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Western Tansymustard

Descurainia pinnata (Walter) Britton

Broad-scale Impacts of Plant Response to Fire

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: forb, frequency, prescribed fire, seed, wildfire

Disturbance level and fire severity:
Fire disturbance generally favors western tansymustard; however, severe fire may
reduce western tansymustard's seed bank. On singleleaf pinyon-Utah juniper of west-central Utah,
western tansymustard was about equally frequent on burned plots and on plots
that were burned and chained [131]. After wildfire in a Utah juniper community
in Nevada, western tansymustard was present at postfire year 1, with abundance
peaking at postfire year 4. Sites where severe fire killed the junipers and
reduced the understory to ash were devoid of vegetation until postfire year 4,
when western tansymustard and cheatgrass established [153]. Absence of
vegetation prior to postfire year 4 on severely burned sites suggests that the seedbank was destroyed,
and western tansymustard and cheatgrass seeds were transported to the site after fire.

Fall prescribed burning in a basin big sagebrush community in east-central Oregon had no significant
effect on western tansymustard frequency in postfire year 1 or 2 [148]. See the Research Project Summary of this work for more information on fire effects
on western tansymustard and 60 additional forb, grass, and woody plant species.


The Research Project Summary
Nonnative annual grass fuels and fire in California's Mojave Desert

also provides information on prescribed fire and postfire response
of western tansymustard and other plant community species.

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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Common Names

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
western tansymustard

green tansymustard

pinnate tansymustard

Menzies' tansymustard

Nelson's tansymustard

Payson's tansymustard
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cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Conservation Status

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
Western tansymustard is globally ranked as G5: demonstrably secure [48,126,169,176,195]. State and National Park rankings are as follows:

Location Rank Georgia SR: Reported from the state, but without persuasive documentation [48] Missouri (D. p. subsp. pinnata) SH: Historical. Has not been relocated within the last 20 years, but may be rediscovered [117] New Hampshire SX: Extirpated from the state [126] New York (D. p. subsp. brachycarpa) S1: Critically imperiled because of extreme rarity (< 5 sites or very few remaining individuals) or extremely vulnerable to extirpation due to biological factors [195] Vermont S1: Very rare; generally 1-5 occurrences, believed to be extant, and/or some factor(s) making it especially vulnerable to extirpation from the state [169] West Virginia SH: Historical. Has not been relocated within the last 20 years, but may be rediscovered [176] Wyoming (D. p. subsp. paysonii) S2: Imperiled because of rarity (often known from 6-20 occurrences) or because of factors demonstrably making it vulnerable to extinction [167] Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming S3: Sparse (widely distributed but restricted to small, patchy habitats) [39]
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Description

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: capsule, cover, dehiscent, forbs, fruit, fuel, fuel loading, perfect, silique

The following description of western tansymustard provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Keys for identification are available (e.g. [27,49,56,75,110,141,162,172,175]).

Western tansymustard is a native winter annual. Mature plants are 2.3 to 3.3 feet (0.7-1 m) in height. Stems are coarse, glandular, and sparsely to densely pubescent, depending on the subspecies. They are 1 to several at the base, branching towards the top. Leaves are basal or cauline. Basal leaves are biwestern and may be as long as 4 inches (10 cm), becoming western and smaller up the stem. The inflorescence is a glandular raceme of perfect flowers that spreads out 45o to 90o from the stem. The fruit is a dehiscent, 2-capsuled silique 4-20 mm in length, bearing 1 to 20 small seeds per capsule. Seeds are 0.5 to 1 mm long; their average mass is 0.12 mg [40,49,56,75,91,141,162,175]. Tansymustards (Descurainia spp.) have a short taproot [125,186].

Stand structure: Plant communities where tansymustard is important have an open structure, with sparse to no overstory. For example, structure of a Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper burn in northeastern Utah consisted of the skeletons of burned conifers and a ground cover of western tansymustard and other annual forbs [51]. Excepting communities dominated by cheatgrass (e.g., [83,159,190]), descriptions of open-canopy stands dominated by annuals are sparse in the literature. Further studies of stand structure (including year-to-year fluctuations due to climate changes) in such communities would increase understanding of fuel loading, fire behavior, and current fire regimes in communities with a large component of western tansymustard and other annuals.

license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Distribution

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Western tansymustard is native to North America. It is distributed from Yukon, western Nunavut, and southern Quebec to southern California, Texas, central Florida, and Sinaloa, Mexico [75,89,181,184]. It does not occur in Alabama, is extirpated from New Hampshire and West Virginia, and is rare in Vermont and Ohio [89]. The subspecies' distributions show considerable overlap, with no apparent geological or ecological correlation to occurrence [166,175]. Plants database provides a distributional map of western tansymustard and its subspecies.

The following biogeographic classifications demonstrate western tansymustard could potentially be found. These lists are speculative and may not be accurately restrictive or complete.

license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Fire Ecology

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: cover, forest, fuel, invasive species, litter, mesic, seed, shrubland, woodland

Fire adaptations: Western tansymustard establishes from soil-stored seed after fire [51,186]. Animal, wind, or machinery transport from off-site may provide additional, minor sources of seed [189] or introduce western tansymustard to burns where it was not present in the soil seed bank. Fire creates conditions favorable for western tansymustard establishment (bare soil, open canopy, reduced growth interference) [12,139]. As a shade-intolerant, invasive species [149], western tansymustard thrives in the early postfire environment [139]. It typically has only a few years to increase its population and replenish the seed bank before postfire successional species recover and the canopy closes [36]. Western tansymustard may persist on burns that retain an open canopy [150].

FIRE REGIMES: In wet years, the dried skeletons of western tansymustard and other annuals provided the fine, flashy fuels that helped spread fire in presettlement desert ecosystems. Year-to-year fluctuations and longer-term southern oscillations resulted in variable cover of annuals and their subsequent fuel loads [164], so fire return intervals in presettlement desert ecosystems were highly variable. Historic fire return intervals in desert ecosystems ranged from 10 to 100 or more years [8,23,114,133,171,194]. Expansion of annual alien grasses has dramatically changed FIRE REGIMES and plant communities over vast areas of western rangelands by creating an environment where fires are easily ignited, spread rapidly, cover large areas, and occur frequently [190].  Cheatgrass, red brome, and Mediterranean grasses (Schismus spp.) provide large amounts of persistent flammable fuels [20,21,116]; consequently, fire may return every 10 years or sooner in desert systems infested with exotic grasses [135,180]. Western tansymustard's role in facilitating establishment of cheatgrass and other weedy species in dry environments by providing litter (and subsequently, more mesic conditions for germination and seedling growth of other species) [34,35] needs further investigation.

Historic fire return intervals ranged from 10 to 70 years in sagebrush-dominated ecosystems [8,23,114,133,171,194]. Fire was historically uncommon in salt-desert shrubland ecosystems [22,84,129]. Native annuals such as western tansymustard,  lacey phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia), and small fescue (Vulpia microstachys) provided fuels, but frequent breaks in the continuity of fuels hindered fire spread [20,21].

The following table provides fire return intervals where western tansymustard may be an important component of the vegetation. For further information on fire regimes in these communities, see the FEIS summary on the dominant species listed below.

Community or Ecosystem Dominant Species Fire Return Interval Range (years) maple-beech-birch Acer-Fagus-Betula > 1000 [173] California chaparral Adenostoma and/or Arctostaphylos spp. 133] bluestem prairie Andropogon gerardii var. gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium 100,133] silver sagebrush steppe Artemisia cana 5-45 [73,140,183] sagebrush steppe A. tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata 20-70 [133] basin big sagebrush A. tridentata var. tridentata 12-43 [148] mountain big sagebrush A. tridentata var. vaseyana 15-40 [8,23,113] Wyoming big sagebrush A. tridentata var. wyomingensis 10-70 (40**) [171,191] coastal sagebrush A. californica < 35 to < 100 saltbush-greasewood Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus < 35 to < 100 desert grasslands Bouteloua eriopoda and/or Pleuraphis mutica 5-100 [133] plains grasslands Bouteloua spp. 133,183] blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrass B. gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii 133,146,183] blue grama-buffalo grass B. gracilis-Buchloe dactyloides 133,183] grama-galleta steppe B. gracilis-Pleuraphis jamesii 133] cheatgrass Bromus tectorum 135,180] California montane chaparral Ceanothus and/or Arctostaphylos spp. 50-100 [133] curlleaf mountain-mahogany* Cercocarpus ledifolius 13-1000 [9,151] mountain-mahogany-Gambel oak scrub C. ledifolius-Quercus gambelii < 35 to < 100 blackbrush Coleogyne ramosissima 133] California steppe Festuca-Danthonia spp. 133,161] juniper-oak savanna Juniperus ashei-Q. virginiana < 35 western juniper J. occidentalis 20-70 Rocky Mountain juniper J. scopulorum < 35 cedar glades J. virginiana 3-7 creosotebush Larrea tridentata 133] wheatgrass plains grasslands Pascopyrum smithii 133,140,183] Great Lakes spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35 to > 200 northeastern spruce-fir Picea-Abies spp. 35-200 black spruce P. mariana 35-200 [30] pine-cypress forest Pinus-Cupressus spp. 7] pinyon-juniper Pinus-Juniperus spp. 133] Mexican pinyon P. cembroides 20-70 [120,163] shortleaf pine P. echinata 2-15 shortleaf pine-oak P. echinata-Quercus spp. 173] Colorado pinyon P. edulis 10-400+ [42,55,93,133] slash pine P. elliottii 3-8 slash pine-hardwood P. elliottii-variable 173] longleaf-slash pine P. palustris-P. elliottii 1-4 [124,173] longleaf pine-scrub oak P. palustris-Quercus spp. 6-10 [173] Pacific ponderosa pine* P. ponderosa var. ponderosa 1-47 [7] interior ponderosa pine* P. ponderosa var. scopulorum 2-30 [7,10,105] red pine (Great Lakes region) P. resinosa 10-200 (10**) [30,46] red-white-jack pine* P. resinosa-P. strobus-P. banksiana 10-300 [30,69] loblolly pine P. taeda 3-8 loblolly-shortleaf pine P. taeda-P. echinata 10 to 173] galleta-threeawn shrubsteppe Pleuraphis jamesii-Aristida purpurea < 35 to < 100 eastern cottonwood Populus deltoides 133] aspen-birch P. tremuloides-Betula papyrifera 35-200 [30,173] quaking aspen (west of the Great Plains) P. tremuloides 7-120 [7,60,112] mesquite Prosopis glandulosa 111,133] mesquite-buffalo grass P. glandulosa-Buchloe dactyloides < 35 Texas savanna P. glandulosa var. glandulosa 133] mountain grasslands Pseudoroegneria spicata 3-40 (10**) California oakwoods Quercus spp. 7] oak-hickory Quercus-Carya spp. 173] oak-juniper woodland (Southwest) Quercus-Juniperus spp. 133] northeastern oak-pine Quercus-Pinus spp. 10 to 173] oak-gum-cypress Quercus-Nyssa-spp.-Taxodium distichum 35 to > 200 [124] southeastern oak-pine Q.-Pinus spp. 173] coast live oak Q. agrifolia 2-75 [57] canyon live oak Q. chrysolepis <35 to 200 blue oak-foothills pine Q. douglasii-P. sabiniana <35 Oregon white oak Q. garryana 7] bur oak Q. macrocarpa 173] oak savanna Q. macrocarpa/Andropogon gerardii-Schizachyrium scoparium 2-14 [133,173] shinnery Q. mohriana 133] interior live oak Q. wislizenii 7] cabbage palmetto-slash pine Sabal palmetto-Pinus elliottii 124,173] blackland prairie Schizachyrium scoparium-Nassella leucotricha < 10 Fayette prairie S. scoparium-Buchloe dactyloides < 10 little bluestem-grama prairie S. scoparium-Bouteloua spp. < 35 tule marshes Scirpus and/or Typha spp. < 35 [133] elm-ash-cottonwood Ulmus-Fraxinus-Populus spp. < 35 to 200 [30,173] *fire return interval varies widely; trends in variation are noted in the species summary
**mean
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Fire Management Considerations

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the terms: cover, cover type, forbs, interference, litter, presence, seed, shrubland

Interactions with flixweed tansymustard:  Interactive effects of native and exotic annuals, fire, and climate are poorly understood, and research is needed in this area. Although western and flixweed tansymustard are taxonomically and ecologically similar, little is known of possible  interference of native western tansymustard by exotic flixweed tansymustard in postfire environments. Limited studies are inconclusive. Floyd-Hanna and others [43,44] noted the presence of both species after the 1996 "Chapin 5 Fire" at Mesa Verde National Park. Flixweed tansymustard was more frequent on study plots than western tansymustard at postfire year 1. Flixweed tansymustard was not observed on study plots at postfire year 2, while western tansymustard increased. Tansymustard frequencies (%) on burn sites were as follows [44]:

Cover type Western tansymustard Flixweed tansymustard

1997

Gambel oak/Utah serviceberry* mountain shrubland  3 16 Gambel oak-Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper  1 12 Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper  2 10

1998

Gambel oak/Utah serviceberry mountain shrubland 31  0 Gambel oak-Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper 24  0 Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper 27  0 *Amelanchier utahensis

Interactions with cheatgrass: On dry sites where fire or other disturbance has consumed the litter, western tansymustard may pioneer, building up litter for subsequent cheatgrass establishment [34,35]. Postfire climate may greatly affect relative coverage of annual species. West [177] noted that in the Curlew Valley of northwestern Utah, western tansymustard and clasping pepperweed were common in the extremely wet period of 1983-1984, an El Niño year. The 2 forbs dominated and were the main source of fuels in shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) and Gardner's saltbush (A. gardneri) communities; bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides) dominated the understory of winterfat communities. Although cheatgrass typically follows tansymustard and other mustards successionally [138,139], during the El Niño event cheatgrass was "less abundant ... than it had been before or since." Cheatgrass dominated the site after El Niño passed [177].

Fire as a control agent: There are no published studies on using fire to control western tansymustard, but given its strong response to increased light and nutrients and open ground, fire alone is unlikely to provide control. If western tansymustard is already onsite in the seed bank, or as a few plants, fire is likely to increase the species' importance in the early postfire community.
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Growth Form (according to Raunkiær Life-form classification)

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More info for the term: therophyte

RAUNKIAER [142] LIFE FORM:
Therophyte
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Habitat characteristics

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More info for the terms: forest, prescribed fire

Moisture regime varies from moist to dry [90]. Western tansymustard is most common on dry, open, or disturbed sites [27,49,56,108,119,172]. For example, it occurs in dry washes in the Mojave Desert [17], on stabilized sand dunes and sandy flats in Wyoming [40], and on disturbed shorelines of the Great Lakes region [172].

Soils: Western tansymustard is common on sandy, gravelly, and eroded soils [27,28,40,54,75,76,81,108,141,172]. Hinds and Sauer [76] found western tansymustard was associated with eroded soils on the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve of  Washington. Western tansymustard  tolerates alkaline and limestone soils [27,28,50,75,119,172]. In the San Bernardino National Forest, California, western tansymustard was a constant species on singleleaf pinyon (P. monophylla)-Utah juniper sites previously mined for limestone, and on noncarbonate soils [50].

Aspect/topography: Western tansymustard occurred on both cool northern and warm southern exposures following fall prescribed fire in a pinyon-juniper community in the Green River corridor of Utah [53].

Elevational range by state is:

Arizona <7,000 feet (2,100 m) [91] California 8,200 feet (2,500 m) [75] Colorado 4,000-8,000  feet (1,200-2,400 m) [65] New Mexico 4,500-7,500 feet (1,400-2,300 m) [110] Utah 2,500-10,700 feet (750-3,250 m) [175] Wyoming 6,000 to 7,200 feet (2,000-2,200) [40]
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Habitat: Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

More info for the term: cover

SAF COVER TYPES [37]:




1 Jack pine

12 Black spruce

13 Black spruce-tamarack

15 Red pine

16 Aspen

18 Paper birch

46 Eastern redcedar

63 Cottonwood

67 Mohrs (shin) oak

68 Mesquite

70 Longleaf pine

71 Longleaf pine-scrub oak

72 Southern scrub oak

74 Cabbage palmetto

75 Shortleaf pine

76 Shortleaf pine-oak

80 Loblolly pine-shortleaf pine

81 Loblolly pine

82 Loblolly pine-hardwood

83 Longleaf pine-slash pine

84 Slash pine

85 Slash pine-hardwood

102 Idaho fescue

107 White spruce

217 Aspen

220 Rocky Mountain juniper

233 Oregon white oak

235 Cottonwood-willow

237 Interior ponderosa pine

238 Western juniper

239 Pinyon-juniper

242 Mesquite

245 Pacific ponderosa pine

249 Canyon live oak

250 Blue oak-foothills pine

251 White spruce-aspen

255 California coast live oak
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Habitat: Ecosystem

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

ECOSYSTEMS [47]:




FRES10 White-red-jack pine

FRES11 Spruce-fir

FRES12 Longleaf-slash pine

FRES13 Loblolly-shortleaf pine

FRES14 Oak-pine

FRES15 Oak-hickory

FRES16 Oak-gum-cypress

FRES17 Elm-ash-cottonwood

FRES18 Maple-beech-birch

FRES19 Aspen-birch

FRES21 Ponderosa pine

FRES23 Fir-spruce

FRES28 Western hardwoods

FRES29 Sagebrush

FRES30 Desert shrub

FRES31 Shinnery

FRES32 Texas savanna

FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe

FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub

FRES35 Pinyon-juniper

FRES36 Mountain grasslands

FRES37 Mountain meadows

FRES38 Plains grasslands

FRES39 Prairie

FRES40 Desert grasslands

FRES41 Wet grasslands

FRES42 Annual grasslands
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Habitat: Plant Associations

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, shrub, woodland

KUCHLER [101] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:




K005 Mixed conifer forest

K009 Pine-cypress forest

K010 Ponderosa shrub forest

K011 Western ponderosa forest

K013 Cedar-hemlock-pine forest

K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland

K024 Juniper steppe woodland

K026 Oregon oakwoods

K027 Mesquite bosques

K030 California oakwoods

K031 Oak-juniper woodland

K032 Transition between K031 and K037

K033 Chaparral

K035 Coastal sagebrush

K036 Mosaic of K030 and K035

K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub

K038 Great Basin sagebrush

K039 Blackbrush

K040 Saltbush-greasewood

K041 Creosote bush

K042 Creosote bush-bur sage

K043 Paloverde-cactus shrub

K044 Creosote bush-tarbush

K047 Fescue-oatgrass

K048 California steppe

K049 Tule marshes

K050 Fescue-wheatgrass

K051 Wheatgrass-bluegrass

K053 Grama-galleta steppe

K054 Grama-tobosa prairie

K055 Sagebrush steppe

K056 Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe

K057 Galleta-threeawn shrubsteppe

K058 Grama-tobosa shrubsteppe

K059 Trans-Pecos shrub savanna

K060 Mesquite savanna

K061 Mesquite-acacia savanna

K062 Mesquite-live oak savanna

K063 Foothills prairie

K064 Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass

K065 Grama-buffalo grass

K066 Wheatgrass-needlegrass

K067 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass

K068 Wheatgrass-grama-buffalo grass

K069 Bluestem-grama prairie

K071 Shinnery

K072 Sea oats prairie

K073 Northern cordgrass prairie

K074 Bluestem prairie

K079 Palmetto prairie

K081 Oak savanna

K082 Mosaic of K074 and K100

K083 Cedar glades

K084 Cross Timbers

K085 Mesquite-buffalo grass

K086 Juniper-oak savanna

K087 Mesquite-oak savanna

K093 Great Lakes spruce-fir forest

K095 Great Lakes pine forest

K096 Northeastern spruce-fir forest

K097 Southeastern spruce-fir forest

K098 Northern floodplain forest

K099 Maple-basswood forest

K100 Oak-hickory forest

K104 Appalachian oak forest

K106 Northern hardwoods

K107 Northern hardwoods-fir forest

K108 Northern hardwoods-spruce forest

K109 Transition between K104 and K106

K110 Northeastern oak-pine forest

K111 Oak-hickory-pine

K112 Southern mixed forest
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Habitat: Rangeland Cover Types

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: association, cover, forb, grassland, shrub, shrubland, woodland

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [154]:




101 Bluebunch wheatgrass

102 Idaho fescue

103 Green fescue

104 Antelope bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass

105 Antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue

106 Bluegrass scabland

107 Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass

108 Alpine Idaho fescue

109 Ponderosa pine shrubland

110 Ponderosa pine-grassland

201 Blue oak woodland

202 Coast live oak woodland

203 Riparian woodland

204 North coastal shrub

205 Coastal sage shrub

206 Chamise chaparral

207 Scrub oak mixed chaparral

208 Ceanothus mixed chaparral

209 Montane shrubland

210 Bitterbrush

211 Creosote bush scrub

212 Blackbush

214 Coastal prairie

215 Valley grassland

217 Wetlands

301 Bluebunch wheatgrass-blue grama

302 Bluebunch wheatgrass-Sandberg bluegrass

303 Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass

304 Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass

305 Idaho fescue-Richardson needlegrass

306 Idaho fescue-slender wheatgrass

307 Idaho fescue-threadleaf sedge

308 Idaho fescue-tufted hairgrass

309 Idaho fescue-western wheatgrass

310 Needle-and-thread-blue grama

311 Rough fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass

312 Rough fescue-Idaho fescue

314 Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass

315 Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue

316 Big sagebrush-rough fescue

317 Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass

318 Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue

319 Bitterbrush-rough fescue

320 Black sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass

321 Black sagebrush-Idaho fescue

322 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass

323 Shrubby cinquefoil-rough fescue

324 Threetip sagebrush-Idaho fescue

401 Basin big sagebrush

402 Mountain big sagebrush

403 Wyoming big sagebrush

408 Other sagebrush types

409 Tall forb

411 Aspen woodland

412 Juniper-pinyon woodland

413 Gambel oak

414 Salt desert shrub

415 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany

416 True mountain-mahogany

417 Littleleaf mountain-mahogany

422 Riparian

501 Saltbush-greasewood

504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland

505 Grama-tobosa shrub

506 Creosotebush-bursage

508 Creosotebush-tarbush

509 Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association

601 Bluestem prairie

604 Bluestem-grama prairie

606 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass

607 Wheatgrass-needlegrass

608 Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass

609 Wheatgrass-grama

610 Wheatgrass

611 Blue grama-buffalo grass

612 Sagebrush-grass

613 Fescue grassland

614 Crested wheatgrass

615 Wheatgrass-saltgrass-grama

703 Black grama-sideoats grama

704 Blue grama-western wheatgrass

705 Blue grama-galleta

706 Blue grama-sideoats grama

707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama

709 Bluestem-grama

710 Bluestem prairie

713 Grama-muhly-threeawn

714 Grama-bluestem

715 Grama-buffalo grass

716 Grama-feathergrass

718 Mesquite-grama

719 Mesquite-liveoak-seacoast bluestem

724 Sideoats grama-New Mexico feathergrass-winterfat

727 Mesquite-buffalo grass

728 Mesquite-granjeno-acacia

729 Mesquite

730 Sand shinnery oak

731 Cross timbers-Oklahoma

732 Cross timbers-Texas (little bluestem-post oak)

733 Juniper-oak

734 Mesquite-oak

735 Sideoats grama-sumac-juniper

801 Savanna

805 Riparian

810 Longleaf pine-turkey oak hills

812 North Florida flatwoods

814 Cabbage palm flatwoods

816 Cabbage palm hammocks
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Immediate Effect of Fire

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More info for the terms: root crown, seed

Western tansymustard may be top-killed by fire while in the rosette stage. If the root crown is not damaged, western tansymustard rosettes can sprout  new basal leaves from the root crown. As an annual, western tansymustard lacks adaptations for regrowth once it has bolted [1,36], and plants burned after the rosette stage are killed [51,189]. Research on fire's impact to the seed bank is lacking as of this writing (2003), but it appears that fire has little effect on western tansymustard seed populations. Western tansymustard has tiny seeds [27,56,75,141] that easily fall into fire-safe microsites such as soil crevices. While fire is likely to kill some seed, its overall effect to the flixweed tansymustard seed bank is probably negligible.
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Importance to Livestock and Wildlife

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More info for the terms: cover, forest

Western tansymustard is toxic to livestock, causing blindness, staggering, and loss of ability to swallow [98,130,158]. All parts of the plant contain poisonous levels of nitrate [41,158]. The seeds also contain isoallyl thiocyanates and irritant oils [41]. Continued ingestion of large quantities western tansymustard over long periods of time are required before symptoms appear. Livestock may consume western tansymustard in quantity if other forage is sparse [98].

Large grazing animal use of western tansymustard varies, but is generally heaviest for new growth. On the Jornada Experimental Range of south-central New Mexico, cattle grazed western tansymustard in March (31% of diet) and December (8% of diet) [62]. Cattle on the Arid Land Ecology Reserve of eastern Washington used it lightly in spring [168]. Desert mule deer in Arizona and New Mexico consumed western mustard lightly (1-5% of diet) to moderately (6-15% of diet) in winter and spring [99,155,156]. A review by Kufeld and others [102] notes Rocky Mountain mule deer use western tansymustard in spring, summer, and fall. Pronghorn in northeastern Colorado preferred western tansymustard in the spring, and ate it in trace amounts in summer [152].

Small mammals consume western tansymustard. Grazing rodents and lagomorphs eat western tansymustard [88,107,187]. Black-tailed jackrabbit in southern Idaho showed greatest use in August (12.4% of the total diet) and least in June (2.2% of total diet) [38]. Granivorous rodents also use western tansymustard. In sand shinnery oak-honey mesquite/threeawn (Quercus harvardii-Prosopis glandulosa/Aristida spp.) communities of New Mexico, capture/stomach analyses trials showed Ord's kangaroo rat, spotted ground squirrel, and northern grasshopper mouse ate western tansymustard seeds [13]. On the Arid Land Ecology Reserve, eastern Washington, western tansymustard seeds formed 8% of the Townsend ground squirrel diet [87].

Western tansymustard is a larval food for several species of butterfly [82] including the desert orangetip (Anthocharis cethura pima), a sensitive subspecies in Region 3 (Southwest) of the U.S. Forest Service [6].

Palatability/nutritional value: Western tansymustard is palatable and nutritious. In the Mojave desert of California, domestic sheep showed strong preference for western tansymustard early in the growing season [137]. In free-choice trials, Montana cattle preferred western tansymustard to flixweed tansymustard. From the rosette to bud stage, average protein and phosphorus content of western tansymustard in Montana was 22.4% and 0.38%, respectively [136]. Nutritional content of western tansymustard forage collected in the great Basin of Nevada and Utah was [157]:

Cal/kg 3,660 protein (%) 27.2 carbohydrates (%) 63.3 fat (%) 0.50 ash (%) 2.9 moisture (%) 6.1

Cover value: No information

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Key Plant Community Associations

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More info for the terms: grassland, natural, shrubland, woodland

Western tansymustard is important in desert ecosystems. It is common in
pinyon-juniper (Pinus-Juniperus spp.) woodlands and big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata) and silver sagebrush (A. cana) steppes [63,128,167]. Common associates in sagebrush steppes are rabbitbrushes (Chrysothamnus
spp.), winterfat (Krascheninnikovia
lanata), Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), and bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria
spicata) [127,128,138,139,145]. Western
tansymustard often occurs in early seral desert systems with other annuals
including cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), sixweeks fescue (Vulpia octoflora), Russian-thistle (Salsola kali),
tumblemustard (Sisymbrium altissimum), and flixweed tansymustard (Descurainia
sophia) [128,138,145]. On burns in northeastern
Nevada, for example, western tansymustard occurred in Utah juniper (J. osteosperma), big sagebrush, and
black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) communities. Fire had removed the overstory dominants, and the early
postfire communities were dominated by western tansymustard and exotic
cheatgrass, Russian-thistle, and clasping pepperweed (Lepidium perfoliatum)
[153]. Also in northeastern Utah, western tansymustard was dominant in an early postfire
Colorado pinyon (Pinus edulis)-Utah juniper community. Associates were
primarily other annuals including cheatgrass, false flax (Camelina microcarpa),
tumblemustard, and prairie pepperweed (L. densifolium)
[51].

Western tansymustard also occurs in mesquite (Prosopis spp.),
salt-desert shrubland, blackbrush/Indian ricegrass (Coleogyne
ramosissima/Achnatherum hymenoides), and desert grassland communities
[24,63]. In velvet mesquite (P. velutina)
woodland of southeastern Arizona, western tansymustard occurs with Wright's buckwheat (Eriogonum
wrightii) and plains lovegrass (Eragrostis intermedia) [15].
Associates on the Desert Tortoise Research Natural Area in the Mojave Desert of
southern California include creosotebush (Larrea tridentata), white
bursage (Ambrosia dumosa), and other annuals, the most common being
cutleaf filaree (Erodium cicutarium), red brome (Bromus madritensis
subsp. rubens), and Mediterranean grass
(Schismus spp.) [20,21].

Western tansymustard is not as
important in plains grasslands and communities further east as it is in desert
shrublands [79]. It is
usually listed as a "waste place" or disturbance-indicator weed in the Great Plains and
ecosystems to the east (e.g., [27,49,56,108,119,172]).

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Life Form

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More info for the term: forb

Forb
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Management considerations

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More info for the terms: cover, density, interference, litter, presence, relict, seed, shrub, shrubs, succession

The greatest impact of western and
other tansymustards to wildlands is probably their role in facilitating
succession. See Successional Status
for further information.

Grazing
appears to favor western tansymustard in disturbed
communities. Moderate grazing in late-seral communities may not increase western tansymustard
cover, although the data are limited and further studies are needed. In
west-central Utah, western tansymustard cover was similar (3%) in basin big
sagebrush communities with moderate cattle grazing and without grazing (13-year
exclusion) [179]. In
southern Alberta, moderate to heavy levels of stocking in undisturbed needle-and-thread
grass-blue grama prairie slightly increased western tansymustard; however, in
old fields, western tansymustard cover was greatly increased on grazed plots
compared to ungrazed plots. Cover (%) of western tansymustard was [29]:

Prairie
Old field
grazed ungrazed grazed ungrazed
1.9 1.5 10.4 0.1


Western tansymustard can persist on open sites free of grazing or other
disturbance. In a shadscale-winterfat community of west-central Utah,
western tansymustard occurred on a variety of
domestic sheep grazing treatments (exclosure, light, moderate, and heavy
grazing; and early- to mid-winter vs. late-winter grazing, with intensity
ignored). It was most common in exclosures, but was found on plots of all
treatments [64]. In the Grand Canyon, western tansymustard occurs
on sites with a long history of livestock grazing, and on relict sites that have
never supported livestock and have seldom burned [150].

Western tansymustard may differentially affect seed production of desert
shrubs in heavily grazed and ungrazed areas. On the Desert Experimental Range
Station of west-central Utah, seed production of shadscale and winterfat was
enhanced by presence of western tansymustard on sites that had not been grazed
for >50 years, but depressed by western tansymustard on heavily grazed sites [45]. Mechanisms
by which western tansymustard may have affected shrub seed production
were not studied.

In a big sagebrush community of northeastern Nevada, western tansymustard,
cheatgrass, and  clasping pepperweed
volunteered on post-wildfire rehabilitation sites that were contour ripped and
seeded to crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum). However, seedling density of western tansymustard
and exotic species was much greater on untreated burn plots compared to the
ripped, seeded-in burn plots. Western tansymustard density exceeded that of
cheatgrass on the untreated burns [153].

Western tansymustard is an agricultural weed [5,118]  and an alternate
host for beet leafhoppers, which transmit curly top virus to sugar beet (Beta vulgaris) crops [77].

Control:
Western tansymustard does not
usually persist in late-seral communities and may not require special control
measures. Canopy closure, litter accumulation
and/or growth interference from later-successional species tend to exclude
tansymustard over time. Probably because it is a native invader that is largely controlled by succession, there is scant
wildland-management interest in using resource monies to control western
tansymustard with fire
(see Fire as a control agent),
herbicides, or other treatments.

Western tansymustard seedlings are
sensitive to most herbicides at relatively low application rates. Glyphosate and
2,4-D give excellent control [165,182],
as do many other herbicides [103,182]. Herbicide choice and rates are
influenced by growth stage, stand density, and environmental conditions (e.g.
drought or cold temperatures). Check with state or county weed specialists for
appropriate local use rates and timing.
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Other uses and values

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Western tansymustard seeds have a flavor similar to commercial black mustard (Brassica nigra) seeds, and are used as a spice [27]. Native Americans ate western tansymustard greens and made gruel and pinole from the ground seeds [91,143]. The Navajo used the ground seeds in baked goods [170], and the Pima made a beverage from the seeds [143].

Horticulturalists plant western tansymustard in butterfly gardens to attract orangetip, white checkered, and white cabbage butterflies [82].

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Phenology

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More info on this topic.

More info for the terms: cotyledon, cover, fruit, seed

Western tansymustard germinates in late winter or early spring, depending upon climate and geographical location. After the cotyledon stage, it forms a rosette of basal  leaves and then bolts [122]. Western tansymustard produces seed, dries out, and completes its life cycle as soils dry at the end of the rainy season, and the life cycle is usually completed with 2-3 months [76]. Seedlings emerge in winter in the Southwest [24,97] with western tansymustard reaching greatest cover in spring [20]. It flowers from February to early June in the Southwest and Southeast [27,81,85,91,97,141,184]. In the northern Chihuahuan Desert, western tansymustard flowers in winter, sets fruit in mid-March, and disperses seed in early April [97]. It flowers from March to August in the Great Plains [56,108] and from May to August in West Virginia [162]. In the Great Lakes region, western tansymustard flowers from April to June and sets fruit from mid-May through September [119,132].
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Plant Response to Fire

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More info for the terms: cover, forb, forbs, frequency, fuel, grassland, seed, succession, wildfire

Western tansymustard establishes from soil-stored seed after fire [51,53,66,178]. Animals and vehicles can transport seeds to burns [153]. Fire creates the open, disturbed ground favored for western tansymustard establishment [76,96,149]. Biological factors in the early postfire environment may also favor establishment of western tansymustard. Keeley and others [94,99] found western tansymustard and other annual forbs showed significantly (p<0.01) greater germination when treated with an infusion of either charred chamise wood or chamise foliage.

Western tansymustard is common in early postfire communities [121]. It typically occurs in the earliest, annual-dominated stage of postfire succession in pinyon-juniper and sagebrush communities [51]. In a mountain big sagebrush community in Idaho, frequency of western tansymustard was more than 100% greater (p <0.05) in fall-burned compared to unburned control plots [109]. Although fire creates an open canopy and bare mineral soil, which favors tansymustard establishment, western tansymustard is not an obligate "fire follower." Any area with bare ground, open sunlight, and a seed source is vulnerable to western tansymustard invasion [71,72]. In greenhouse trials, there was no significant difference in emergence of western tansymustard seedlings from unburned, "lightly" burned, and severely burned soils. Greenhouse emergence of western tansymustard (seedlings/m2) from soil samples collected after prescribed burning near Burns, Oregon was as follows [25]:

Control "Cool" burn "Hot" burn

Basin big sagebrush site

5.5 4.5 7.3

Wyoming big sagebrush site

8.8 21.3 15.3

Fire may not increase postfire cover of western tansymustard [190]. In his classic study of postfire succession of western tansymustard and other annuals in big sagebrush, Piemeisel [138] wrote "the mere statement that a field has been burned is not sufficient information to foretell what the effect will be on the succeeding plant cover." For example, a 1977 June wildfire burned rough fescue (Festuca altaica)-bluebunch wheatgrass mountain grassland in Missoula, Montana. In fall 1977, spring 1978, and summer 1978, western tansymustard was present in low amounts on burned and unburned sites, with no significant differences (p <0.05) between western tansymustard cover on burned and unburned sites [4].  Piemesel [138] stated that site grazing history, postfire weather patterns, and level of postfire cheatgrass cover will affect cover and relative abundance of tansymustards and other early successional forbs.

Because it is an annual, western tansymustard population size is highly dependant upon year-to-year variations in postfire climate [123]. Following 1964 wildfires in northeastern Nevada, western tansymustard frequency fluctuated greatly for the next 3 years (41% in 1965, 6% in 1966, and 66% in 1967; pooled from 32 plots on 3 burns) [153]. Western tansymustard was found on fall-burned plots in postfire years 4 and 11 (but not other years) in a pinyon-juniper community in the Green River corridor of Utah [53]. 

Western tansymustard cover generally decreases with postfire succession. In Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper stands in Mesa Verde National Park, western tansymustard showed 44% frequency on a 4-year-old burn. It was not present on 30- or 90-year-old burns [33]. However, western tansymustard may remain a component of postfire vegetation as long as the site remains open.

Fuels: It is unclear how western tansymustard contributed to fuel spread in the Southwest when presettlement FIRE REGIMES were functioning. Researchers have speculated that following a wetter-than-average growing season, dead, dry native annuals provided the fuels that carried infrequent spring or summer fire [55]. In a creosotebush-white bursage community in the Mojave Desert of southern California, however, experimental fires set in August 1995 were fueled entirely by red brome, cheatgrass, and  Mediterranean grasses (Schismus spp.). Precipitation the preceding winter was 200% of average, so cover of annuals was high (~36% for all annual species). Where exotic grasses dominated, mean spring (prefire) cover of annuals was approximately 58%, whereas mean spring cover where native annuals dominated was approximately 30%. (At 30%, western tansymustard cover matched overall forb cover.) Fire did not spread in areas dominated by native annuals due to low fuel loads [20]. This suggests that in desert shrublands of the Southwest, presettlement fires were probably small and patchy.

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Post-fire Regeneration

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More info for the terms: fire regime, ground residual colonizer, initial off-site colonizer, secondary colonizer, seed

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [160]:
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)
Initial off-site colonizer (off-site, initial community)
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)

FIRE REGIMES: Find 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"

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Regeneration Processes

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More info for the terms: cover, density, seed, shrubs

As an annual, western tansymustard reproduces solely from seed [24,26,66,76].

Breeding system: Mustards (Brassicaceae) are cross-pollinated. Selfing also occurs [74].

Pollination is insect-mediated. The sepals contain nectaries that attract insect pollinators [74].

Seed production: No information

Seed dispersal: Neither fruits nor seeds have specialized appendages for dispersal [92,95], and most western tansymustard seed falls near the parent plant [147]. Wind, water, machinery, and animals transport seed long distances [115,147]. Animals disperse tansymustard seeds when the sticky seedcoat adheres to feathers or fur [192].

Seed banking: Western tansymustard has soil-stored seed [24,26,66,76]. Soil samples from a needle-and-thread grass-blue grama (Hesperostipa comata-Bouteloua gracilis) community in Yellowstone National Park supported a mean of 13 western tansymustard germinants/m2 in the greenhouse [26] .

Germination: Western tansymustard has a temperature-dependent afterripening requirement that lessens with time and exposure to cold temperatures [192]. It is adapted to establishing in soils that may dry quickly. The seedcoat forms a thin layer of mucilage after wetting; the sticky layer helps germinating seeds retain water [189,192]. Best germination occurs with ample soil moisture, however. Seedling establishment is closely tied to favorable moisture levels at time of germination, and western tansymustard cover fluctuates from year to year [31]. In undisturbed creosotebush-white bursage in the northern Mojave Desert of Nevada (where western tansymustard germinates in winter), spring density of western tansymustard ranged from 18 plants/m2 (the driest winter) to 212/m2 (the wettest winter) over 6 years [16].

In a study on germination of California chaparral species, heat treatments had no significant effect on germination of western tansymustard; however, germination of western tansymustard seeds was significantly (p <0.1) enhanced by treatment with an infusion of chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum) foliage, and by application of charred, finely ground chamise stems to the seeds [96].

Seedling establishment/growth: Although western tansymustard establishes on open, dry sites, establishment may be facilitated by shrubs, especially big sagebrush, which has been shown to increase water content of surface soil through hydraulic lift [144]. In Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, western tansymustard showed better establishment when in close proximity to big sagebrush plants compared to density of western tansymustard away from big sagebrush crowns. Silver sagebrush crowns also enhanced western tansymustard establishment, although the number of tansymustard plants was considerably less in the silver sagebrush community compared to the big sagebrush community. The average number of western tansymustard growing within a circle around sagebrush stems (using the stems as the center of the radii) varied as follows [67]:

Species 0-30.4 cm away from stem base 30.4-43 cm away 43-52.7 cm away Big sagebrush 92 plants 60 plants 23 plants Silver sagebrush 6 plants 1 plant 0 plants

Growth is enhanced on wet, nitrogen-rich sites. On the Jornada Experimental Range of New Mexico, western tansymustard showed best growth (peak biomass=3.2 g/m2) on sites fertilized with nitrogen and given 25 mm of supplemental water/per week [61]. Nitrogen-fixing plants may increase western tansymustard cover (review by [106]).

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Regional Distribution in the Western United States

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [11]:




1 Northern Pacific Border

2 Cascade Mountains

3 Southern Pacific Border

4 Sierra Mountains

5 Columbia Plateau

6 Upper Basin and Range

7 Lower Basin and Range

8 Northern Rocky Mountains

9 Middle Rocky Mountains

10 Wyoming Basin

11 Southern Rocky Mountains

12 Colorado Plateau

13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

14 Great Plains

15 Black Hills Uplift

16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

States or Provinces

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(key to state/province abbreviations)
UNITED STATES AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WI WY DC
CANADA AB BC MB NT NU ON PQ SK YK
MEXICO B.C.N. Chih. Sin. Son.
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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Successional Status

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More info for the terms: climax, cover, forbs, litter, relict, stand-replacement fire, succession

Western tansymustard is an early seral species. It occurs on open, disturbed sites such as railroad rights-of-way [40,172], overgrazed rangelands [14,19], and early seral burns [32,33,51,53]. Western tansymustard and other annuals are common following disturbances such as fire or grazing. They become increasingly scarce as the canopy closes [3,32,33,51,104]. Western tansymustard does not form mycorrhizal associations [14,134]; thus, it can occur on sterile sites and on sites undergoing primary succession.

A common pattern of succession in disturbed sagebrush steppe begins with Russian-thistle. Western tansymustard, flixweed tansymustard, and/or tumblemustard follow successionally. Russian-thistle may in turn reinvade the mustard stands with grazing disturbance, but more commonly, the mustards are succeeded by cheatgrass [68,78,78,139,185]. In desert environments, cheatgrass usually requires litter for successful germination and establishment. The dried skeletons of western tansymustard and other annual forbs may facilitate cheatgrass establishment by providing litter [34,125]. Western tansymustard and other annual forbs achieve greater cover in early seral sagebrush communities when cheatgrass is absent [193]. For information on the interactions of western tansymustard and cheatgrass, see FEIS reviews on flixweed tansymustard and cheatgrass.

Western tansymustard and the exotic flixweed tansymustard are apparently equally invasive, and fill similar ecological niches [118]. They sometimes codominate in early seral communities [2].

Western tansymustard may persist into late succession if the canopy remains open [150]. For example, western tansymustard was common (20% frequency) in a relict, 80-year-old Colorado pinyon-Utah juniper burn in northeastern Utah. It was less common, but present (2% frequency), on another relict Colorado-pinyon-Utah juniper site that had not experienced stand-replacement fire for at least 150 years. Structure at both sites was very open, with few, scattered trees [52].  Sagebrush communities may also retain open conditions into late succession [171,188]. In the Columbia River Basin of south-central Washington, western tansymustard occurs in big sagebrush communities through all stages of succession but is most common in early successional stages. It is the most common native annual on newly disturbed sites and old fields  [18]. Western tansymustard occurs in pristine, late-successional communities. For example, it occurs in undisturbed, climax mountain meadows (Idaho fescue-bearded wheatgrass (Festuca idahoensis-Elymus caninus)) in Grand Teton National Park [174].

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Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Synonyms

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More info for the term: fern

Descurainia pinnata var. brachycarpa (Richards.) Fern.

D. p. var. filipes (Gray) Peck.

D. p. var. glabra (Wooton & Standl.) Detl.

D. p. var. halictorum (Cockerell) Peck.

D. p. var. intermedia (Rydb.) Peck.

D. p. var. nelsonii (Rydb.) Peck. [49,162,172,175

D. p. var. osmiarum (Cockerell) Shinners [175]

D. p. var. pinnata [49]

D. p. var. paysonii Detl. [175]
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bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Taxonomy

provided by Fire Effects Information System Plants
More info for the term: introgression

The scientific name of western tansymustard is Descurainia pinnata (Walt.) Britt.
(Brassicaceae) [27,49,56,75,89,110,119,150,184]. Currently recognized infrataxa are:



D. p. subsp. brachycarpa (Richards.) Detl. [27,56,89,110,119], western tansymustard

D. p. subsp. filipes (Gray) Detl. [89], western tansymustard

D. p. subsp. glabra (Wooton & Standl.) Detl. [75,89,91,110], western tansymustard

D. p. subsp. halictorum (Cockerell) Detl. [27,56,75,89,91]

D. p. subsp. intermedia (Rydb.) Detl. [56,75,89], western tansymustard

D. p. subsp. menzeisii (DC.) Detl. [75,89], Menzies' tansymustard

D. p. subsp. nelsonii (Rydb.) Detl. [89], Nelson's tansymustard

D. p. subsp. ochroleuca (Woot.) Detl., western tansymustard

D. p. subsp. paysonii Detl. [89,91], Payson's tansymustard

D. p. subsp. pinnata [27,89], western tansymustard


Infrataxa designations are somewhat arbitrary [27,175]. There are
intergradation and introgression among the subspecies; consequently, the
subspecies are often
difficult to distinguish [27,75].

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cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Value for rehabilitation of disturbed sites

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More info for the terms: restoration, seed

Western tansymustard has little value for erosion control [55], but contributes to native species diversity and establishes easily on disturbed sites. Its seed was present in soil plugs collected in the Tahoe Basin of Nevada for restoration of riparian zones in that watershed. In the greenhouse, western tansymustard germinated from the soil samples, which were replanted on project sites [58]. The seed is commercially available (e.g., see [70]).
license
cc-publicdomain
bibliographic citation
Howard, Janet L. 2003. Descurainia pinnata. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available: https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/despin/all.html

Descurainia pinnata

provided by wikipedia EN

Descurainia pinnata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name western tansymustard. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and found in varied habitats. It is especially successful in deserts. It is a hardy plant which easily becomes weedy, and can spring up in disturbed, barren sites with bad soil. This is a hairy, heavily branched, mustardlike annual which is quite variable in appearance. There are several subspecies which vary from each other and individuals within a subspecies may look different depending on the climate they endure. This may be a clumping thicket or a tall, erect mustard. It generally does not exceed 70 centimeters in height. It has highly lobed or divided leaves with pointed, toothed lobes or leaflets. At the tips of the stem branches are tiny yellow flowers. The fruit is a silique one half to two centimeters long upon a threadlike pedicel. This plant reproduces only from seed. This tansymustard is toxic to grazing animals in large quantities due to nitrates and thiocyanates; however, it is nutritious in smaller amounts. The flowers are attractive to butterflies. The seeds are said to taste somewhat like black mustard and were utilized as food by Native American peoples such as the Navajo.

References

  • Everitt, J.H.; Lonard, R.L.; Little, C.R. (2007). Weeds in South Texas and Northern Mexico. Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 0-89672-614-2

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Descurainia pinnata: Brief Summary

provided by wikipedia EN

Descurainia pinnata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name western tansymustard. It is native to North America, where it is widespread and found in varied habitats. It is especially successful in deserts. It is a hardy plant which easily becomes weedy, and can spring up in disturbed, barren sites with bad soil. This is a hairy, heavily branched, mustardlike annual which is quite variable in appearance. There are several subspecies which vary from each other and individuals within a subspecies may look different depending on the climate they endure. This may be a clumping thicket or a tall, erect mustard. It generally does not exceed 70 centimeters in height. It has highly lobed or divided leaves with pointed, toothed lobes or leaflets. At the tips of the stem branches are tiny yellow flowers. The fruit is a silique one half to two centimeters long upon a threadlike pedicel. This plant reproduces only from seed. This tansymustard is toxic to grazing animals in large quantities due to nitrates and thiocyanates; however, it is nutritious in smaller amounts. The flowers are attractive to butterflies. The seeds are said to taste somewhat like black mustard and were utilized as food by Native American peoples such as the Navajo.

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