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

70. Ewel, K C. 1984. Effects of fire and waste water on understory vegetation in 
         cypress domes. Pages 119-126 in K C. Ewel and H. T. Odum, eds. Cypress 
         Swamps. University Presses of Florida, Gainesville.

Disposal of secondarily treated wastewater in two cypress domes near Gainesville, FL, led to formation and persistence of duckweed. Wastewater disposal and fire were associated with an increase in dominance of other herbaceous species. Although shrubs and other normal understory species remained common, fire increased both the dominance of herbaceous species and overall productivity by opening the canopy. The combined effects of wastewater and fire are greater than the effect of either perturbation alone. [From author's abstract]

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