VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Viburnum edule | Highbush Cranberry 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Highbush cranberries are consumed by many small mammals and songbirds
[22,58].  Game birds including spruce grouse and ruffed grouse also eat
the berries [15,34].  Foliage is browsed by beaver, rabbit, and snowshoe
hare [22].

Highbush cranberry is of low to moderate importance as browse to
Roosevelt elk, Rocky Mountain elk, mountain goat, bighorn sheep,
black-tail deer, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and caribou [2,5].  The
foliage is also browsed by moose throughout the year [37,48].

Highbush cranberries are a major food of grizzly bears [3,23,40].  Black
bears consume highbush cranberries in late fall [27].


PALATABILITY : 
Viburnum foliage is low in palatability to livestock [55].

Pease [42] states that Viburnum foliage is highly unpalatable to snowshoe
hare, but others report it to be a preferred hare food in some areas [60].


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Highbush cranberry's current annual stem and leaf growth collected in
July from Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, were analyzed for browse quality to
moose.  In-vitro dry matter digestibility was 52.8 percent and protein
content was 10.3 percent.  Concentrations of the following elements
were found [41]:
                             Macroelements (ppm)
                  Ca          K           Mg         Na
                ___________________________________________
                 3,284      10,798       2,112       106

                             Microelements (ppm)
                  Cu          Fe          Mn          Zn
                ___________________________________________
                  21.0        5.0        24.4        23.5


COVER VALUE : 
Viburnum species are important components of forest-edge and hedgerow
habitats that provide cover for small mammals and birds [21].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
The value of highbush cranberry for rehabilitative purposes has not been
well documented.  It was studied for its use in oil sands reclamation,
but no results were detailed [17].
  


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Highbush cranberries are edible and make excellent jams, jellies, and
sauces if picked before fully mature [29,32,58].  The berries were an
important food of Native Americans of the Bella Coola region of British
Columbia, where a single shrub may yield up to 100 berries [38].  The
plant is cultivated for its brilliant red autumnal foliage [58].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Highbush cranberry is not considered to be a primary competitor to
conifers but is a component of major brush complexes that occur on
moist, productive sites on floodplains or under deciduous canopies.  It
can compete significantly with natural or planted white spruce seedlings
in the Sub-Boreal Spruce and Boreal White and Black Spruce (Picea
mariana) Zones, where it is most abundant [22].

Highbush cranberry has shown varying responses to overstory removal.
Near Prince George, British Columbia, highbush cranberry in white
spruce-subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) forests had not become a
significant component of the vegetation 6 years after clearcutting,
although it was present on all sites prior to the harvest [14].  In
Alberta, highbush cranberry had significantly lower cover in 6- to
12-year-old clearcut areas than in adjacent mature lodgepole pine
stands.  In contrast, logging of a balsam poplar stand in Alaska caused
a dramatic increase in highbush cranberry density.  It was one of the
dominant shrubs and reached 3.3 feet (1 m) in height within 4 years
[22].  In general, frequency and cover are expected to remain constant
or decrease slightly in the first few years after overstory removal.
Vigor may increase slowly on favorable sites [6].

Highbush cranberry is a seed-banking species, and soil disturbance
resulting from mechanical site preparation favors germination of stored
seed.  The disturbance may also provide favorable seedbeds for freshly
deposited seed.  Plants damaged in site preparation sprout from root
stocks and stem bases [6].

Highbush cranberry increased less in a winter-logged balsam poplar stand
than in one that had been summer-logged.  Higher soil disturbance on the
summer-logged site may have stimulated sprouting.  However,
scarification did not enhance cover of highbush cranberry in clearcut
areas near Edson, Alberta [22].  Highbush cranberry was also less
abundant on mechanically prepared sites than on unscalped sites in
interior Alaska.  Frequency and cover of highbush cranberry 3 years
after clearcutting and shelterwood cutting of white spruce stands were
as follows [63]:
  
                        Clearcut                  Shelterwood
                  scalped      unscalped       scalped     unscalped
                _____________________________________________________
Frequency (%)      13.3          38.3            13.3         20.0
Cover (%)           1.8           5.2             1.7          3.2
      
Highbush cranberry can be propagated vegetatively by hardwood or
softwood cuttings, although softwood cuttings are far more successful at
producing roots.  Softwood cuttings root sooner and more prolifically in
sand than in perlite.  Rooting success greatly increases by treating
cuttings with IBA (Indole-3-butyric acid).  Rhizome cuttings also
successfully produce roots when planted immediately after fall
collection [30].

Seeding may also be used for propagation of Viburnums.  Seeds may be
broadcast sown on prepared seedbeds and mulched with sawdust or sown
with drills and mulched with straw.  Seedlings may require shading,
depending on location.  Fertile, moist soils which are neutral to
slightly acidic result in best germination [21].

Herbicides can be used to control highbush cranberry.  Glycophosphate
exhibits good control and causes moderately severe damage to the plant
[2,22].  Aerially spraying a young aspen-balsam poplar stand in June
resulted in 95 percent defoliation and heavy mortality of highbush
cranberry [22].  Roundup also causes defoliation and moderate mortality
rates [6].  Hexazinone does not appear to control highbush cranberry
effectively [2,6].

Highbush cranberry is utilized heavily in tent caterpillar outbreaks
[52].  Aphids, thrips, spider mites, and scale are also likely to occur
on Viburnums.  A leaf spot (Ascochyta viburni) has been found on plants
along coastal British Columbia, and a rust (Puccinia linkii) has been
found on plants in northern British Columbia.  Neither of these diseases
is considered serious [22].

Related categories for Species: Viburnum edule | Highbush Cranberry