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

164. McAtee, J. W., C. J. Scifres, and D. L. Drawe. 1979b. Improvement of gulf 
          cordgrass range with burning or shredding. J. Range Manage. 32:372-
          375.

Shredding or burning during spring, summer, or winter increased live gulf cordgrass standing crop, and increased the percentage of plants supporting inflorescences by the end of the first growing season after treatment on a clay site. Treatment resulted in less favorable response on a saline fine sand site, with shredding promoting relatively greater cordgrass production. Most favorable growth responses resulted from spring treatment, presumably because subsequent rainfall was greater than that following summer treatments. Shredding generally stimulated herbaceous yields more than burning because shredding improved moisture relationships relative to the bare surface following fires. Both methods improve gulf cordgrass range for livestock grazing, but burning is the more economical alternative. [From authors' abstract]

Back to Author Index
Back to Subject Index