Birdfoot Sagebrush

Perennials or subshrubs, 5–15 cm (cespitose), aromatic. S tems 5–20), gray-green, glabrescent. L eaves persistent. gray-green, mostly basal; proximal blades reduced, mostly less than 1 cm, lobed or entire; distal blades 1–2 × 0.5–0.8 cm, 1–2-ternately lobed, lobes 1–2 mm wide, apices acute, faces densely tomentose. Heads (mostly 6–15, 1 or 3–4 on lateral branches; mostly erect, sessile or pedunculate) in racemiform-paniculiform arrays, 5–8 × 0.5–0.8 cm. Involucres globose, 3–4 × 3–4 mm. P hyllaries (margins scarious, obscured) white-tomentose. Florets: pistillate 4–7; functionally staminate 5–9; corollas yellow, usually red-tinged, 2–3 mm, glabrous. Cypselae (brown) ellipsoid (angled), 0.8–1 mm, (sometimes with white ribs) glabrous.

Because birdfoot sagebrush lacks any form of vegetative reproduction [44], sprouting after fire or other disturbance does not occur. Reestablishment of this "weakly spreading" subshrub [19] occurs through seedling establishment. Recovery time has not been documented.

birdfoot sagebrush

birdsfoot sagebrush

birdsfoot sage

birdfoot sagewort

green sagewort

More info for the terms: achene, fruit, perfect

This description provides characteristics that may be relevant to fire ecology, and is not meant for identification. Several florae provide keys for identifying birdfoot sagebrush (e.g., [10,18,22]).

Birdfoot sagebrush is a native, dwarf, somewhat mat-forming perennial subshrub that grows from 2.0 to 5.9 inches (5.0-15.0 cm) in height [6,18,46]. Numerous erect stems arise from a branching woody base [11,32]. The root is described as tough and woody [20,27]. Leaves are mainly basal, tufted, and 0.4 to 0.8 inches (1-2 cm) long [6,10]. The inflorescence is raceme- or spikelike, growing from 0.4 to 2.7 inches (1-7 cm) long [20]. Four to seven marginal pistillate ray flowers are produced as well as 5 to 10 perfect but sterile staminate disc flowers [22]. The fruit is a one-seeded achene [29].

Birdfoot sagebrush occurs from the high plains of southern Idaho and Montana through Wyoming to northwestern Colorado. It extends eastward, barely reaching the western edge of the Great Plains [10,18,19,24,46]. Plants Database provides a distributional map of birdfoot sagebrush.

More info for the terms: fire regime, grassland

Fire adaptations: Reestablishment of birdfoot sagebrush occurs from seeds [44].

Fire regime: Birdfoot sagebrush occurs in plant communities with a wide range of fire frequencies, from the short return interval for many prairie and grassland communities, to the moderate-return intervals for the various sagebrush communities, and the 100+ years possible for some salt desert communities. As of this writing (2006), fire ecology studies are lacking for birdfoot sagebrush. The following table provides fire return intervals for plant communities and ecosystems where birdfoot sagebrush occurs. 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".

Community or ecosystem Dominant species Fire return interval range (years) sagebrush steppe Artemisia tridentata/Pseudoroegneria spicata 20-70 [36] basin big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. tridentata 12-43 [41] Wyoming big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. wyomingensis 10-70 (x=40) [48,53] mountain big sagebrush Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana 15-40 [4,7,30] saltbush-greasewood Atriplex confertifolia-Sarcobatus vermiculatus 36,53] blue grama-needle-and-thread grass-western wheatgrass Bouteloua gracilis-Hesperostipa comata-Pascopyrum smithii 37,39,52] wheatgrass plains grasslands Pascopyrum smithii <5-47+ [36,37,52] mountain grasslands Pseudoroegneria spicata 3-40 ( x=10) [2,3]

More info for the term: fire management

Information on birdfoot sagebrush and fire management is lacking. Further research is needed.

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More info for the term: chamaephyte

RAUNKIAER [38] LIFE FORM:
Chamaephyte

Birdfoot sagebrush grows in small, isolated stands on dry hills, mesas, ridges, high plains and foothills [10,21]. Annual precipitation averages from 8 to 14 inches (203-356 mm) at most locations [44]. Soils are commonly shale, clay or bentonite material with saline or alkaline substrates. These sites often have impeded drainage due to a tightly packed, fine-textured subsurface soil horizon [28,33,45]. Birdfoot sagebrush is found at elevations ranging from 4,100 to 7,000 feet (1,250-2,134 m) [9,21,28].

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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 [15]:





None

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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 [17]:





FRES29 Sagebrush

FRES30 Desert shrub

FRES36 Mountain grasslands

FRES38 Plains grasslands

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

KUCHLER [26] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:





K039 Blackbrush

K040 Saltbush-greasewood

K055 Sagebrush steppe

K056 Wheatgrass-needlegrass shrubsteppe

K064 Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass

K066 Wheatgrass-needlegrass

K067 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass

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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: cover, shrub

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [42]:




212 Blackbush

303 Bluebunch wheatgrass-western wheatgrass

304 Idaho fescue-bluebunch wheatgrass 

314 Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass

315 Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue

403 Wyoming big sagebrush

408 Other sagebrush types

414 Salt desert shrub

501 Saltbush-greasewood

606 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass

607 Wheatgrass-needlegrass

608 Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass

609 Wheatgrass-grama

612 Sagebrush-grass

615 Wheatgrass-saltgrass-grama

The effect of fire on birdfoot sagebrush is not well documented. Presumably the plant is killed when aboveground vegetation is killed by fire.

More info for the terms: cover, fresh, shrub

Birdfoot sagebrush is an important component of the diet of pronghorn antelope in Wyoming [1,12,44]. In one study in the Wyoming Red Desert, the shrub constituted 5% of the total annual pronghorn diet: 0.9% in winter and 10.2% in summer [44].

Palatability/nutritional value: The palatability of birdfoot sagebrush in Wyoming is rated as follows [13]:

Cattle Fair Domestic sheep Good Horses Good Pronghorn Fair Elk Fair Mule deer Poor Small mammals Poor Small nongame birds Fair Upland game birds Fair Waterfowl Poor

Birdfoot sagebrush is rated as poor in nutritional value for elk, mule deer and whitetail deer and fair for pronghorn, upland birds and small mammals [13]. The nutritional value of fresh birdfoot sagebrush for livestock is as follows [34]:

Percent composition Percent digestible protein ash 27.8 cattle 3.8 crude fiber 23.7 horses 3.5 protein 7.0 domestic sheep 3.5     domestic goats 3.1     domestic rabbits 4.1

Cover value: Mountain plover in Wyoming preferentially nests in birdfoot sagebrush communities [35]. Because of its short stature, birdfoot sagebrush provides little cover for larger wildlife species [13].

More info for the terms: habitat type, herbaceous, shrubland

Birdfoot sagebrush is most common on mountain and plains grasslands.
A birdfoot sagebrush/Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) habitat type
occurs in southwestern Montana on dry, alkaline, alluvial soils. Bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria
spicata) is a common associate in this habitat type [33]. In the Cheyenne River Basin, Wyoming, a birdfoot
sagebrush/western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii)
habitat type occurs on saline-alkali uplands with impeded drainage. Also in the
Cheyenne River Basin, a birdfoot sagebrush dwarf-shrub vegetation type occurs
where the occasional associates are buckwheat (Eriogonum pauciflorum) and
Gardner's saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) and winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata) [45].
This is usually a single-layered plant community
where the herbaceous layer is minimal. A birdfoot sagebrush-Gardner
saltbush/Hood's phlox (Phlox hoodii) habitat type occurs throughout
Wyoming in low spots in areas that have been heavily grazed [8].

Publications that discuss plant communities in which birdfoot sagebrush
occurs are listed below. The list is neither restrictive nor all
inclusive.

CO: big sagebrush (A. tridentata) vegetation type

        black greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) vegetation type [9]

MT: saline sites in southwestern and south-central Montana grasslands as an associate with squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), bluebunch wheatgrass,

            
and winterfat [31]

        Pryor Mountain salt desert/barren zone - associates with shadscale saltbush (Atriplex confertifolia), fourwing saltbush (A. canescens),

            
Nuttall's saltbush (A. nuttalli), spiny
hopsage (Grayia spinosa), and black greasewood [28]

        birdfoot sagebrush/Idaho fescue habitat type [33]

WY: big sagebrush vegetation type [9,12]

        black greasewood vegetation type [9]

        saltbush-black greasewood type [40]

        birdfoot sagebrush-Gardner's saltbush/Hood's phlox plant community [8]

        shortgrass prairie with big sagebrush and western wheatgrass [16]

        saltbush desert shrubland vegetation type dominated by Gardner's saltbush [25]

        birdfoot sagebrush/western wheatgrass habitat type

        birdfoot sagebrush dwarf-shrub vegetation type [45]

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info for the term: grassland

Birdfoot sagebrush increases in response to grazing [47]. In
Wyoming, plant communities dominated by birdfoot sagebrush are more commonly
found in grassland sites that have experienced heavy grazing pressure than on
sites where heavy grazing has not occurred [8].

No further information is available on this topic.

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Birdfoot sagebrush flowers from May to June [18,27]. Further information on seasonal development is lacking.

Information is lacking on the response of birdfoot sagebrush to fire. Further research is needed.

More info for the terms: secondary colonizer, seed

POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY [43]:
Secondary colonizer (on-site or off-site seed sources)

More info for the terms: monoecious, seed

Birdfoot sagebrush regenerates by seeds [44].

Pollination: Birdfoot sagebrush is pollinated by wind [29].

Breeding system: Birdfoot sagebrush is monoecious [20,21].

Seed production: No information is available on this topic.

Seed dispersal: Seeds of Artemisia species lack any special appendages to aid in seed dispersal. Seeds fall or are shaken from the plant by wind [29].

Seed banking: Artemisia species generally lack a long-lived seed bank [29].

Germination: Germination information specific to seeds of birdfoot sagebrush is lacking; however, it is reported that seeds of Artemisia species in general require light and moist chilling for germination to occur [29].

Seedling establishment/growth: Although the literature reports that birdfoot sagebrush regenerates by seeds [29], information is lacking on the specifics of seedling establishment and growth.

Asexual regeneration: Birdfoot sagebrush lacks any form of asexual regeneration [44].

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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 [5]:





5 Columbia Plateau

8 Northern Rocky Mountains

9 Middle Rocky Mountains

10 Wyoming Basin

11 Southern Rocky Mountains

13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont

(key to state/province abbreviations)
UNITED STATES CO ID MT UT WY

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More info for the terms: habitat type, shrub

The successional status of birdfoot sagebrush is not well documented. The designations of a birdfoot sagebrush/Idaho fescue habitat type in Beaverhead County, Montana, and a birdfoot sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass habitat type in the Cheyenne River Basin, Wyoming, indicate that the shrub does achieve long-term successional stability in some areas [33,45].

Oligosporus pedatifidus (Nutt.) Poljakov [45]

The scientific name of birdfoot sagebrush is Artemisia pedatifida
Nutt. (Asteraceae) [10,14,15,24].

More info for the term: shrub

Birdfoot sagebrush is reported to be valuable as a soil stabilizer [23]. The shrub is potentially useful for rehabilitation of alkaline spoils [27].

Artemisia pedatifida Nutt. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. II. 7: 399 1841.
A cespitose undershrub, with a thick woody caudex, 1-1.5 cm. high; branches erect, finely canescent; leaves 1-2 cm. long, ternately or the lower sometimes bi-lemately divided into linear to linear-spatulate short divisions, strigose-canesccnt ; those of the inflorescence often entire; heads racemose, short-peduncled or subsessile, erect, heterogamous; peduncles 0-10 mm. long; involucre hemispheric, 2.5 mm. high, 3-4 mm. broad; bracts 5-7, in 2-3 series, rounded-oval, obtuse, densely canescent; ray-flowers 5-7; corollas 2 mm. long; achenes nearly 2 mm. long; disk-flowers 5-7; corollas rose-purple at the summit, narrowly funnelform, 3.5 mm. long; style tapering gradually from the 2-cIeft summit.
TvpR locality: Arid plains of Lewis River [.Snake River, Idaho]. Distbbiution: Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Heads heterogamous. Marginal flowers pistillate; corollas subcylindric, 2-3-toothcd, tapering upwards. Di.sk-flowers hermaphrodite, fertile; corolla deeply campanulate or elongate-funnelform, 5-toothcd. Style in both 2-clcft, in the ray-flowers usually decidedly exserted, in the disk-flowers included to barely exserted; branches in the ray-flowers elongatefiliform, spreading; in the disk-flowers recurved and truncate at the apex, with an erose or penicillate apex. Receptacle woolly.

Artemisia pedatifida is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common names birdfoot sagebrush and matted sagewort. It is native to a section of the west-central United States encompassing parts of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, where it occurs on the high plains.

This plant is a perennial herb or small subshrub growing up to about 15 centimeters tall. There are several stems growing from a woody base atop a woody root. The small, gray-green leaves occur in a tuft around the woody base. The inflorescence contains a number of round flower heads which each have a few pistillate ray florets and a few disc florets. The plant reproduces by seed.

This sagebrush grows on grasslands and shrublands in mountains and on plains. It grows with many types of grasses and a few shrubs such as Gardner's saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) and winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata).