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adopted for the Buckeye Ranch (Table 14). <br /> Moist-soil management simulates natural drying conditions by artificially drawing down <br /> water levels in spring and summer. The exposed soils allow for the germination of seeds. <br /> Different species of plants respond to the timing of drawdowns and the stage of plant <br /> succession. Slow drawn-downs, for example, result in a greater mosaic of vegetation <br /> types than fast drawdowns. During the early phases of implementing moist-soil <br /> management, annual plants predominate, whereas perennials likely would become <br /> dominant after several years of plant succession. <br /> Control of undesirable vegetation is best achieved by controlling water levels to flood or <br /> dry out undesirable plant species. The ability to completely remove water from an area is <br /> absolutely necessary to control plant succession and may require disturbance to alter <br /> conditions. Burning can be used to set back or keep certain kinds of vegetation at a desired <br /> stage. Mechanical control of vegetation can be achieved by drying or draining the marsh <br /> and then disking, plowing, or mowing. Afterwards, the marsh may be re-flooded to <br /> eliminate a particular target species, such as cocklebur. If all other methods fail or are <br /> uneconomical, the method of last resort would be the use of herbicides to suppress <br /> particular target species. <br /> Planned management regime for the South Tracy Lake seasonal wetlands will allow for <br /> prolonged availability of this habitat type to a variety of waterbirds and other wildlife. <br /> Under current hydrologic patterns the lake is available to waterfowl and shorebirds, as a <br /> foraging site for only 3 months each year. By drawing down the lake to 12 feet msl by <br /> mid-April, most of the arms of the lake will become usable by a variety of species (water <br /> depths will vary from 2 feet to edge). Water levels behind the proposed dikes will begin to <br /> quickly evaporate,drying by the end of May. Planned moist soil management through <br /> Buckeye Ranch Resource Plan (November, 1993) <br /> 190 <br />