VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Abies lasiocarpa | Subalpine Fir 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
Subalpine fir wood is odorless, light-weight, soft, and low in bending
and compressive strength [11].  It is easy to work, glues well, and
holds nails and screws fairly well.  The wood is primarily used for
products such as lumber for home construction and for prefabricated wood
products [9].  Subalpine fir has excellent pulping properties [9].  Use
for poles and pilings requires large amounts of preservatives because
the wood decays rapidly [108].


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Subalpine-fir-dominated stands generally do not produce enough forage
for livestock but do provide browse and cover for large and small
wildlife species.  Mule deer, elk, moose, woodland caribou, black bear,
and grizzly bear often use subalpine fir habitats as summer range
[10,23,113]].  Subalpine fir forests are generally not suitable winter
range for deer and elk because of heavy snowpack, but some lower
elevation subalpine fir habitat types are used by moose and woodland
caribou during the winter [23,61,89].  Subalpine fir forests support
numerous species of small mammals and birds.  The snowshoe hare, flying
squirrel, red squirrel, porcupine, pine marten, fisher, lynx, and
several species of mice, voles, chipmunks, and shrews all inhabit
subalpine fir forests [26,104,113].  Numerous species of birds nest and
feed in subalpine fir forests, including several woodpeckers,
flycatchers, kinglets, nuthatches, juncos, thrushes, chickadees,
crossbills, the pine siskin, owls, and grouse [104,113].

The young growth of subalpine fir is sometimes eaten by mule deer, elk,
bighorn sheep, and snowshoe hares, but it is not an important food item.
Subalpine fir comprises only a small portion of the summer diet of
mountain goats but can be a major food source in the winter and spring
[99].  Throughout much of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, subalpine fir is
an important winter food of moose [89].  On moose winter range near
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, an average of 13 to 18 percent of small subalpine
fir trees were browsed by moose, and 44 to 78 percent of the branches on
trees browsed were utilized [61].  In Yellowstone National Park, grizzly
bears sometimes strip the bark of subalpine fir to feed on the
underlying cambium [19].  The winter diet of blue grouse consists
primarily of conifer needles.  These grouse often winter in subalpine
stands and may feed heavily on the needles and buds of subalpine fir
[103,113].

Subalpine fir seeds are eaten by several species of small mammals and
birds.  Red squirrels eat seeds from cached subalpine fir cones [71].
Fir seeds are also eaten by chipmunks and mice.  Several birds,
including chickadees, nuthatches, crossbills, the pine siskin, and the
Clark's nutcracker remove and eat the seeds from fir cones [49,77].
Because subalpine fir seeds are large, comprising about 26 percent of a
cone's weight, they are an energy-efficient food source for small birds
[49].  Small birds may make considerable use of fir seeds, but their
foraging is scattered and sporadic throughout subalpine forests [49].


PALATABILITY : 
The palatability of subalpine fir to domestic livestock is low [30].
Its palatability to big game animals is generally low also, but in some
locations it is highly palatable to moose and mountain goats during
winter and spring [89,99].  The seeds are palatable to numerous small
mammal species [77].  Red squirrels generally eat subalpine fir seeds
after other cached conifer seeds have been consumed [71].  The needles
are highly palatable to blue grouse.

The relish and degree of use shown by livestock and wildlife species for
subalpine fir in several western states is rated as follows
[30,61,89,96]:

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


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Subalpine fir is low in protein value but fair in energy value [30].
Percent composition of subalpine fir browse collected near Jackson Hole,
Wyoming, was as follows [61]:

  date              crude        ether       crude      nitrogen
collected          protein      extract      fiber    free extract
 11/25              5.57         7.53        20.19      50.26

A study in Montana found the following concentration of elements in
subalpine fir needles and twigs [110]:

      1-yr-old green needles    twigs < 0.25 inch (0.64 cm) in diameter
     (micrograms/gram [mean])           (micrograms/gram [mean])
Ca             9722                               5840
Cu                7.4                                7.9
Fe               64                                182
K              5553                               7031
Mg              819                               1038
Mn             1020                                587
N             10690                               4962
Na              103                                124
P              1450                               2254
Zn               43                                  5
          (percent [mean])                    (percent [mean])
Ash               3.5                                3.5


COVER VALUE : 
Big game:  Subalpine fir habitat types provide excellent hiding cover
for deer, elk, mountain goats, moose, and bear [10,113].  Certain low
elevation subalpine fir forests may be used by elk during calving, and
high elevation subalpine fir forests by bighorn sheep during lambing and
lamb rearing [113].  Dense stands provide cool summertime shade for big
game animals [71].  In Yellowstone National Park, grizzly bear daybeds
are often found in subalpine fir stands [19].

Small mammals and birds:  Small subalpine firs provide good year-round
hiding cover.  Dense thickets of small trees are often nearly
impenetrable and provide hiding places for small mammals such as
snowshoe hares and porcupines [13,71].  Blue grouse often overwinter in
subalpine trees and rely almost exclusively on them for escape cover
[103].  Subalpine fir snags are used by numerous cavity-nesting birds,
but are generally less preferred than those of associated conifers
[105].

The degree to which subalpine fir provides environmental protection
during one or more seasons for wildlife species is as follows [30]:

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


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Subalpine fir can be planted on disturbed sites within forest vegetation
types where it naturally occurs [92].  It is generally recommended for
cool and moist sites within subalpine areas [120].  Its erosion control
potential is listed as medium in Utah and Montana, and high in Colorado
[30].  Because this wide-ranging tree exhibits a large degree of genetic
variation, seed or nursery stock for rehabilitation projects should come
from a local source.  Transplanting nursery stock is generally more
successful than direct seeding [92].  Seedlings exhibit very slow
initial growth and are therefore usually outplanted as 2- to 3-year-old
seedlings [41].  Wild seedlings may also be transplanted [120].  A
maximum spacing of 10 x 10 feet (3 x 3 m) has been recommended for
seedlings or transplants [120].  Methods for collecting, processing,
testing, storing, and planting subalpine fir seeds have been discussed
in detail [32,41].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Subalpine fir is sometimes used as a landscape plant to produce
screenings or windbreaks [114].  In the Pacific Northwest it is
sometimes transplanted into rock gardens or simulated subalpine settings
[69].

Native Americans used various parts of subalpine fir for numerous
purposes.  A hair tonic was prepared by mixing powdered needles with
deer grease.  Finely ground needles were also sprinkled on open cuts.
Sticky resin collected from the bark was boiled and used as an
antiseptic for wounds or as a tea for colds.  Boughs were placed in
rooms for their aroma, and pulverized needles were used as a body scent
or as perfume for clothing [53].

Resin from the bark is used in the optical industry and in laboratories
as a cement for lenses and microscope slides [71].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Timber harvest:  Shelterwood and individual tree selection silvicultural
methods favor subalpine fir over Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine (Pinus
contorta), and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); clearcutting and
group selection cutting favor subalpine fir over Pacific silver fir
(Abies amabalis), grand fir (A. grandis), and mountain hemlock (Tsuga
mertensiana) where they grow together [11].  The seed tree method is
generally not used because of the susceptibility of subalpine fir to
windthrow [11].  In the Rocky Mountains, clearcutting and shelterwood
cutting have been the most commonly used harvesting methods in
old-growth Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir stands because these stands
tend to be even-aged and overmature [8].  Uneven-aged silviculture can
pose a problem because residual subalpine fir trees damaged during
thinning operations are susceptible to attack by decay fungi.
Silvicultural systems and cutting methods for managing subalpine fir
have been discussed in detail [7,8,9,11].

Pests and diseases:  Subalpine fir is attacked by numerous insects.  The
most destructive seem to be the western spruce budworm, western balsam
bark beetle, and balsam woolly aphid [11].  Subalpine fir is one of the
most common hosts of the western spruce budworm.  This pest generally
attacks low and middle elevation subalpine fir forests but is largely
absent from high elevation forests [21].  The balsam woolly aphid has
virtually eliminated subalpine fir from some stands in the Cascades
[11].  Other insect pests include the Douglas-fir tussock moth, western
black-headed budworm, and fir engraver beetle.

Subalpine fir is sucseptible to annosus root disease, caused by the
fungus Heterobasidion annosum, which results in root and butt decay.
Outbreaks of this disease are often centered around large 20-year-old or
older fir stumps that contain the fungus' fruiting bodies [102].
Subalpine fir is most seriously affected by this disease in the northern
and central Rocky Mountains [123], and is affected to a lesser extent in
the Pacific Northwest [102].  Subalpine fir is susceptible to several
other wood rotting fungi that cause heart, trunk, butt, or root rots,
including brown stringy rot, red heart rot, red ring rot, shoestring
rot, brown cubical rot, white spongy root rot, and white pocket rot
[39].  Trees weakened by wood rots often become infested by fir engraver
beetles and usually succumb to windfall and breakage [11].  Fir broom
rust is another common problem in Engelmann spruce-subalpine fir stands
and causes bole deformation, spike tops and wind breakage, and makes
trees more susceptible to decay fungi [11].

Habitat for threatened and endangered species:  Old-growth subalpine fir
stands in northern Idaho may provide critical habitat for woodland
caribou [23].  Numerous subalpine fir habitat types, especially those
containing huckleberries (Vaccinium spp.), provide critical habitat for
grizzly bears [127].

Related categories for Species: Abies lasiocarpa | Subalpine Fir