Fire in North American Wetland Ecosystems and Fire-Wildlife Relations: An Annotated Bibliography

53. Cross, D.H. 1983. Wildlife habitat improvement by control of Phragmites 
         communis with fire and herbicides. M.S. Thesis. Colorado State 
         University, Fort Collins. 81 pp.

Six burns were conducted at 14-day intervals from June to August 1981 at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, UT. Three burned subplots were treated with Dalapon; one was not sprayed. Three replicates of each treatment were compared with three control sites. Effects of both burn and spray were most visible in the growing season following- treatment. The value of fire was found to be limited to short-term, annual efforts in early spring to open dense stands for nesting waterfowl. Burns in July and August, with herbicide spraying at least 48 days later, can most significantly reduce common reed vigor as measured by height and density of stems. [From author's abstract]

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