The three subspecies of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) are dominant shrubs over much of the Intermountain West. Because the subspecies differ in palatability and habitat requirements, researchers and resource managers have become increasingly concerned with their identification. Subspecies have been identified by leaf morphology, ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence, or chromatography. Fluorescence of leaf extracts under short-wave UV light provides a convenient technique for distinguishing between A.t. vaseyana and the other two subspecies, but this technique will not distinguish between A.t. tridentata and A.t. wyomingensis. Chromatographic techniques can differentiate between all of the subspecies, but the methods are tedious. We describe a technique for distinguishing all three subspecies by UV spectrophotometry. Alcohol leaf extracts of the three subspecies produce relative absorbance graphs that differ markedly from one another between 230 and 280 nm. This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact lbry-journals@email.arizona.edu for further information. Migrated from OJS platform August 2020
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles published by the Society for Range Management. Access articles on a rolling-window basis from vol. 1, 1948 up to 5 years from the current year. Formerly Journal of Range Management (JRM). More recent content is available by subscription from SRM.