Sagebrush provides food and
habitat for a variety of animal species, such as
sage grouse,
pronghorn,
gray vireo,
pygmy rabbit, and
mule deer. It is especially important to game animals during the winter. Sagebrush also creates habitat for many species of
grasses and
herbs. Besides providing shade and shelter from the wind, the long taproot of sagebrush draws water up from deep in the soil, some of which becomes available to these surrounding
shallow-rooted plants. The terpenoid compounds in big sagebrush are thought to ward off herbivores. These oils, at high concentrations, are toxic to the
symbiotic bacteria in the
rumen of some
ruminants like deer and cattle. Pronghorn are the only large
herbivore to browse sagebrush extensively. Damage to sagebrush plants caused by grazing herbivores results in the release of volatile chemicals, which are used to signal a warning to nearby plants, so that they can increase the production of repellent chemical compounds. This plant-to-plant communication can take place at distances of up to . are the only large herbivores who browse on sagebrush extensively. Several major threats exist to sage brush ecosystems, including human settlements, conversion to
agricultural land,
invasive plant species,
wildfires, and
climate change. Due to large periods of time where sagebrush was the primary shrub, many species have become adapted to this habitat. The burning of the shrubs leads to habitat loss of many species and can be very detrimental to the ecosystem as a whole. Furthermore, the destruction of native grasses and forbs by grazing and fire creates conditions where invasive plants colonize the area. The invasive species which has destroyed the largest amount of sagebrush habitat is
cheatgrass (
Bromus tectorum). Since its accidental introduction in the 1890s, cheatgrass has radically altered the native shrub ecosystem by replacing indigenous vegetation, and by creating a fire cycle that is too frequent to allow sagebrush to re-establish itself. Sagebrush lacks
fire tolerance and relies on wind-blown seeds from outside the burned area for re-establishment. Some tree species have also encroached on big sagebrush habitat. For example, in the late 20th century,
Abies concolor (white fir) was out-competing big sagebrush in
Warner Mountains in California.
Galls This species is host to the following insect induced galls: •
Eutreta diana fly bud gall •
Eutreta divisa fly bud gall •
Eutreta oregona fly bud gall •
Eutreta pollinosa fly bud? gall •
Oxyna aterrima fly bud gall •
Rhopalomyia (ampullaria, anthoides, brevibulla,calvipomum, conica, cramboides,culmata, florella, gossypina, hirticaulis, hirtipomum, lignea, lignitubus, mammilla, medusa, medusirrasa, nucula, obovata, occidentalis, pomum, rugosa, tridentatae, tubulus, tumidibulla, tumidicaulis) Various gall midges. external link to gallformers Eutreta diana 1.jpg|
Eutreta diana Rhopalomyia calvipomum.jpg|
Rhopalomyia calvipomum Rhopalomyia conica 1.jpg|
Rhopalomyia conica Rhopalomyia pomum gall.jpg|
Rhopalomyia pomum Rhopalomyia_medusa_1.jpg|
Rhopalomyia medusa ==Uses==