could not have been responsible for the decrease in density of 
the stand. However, burning may cause vulnerability to nutria by 
increasing the number and availability of new shoots. 
Sawgrass was dying throughout southwestern Louisiana during 
the early 1950's, but some marsh managers did not attribute this 
loss to nutria. During the late 1920's sawgrass was present as 
isolated colonies in areas east and south of Pecan Island in 
Vermilion Parish and also near Sweet Lake in Cameron Parish, 
according to longtime residents. These colonies gradually in- 
creased to form dense stands that characterized the areas by 1950. 
This indicates that factors other than nutria have caused changes 
in coverage o> sawgrass. 
Sawgrass has value as cover for marsh animals. It is gener- 
ally considered to be of little value for waterfowl and muskrats 
(Martin et al., 1957), although its seeds were found in great 
anounts in waterfowl gizzards recently studied in southwestern 
Louisiana (Chamberlain, 1959). 
That Southern bulrush may have been previously thinned by 
nutria on Transect E was suggested by the old sign present. 
Several hundred yards north of the transect, bulrush in the same 
zone was much denser. A bulrush marsh north of the impoundment 
on Lacassine Refuge was greatly thinned by nutria soon after 
their appearance there (John J. Lynch, verbal communication), 
and feeding of both cattle and nutria caused the disappearance 
of a bulrush stand. at Delta Refuge. Other bulrush stands at 
26 
