The following description of saline wildrye provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available (e.g. [10,19,68,69]).
Saline wildrye is a native perennial grass [10,19,33,69]. It grows in dense tufts that are mostly erect and 13 to 55 inches (35-140 cm) tall [10,19,69].
Saline wildrye leaves are primarily basal, 0.04 to 0.2 inch (1-5 mm) wide, and may be flat or more often strongly involute [10,19,22,69]. Leaves are glabrous to rarely pubescent [19,69]. The slender, erect spikes are 1.6 to 6 inches (4-15 cm) long and 0.1 to 0.3 inch (2.5-8 mm) wide [10,19,69]. Spikelets are usually solitary at nodes, but occasionally occur in pairs at some or all nodes [10,19,68]. Spikelets are 0.35 to 0.8 inch (9-20 mm) long with 2 to 6 flowers [10,19,69].
Saline wildrye is occasionally rhizomatous [10,69]. Rhizomes are generally stout and short [10,22,69], though they may also be well-developed [69]. Some controversy exists as to the consistency with which saline wildrye exhibits a rhizomatous growth habit. Cronquist and others [19] describe large saline wildrye bunches that give the appearance of being nonrhizomatous, especially when growing on heavy clay soils; however, under close inspection, short rhizomes are apparent.
Saline wildrye is distributed throughout the Great Basin, Southwest, and Rocky Mountain states, extending from California east to Colorado and New Mexico, and north to Montana. However, the range of each subspecies varies [33]. L. s. ssp. mohavensis is found primarily in California and Arizona [30,33], though it is also reported in Colorado, Nevada and Utah [30].L. s. ssp. salinus occurs throughout the range of saline wildrye except in California and Idaho, while L. s. ssp. salmonis occurs in Idaho, Nevada, and western Utah [6,33].
Plants database provides a distributional map of Saline wildrye and its infrataxa.
Fire adaptations: According to a review by Bradley and others [16], Saline wildrye can survive fire via its root crown and rhizomes [16]. However, no experimental evidence is available.
FIRE REGIMES: Little is known regarding the specific relationship between saline wildrye and fire. Saline wildrye rarely occurs in pure stands [6]; it is generally found as a minor or occasionally dominant component of several plant communities. Fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems in which saline wildrye occurs are summarized below. Find further fire regime information for the plant communities in which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".
No additional information is available on this topic. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS SPECIES: Leymus salinus
Palatability/nutritional value: Saline wildrye provides a moderate amount of fair quality, coarse forage during the growing season, but is unpalatable when mature and dried [64,69]. Palatability has been rated poor to good for sheep and fair to good for cattle and horses [21]. The following table presents nutritional information of saline wildrye sampled in Utah [57]:
Cal./kg % protein % carbohydrate % fat % ash % moisture 2,750 12.5 55.9 0.60 24.1 6.9 Cover value: Saline wildrye cover value has been rated poor to fair for mule deer, poor to good for upland game birds, and fair to good for small nongame birds and small mammals [21].
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
Saline wildrye may be useful for revegetating burned [6] or otherwise disturbed areas [47]. It establishes moderately well from transplants, and will spread by seed once established [47]. Saline wildrye is valuable for soil stabilization on steep, erosive clay hillsides [64].
OTHER USES:
No information is available on this topic.
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
Field trials in the eastern Central Great Plains demonstrated that Saline wildrye has high survivability and forage production potential, perhaps indicating usefulness in livestock production [66]. However, excessive livestock grazing may decrease saline wildrye success [9].
Saline wildrye increases in density following shrub overstory removal [60].
Saline wildrye is found on dry slopes, steep rocky mountainsides and flat to gently sloping benches, ridges, saddles, and plateaus [9,10,19,30,35,47,64,68,69]. Other typical sites include alkaline bluffs, washes, canyon sides, and alluvial fans [9]. Soils range from fine textured clays and loams [9,19,21,68] to coarse textured sand and rock [21,69], though growth is better on intermediate soil textures than on sands or clays [21]. Atkins and others [6] suggest that subspecies salmonis is adapted to more xeric sites than subspecies salinus. Saline wildrye is drought resistant and moderately tolerant of alkaline environments [9,19,47,64], though it rarely occurs on low-lying alkaline sites [69].
Though some authors report that saline wildrye is restricted to a narrow elevational range [37], it actually occurs from just over 4,000 feet to 10,000 feet (1,200-3,050 m), indicating a wide range of occurrence [9,21,30,34,35,69]. Elevational ranges for saline wildrye are presented by state below:
Arizona 5,000 feet (1,525 m) [35] California 4,430-6,650 feet (1,350-2,000 m) [30] Colorado 5,200-8,500 feet (1,585-2,590 m) [21] Nevada 5,000-6,500 feet (1,525-1,980 m) [34] Utah 4,990-10,000 feet (1,520-3,050 m) [21,69] Wyoming 8,200 feet (2,500 m) [21]Saline wildrye commonly occurs in salt desert shrub, desert shrub, sagebrush
(Artemisia spp.)-grass, pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper
(Juniperus spp.), mountain brush, ponderosa pine (P. ponderosa),
and aspen (Populus tremuloides) communities [69].
Saline wildrye is often a dominant grass in Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii)
and pinyon-juniper communities [19]. In Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis)
-Utah juniper (J. osteosperma) stands, saline wildrye occurs with black
sagebrush (A. nova), plains prickly-pear (Opuntia polyacantha),
Fremont's goosefoot (Chenopodium fremontii), nodding buckwheat (Eriogonum cernuum),
and Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) [27]. In singleleaf pinyon
(P. monophylla)-Utah juniper/ Rocky Mountain juniper (J. scopulorum)
it occurs with bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and green
rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus) [37]. Other common species in
pinyon-juniper communities include Ross' sedge (Carex rossii),
western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), needle-and-thread grass (Hesperostipa
comata), galleta (Pleuraphis jamesii), mutton grass (Poa fendleriana),
and Sandberg bluegrass (P. secunda) [61].
In true mountain-mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus) types, saline wildrye occurs
with Fremont's goosefoot, nodding buckwheat, and Indian ricegrass [27]. In curlleaf
mountain-mahogany (C. ledifolius) communities, common associates are Indian
ricegrass, blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), and mountain big sagebrush
(Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana) [60]. In the Great Basin desert shrub
communities, saline wildrye is commonly found with winterfat (Krascheninnikovia
lanata), Indian ricegrass, galleta, globemallow (Sphaeralcea spp.), spiny hopsage
(Grayia spinosa), black sagebrush, budsage (A. spinescens), fourwing
saltbush (Atriplex canescens), bottlebrush squirreltail, and dropseeds
(Sporobolus spp.) [31].
Saline wildrye may codominate with Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp.
wyomingensis), shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia), or Gardner's saltbush
(A. gardneri) in Colorado [8,9].
Classifications identifying saline wildrye as a plant community dominant include
the following:
Little information on the regeneration processes of saline wildrye is presently available, though it apparently employs both sexual and vegetative modes of reproduction [47].
Breeding system: No information is available on this topic.
Pollination: No information is available on this topic.
Seed production: Seed production of saline wildrye has been described as "good" [47].
Seed dispersal: When established by transplant, saline wildrye spreads readily by seeding [47].
Seed banking: No information is available on this topic.
Germination: No information is available on this topic.
Seedling establishment/growth: Limited information indicates that initial seedling establishment of saline wildrye is not highly successful due to the combined effects of low seed germination and poor seedling vigor. Once established, however, saline wildrye spreads readily, persists on a variety of sites [47,48] and grows rapidly [47].
Asexual regeneration: saline wildrye spreads readily through vegetative growth [47].
The scientific name of saline wildrye is Leymus salinus (M.E.
Jones) A. Love (Poaceae) [10,33,41,68].
Salina wildrye subspecies are as follows:
Leymus salinus ssp. salinus
Leymus salinus (M.E. Jones) A. Love subsp. mohavensis Barkworth
& Atkins [10,30,33]
Leymus salinus (M.E. Jones) A. Love subsp. salmonis (C.L. Hitchc.)
Atkins [10,30,33]
Saline wildrye (L. s. subsp. salmonis) hybridizes with bottlebrush
squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), though
resulting plants are sterile [32].
