• 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:

Utah juniper has long been used for construction, fence posts, firewood, pencils, Christmas trees, and other purposes [4,14,67,80]. Utah juniper wood is highly decay resistant [83].

IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:

Utah juniper is used by many birds and animals, both wildlife and livestock, for cover and food.

PALATABILITY:

Juniper "berries" or berry-cones are eaten by jackrabbits and coyotes [80]. Many bird species depend on juniper berry-cones for fall and winter food [9]. The foliage is grazed by mule deer when other foliage is scarce and during periods of deep snow [67,39,43,55]. Although deer mice and other small mammals are common in Utah juniper stands, in deer mice feeding trials in Nevada, Utah juniper seeds were the least preferred food choice of 28 seeds [47].

Large mammal use of Utah juniper is outlined in the following table [31,55,60,74,92,91,87,109,113]:

 

Species	NV	UT	AZ	NM	CO
mule deer	medium, in winter	medium to high, in winter	low	low	high, in winter
elk	--	--	low	medium, in winter	low
domestic sheep	--	none to low	--	--
cattle	--	none	--	--
pronghorn	--	--	low to medium	--	--

NUTRITIONAL VALUE:

Utah juniper is only moderately nutritious forage. The tree has low concentrations of manganese, iron, potassium, and phosphorus compared to other forage. Utah juniper does have high calcium, but with a calcium to phosphorous ratio of 28 to 1, animals probably would not do well on it [25]. Winter crude protein levels are from 6.4 to 7.9%. Eight percent protein is considered a maintenance value for mule deer [39]. In a Utah feeding trial, Smith [112] concluded that Utah juniper's low protein content makes it very poor feed, especially for young animals. In vitro dry matter digestibility for Utah juniper, measured in the fall, was 44.1% in a Utah study. Fifty percent is considered to be a maintenance level for mule deer [28].

Nutrient content of Utah juniper is as follows [90]:

Nutrient	Content
Ash (%)	4.5
Crude fiber (%)	22.0
Ether extract (%)	16.3
N-free extract (%)	50.8
Protein (%)	6.4
Calcium (%)	1.59
Magnesium (%)	0.25
Phosphorus (%)	0.17
Thiamine (mg/kg)	2.4

Utah juniper needles contain volatile oils--monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, and sesquiterpenes--that, in high concentration, can be damaging to the microorganisms in a deer's rumen and prevent proper digestion of food [39,104]. In a study comparing Utah juniper oil with that of alligator juniper and Rocky Mountain juniper, Utah juniper was most inhibitory of rumen microbial activity. Deer are able to detect the volatile oil content of food and will preferentially browse foods with lower content [39].

COVER VALUE:

Utah juniper is an important cover and shelter species for several large animals, including mule deer throughout its range, elk for winter cover in Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico, desert bighorn sheep throughout the Southwest, bison in Utah, wild horses throughout the West, mountain lion and lynx in Utah, Wyoming and Arizona, and pronghorn in Utah and Nevada [32,43,55,82,84,87,109].

Several small animals are also commonly found in pinyon-juniper woodlands, including the porcupine, desert cottontail, deer mouse, Great Basin pocket mouse, chisel-toothed kangaroo rat, desert woodrat, and others [55,121]. A study of small mammal populations on unchained, and on 8-year-old, and 15-year-old chained pinyon-juniper woodlands in Colorado found greater species diversity on the unchained site, although lower total numbers of animals [94].

Many reptiles also rely on the pinyon-juniper ecosystem for habitat [55].

Seventy-three different bird species breed in pinyon-juniper habitat woodlands, although of those, only 5 are obligates (screech owl, gray flycatcher, scrub jay, plain titmouse, and gray vireo) and 13 semi-obligates [9]. Ferruginous hawks nest in Utah juniper trees [68].

A study of chained juniper woodlands in Colorado concluded that breeding bird densities were more than double on unchained than on 8-year-old and 15-year-old chained areas. There were no breeding species in common between the 2 types of sites, since the woodland supported tree-dependent species, and the chained sites supported ground- and shrub-nesters. Species diversity was also greater on the unchained sites [94].

VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:

Utah juniper is generally considered too slow growing to be useful as a site rehabilitation species [126].

OTHER USES AND VALUES:

No entry

MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:

Currently one of the most important economic values of pinyon-juniper woodlands is for livestock grazing [98].

In northwest Colorado, chaining Utah juniper stands to increase livestock production resulted in a significant reduction of bird species diversity (p<0.05) and an increase in the number of small mammals [105].

Utah juniper is occasionally heavily infested by juniper mistletoe (Phoradendron juniperum ssp. juniperum) and dense mistletoe (P. bolleanum ssp. densum) [123].

Related categories for SPECIES: Juniperus osteosperma | Utah Juniper