
soups, or mixed with venison and other meats [72,132,157].  Early
European settlers ate the fruit fresh or used it to make jams, jellies,
and preserves [157].

Modern uses:  Low sweet blueberry is the most important commercial
blueberry in the northeastern United States and Canada [34].  It is
grown commercially in Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and
Maine [31,113].  A major portion of the crop is gathered from managed
wild stands [157].
  
Most fruit is used in processed foods such as pie or muffin mixes,
pastries, jam, ice cream, and yogurt [17,31,72,132].  Berries are also
used to make wine and various juice products [17,72].  Low sweet
blueberry is the blueberry most commonly used for commercial canning
[123].  Fruit is also freeze-dried.  The development of the frozen food
industry in the 1940's promoted rapid expansion of low sweet blueberry
cultivation [157].

Recreation use:  Throughout its range, the low sweet blueberry is prized
by recreational berry-pickers.  Blueberry picking is an important
recreational activity in many areas [93].  In the early 1980's, an
estimated 20 percent of all summer tourists engaged in blueberry picking
in parts of the Great Lakes region [132].

Horticultural value:  Plants are ornamental and can be used as
shrubbery, hedges, or as fruiting ground cover [123].  The cultivar
'Tophat' is used only for ornamental purposes and is well suited for
bonsai [123].  Low sweet blueberry has potential for use in breeding
northern fruit-producing stock [45,81] and is well suited to small
farms, since 5 to 10 acres is sufficient to produce a significant
quantity of fruit [7].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Competition:  In some areas, low sweet blueberry is described as a
"troublesome" brush species that can interfere with red pine
regeneration [52].  In other areas, however, jack pine regenerates
better in monotypic stands of low sweet blueberry than in mixed stands
of sweet-fern, bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), and fireweed
(Epilobium angustifolium) [41].

Herbicides:  Low sweet blueberry can be controlled by 2,4-D, and 2,4,5-T
[124].  Herbicides such as hexazinone and Terbacil have been widely used
in commercial fields to eliminate weeds that compete with low sweet
blueberry [77,137,172].

Environmental Considerations:  Low sweet blueberry is tolerant of acid
rain (pH < 3.5) [129].  Studies indicate that plants can survive at
least shortterm exposure to acid rain with a pH of 2.5.  Low sweet
blueberry could increase in response to acid rain in boreal forests
[129].  It is apparently resistant to emissions produced by zinc
smelters [91].

Wildlife:  The reproductive success of black bears has been correlated
to annual blueberry crops.  Poor blueberry crops can limit black bear
reproductive success as well as overall survival in aspen-birch-conifer
forests of northeastern Minnesota.  In Wisconsin bears depredations
such as damage to crops and beehives and livestock losses typically
increase during poor berry years [125].

Timber harvest:  Although opening a closed stand can improve the growth
and vigor of low sweet blueberry, clearcutting and postharvest burning
does not ensure the development of a lush stand of blueberry [65].  Hall
[65] observed that after growing in the heavy shade of a closed forest
canopy, many plants were killed by postharvest burns.  Survival may be
greater if plants are allowed to grow and increase in vigor before
burning [65].  Thinning for pulpwood cuttings can result in vigorous
growth of low sweet blueberry [65,70] as plants spread by rhizomes into
opened areas.  Response to various types of timber treatments has been
reported [9,10,134].

Fruit production:  Low sweet blueberry fruit production is strongly
influenced by weather conditions, climate, pollinator availability,
light intensity, genetic factors, and nutrient levels at the time of bud
initiation [16,70,147].  Fruit production is limited under low light
intensity [67,150]; production is virtually nil at 50 to 500
foot-candles [67].  Shade produced by competing weeds can often reduce
fruit yields [67].

Cross-pollination by insects is necessary for good fruit set
[87,103,168].  Aalders and Hall [1] observed that fruit set ranged from
approximately 81 to 90 percent in cross-pollinated plants but from only
0 to 52 percent in self-pollinated plants.  Yields tend to be lower in
fields containing both velvetleaf blueberry and low sweet blueberry than
in fields containing only low sweet blueberry [1].  In some areas, the
widespread use of insecticides has decimated wild bee populations.
Although honeybees are less effective pollinators than wild bees,
growers often add honeybees in an effort to improve fruit set
[1,102,111,166].

Related categories for Species: Vaccinium angustifolium | Low Sweet Blueberry