• WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE
• IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE
• PALATABILITY
• NUTRITIONAL VALUE
• COVER VALUE
• VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES
• OTHER USES AND VALUES
• MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS

WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE:

The wood of common juniper is fine grained, durable, and reddish with white sapwood [123]. This wood currently has no commercial value.

IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:

Wild ungulates generally eat only trace amounts of common juniper. Deer and mountain goats browse common juniper to at least a limited extent in some areas including Wyoming and Montana [10,35,41,43,55,93,95,111,134]. Levels of use are typically greatest during the winter or early spring. Common juniper can be important winter mule deer food during some years in parts of the Black Hills [29,43,95,99]. It is also used consistently through the winter months by white-tailed deer in the Swan Valley of Montana [92,93]. Caribou have been observed feeding on common juniper after fire [12]. Moose feed on common juniper "sparingly" in northern Michigan [94]. It also receives some light summer use by mountain goats in Montana [111]. In northern Canada, barren-ground caribou browse "fairly often" on common juniper where lichen growth is poor [69]. Hares browse common juniper in parts of Ontario where use may range from low to high [26].

Domestic livestock rarely utilize common juniper. The foliage may be poisonous to domestic goats, although livestock in parts of Europe have reportedly been fed sprays of common juniper with no ill effects [131].

Cones of most junipers are eaten by many species of birds and mammals. Numerous animals, including the American robin and black-capped chickadee, feed on the cones of common juniper whenever they are available. American robins frequently consume large numbers of cones during the spring and fall [101]. In eastern Ontario, cones provide food for cedar and Bohemian waxwings [20]. Wild turkeys also feed on cones of common juniper [27].

PALATABILITY:

The palatability of common juniper to livestock and wildlife species in several western states has been rated as follows [32,55]:

                   CO     MT     ND     SD     UT     WY
Cattle             poor   poor   poor   ----   poor   poor
Sheep              poor   poor   poor   ----   poor   poor
Horses             poor   poor   poor   ----   poor   poor
Pronghorn          ----   ----   poor   ----   poor   poor
Elk                ----   poor   ----   ----   fair   poor
Mule deer          poor   fair   fair   ----   fair   good
White-tailed deer  ----   poor   poor  low-med ----   fair
Small mammals      ----   ----   fair   ----   good   good
Small nongame birds----   ----   good   ----   good   poor
Upland game birds  ----   ----   good   ----   good   fair
Waterfowl          ----   ----   ----   ----   poor   good

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:

Common juniper is rated as poor in overall protein and energy value [32]. Nutritional value of common juniper in South Dakota was reported as follows [43]:

                     Oct. 1   Jan. 2  April 1 July 1
                     ------   ------  ------- ------ 
Moisture (%)         50.27    43.48   43.81   66.13  
Carotene (µg/g)      56.63    16.30   52.08   57.88
Ash (%)               1.41     1.65    2.00    1.38
Crude fat (%)         6.07     7.51    7.16    4.12
Crude fiber (%)      11.28    15.50   12.70    9.51 
Crude protein (%)     4.22     3.30    2.85    3.53
N-free extract (%)   26.75    28.56   31.49   15.35
Phosphorus (%)        0.087    0.081   0.12    0.07
Calcium (%)           0.36     0.85    0.67    0.25 
Iron (ppm)*          94.97    91.02   92.68   40.49
Manganese (ppm)*     43.62    58.82   80.19   45.98
*parts per million

Foliar nutrient levels are as follows [15]:

% oven-dry weight
N     0.91
P     0.12
K     0.42
Ca    1.20
Mg    0.17

ppm      
Al    119
B     15
Cu    3.3
Fe    142
Mn    253
Mo    7.2
Zn    17

Dry          Crude         Crude    Crude
matter (%)   protein (%)   fat(%)   fiber
72.2         3.7           14.3     22.1  

COVER VALUE:

The shade and cover value of common juniper tends to be greatest for birds and small mammals. It provides especially good nesting cover for Merriam's wild turkeys in the Black Hills of South Dakota [59,110]. In New Jersey, it provides winter roosts for short-eared owls [17]. In the Northwest Territories, common juniper branches are used in woodrat nests [112].

The cover value of common juniper for wildlife species has been rated as follows [32]:

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

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Common juniper has low value for short-term rehabilitation projects but moderate to high value for long-term rehabilitation projects. It is useful in preventing soil erosion [32]. Houle and Babeux [63] report that common juniper has potential for restoration in the Canadian arctic and subarctic.

Dietz and others [30] attempted to reestablish common juniper on old burns and on open ponderosa pine sites in the Black Hills. Best results were obtained with bareroot stock planted during late April. Attempts at hand seeding under greenhouse conditions were largely unsuccessful. 

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

Common juniper was used by Native Americans of the Great Basin as a blood tonic [88]. Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest used tonics made from the branches to treat colds, flu, arthritis, muscle aches, and kidney problems [130]. Cones were used by the southern Kwakiutl of British Columbia for treating stomach ailments and wood or bark was used to treat respiratory problems [129]. The Interior Salish used cones to make medicines for a variety of ailments [130]. Eurasians made tonics from common juniper for kidney and stomach ailments, and rheumatism [88,130]. Common juniper contains a volatile oil, terpinen-4-ol, which is known to increase kidney action [130]. Common juniper extract, which can be fatal in even fairly small amounts, was used to make gin and as a meat preservative [88].

Common juniper is highly valued as an ornamental [44]. It is widely cultivated and provides good ground cover even on stony or sandy sites [7,48,101]. This species was first cultivated in 1560 [66].

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Common juniper generally appears to increase in response to grazing [19,102]. Butler [19] observed highest relative common juniper cover in stands heavily grazed by cattle in green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) draws of the North Dakota badlands as follows:

 

	Density	Relative	Foliar	Relative
	(stems/m2)	density	cover (%)	cover
lightly grazed*	0.01	0.02	0.59	0
moderately grazed	0.01	0.23	2.15	3
heavily grazed	0.07	0.11	2.40	5

*sites were classified by the number of trails, extensiveness of lounging areas and distance from water into moderate and heavily grazed.

Related categories for SPECIES: Juniperus communis | Common Juniper