This abundant dead fuel carries fire well, allowing stands to burn during midsummer when the current year's shoots are green. Rhizomes can be damaged, however, by deep-burning fires which can occur when the soil is dry and the humidity of the litter and stembase is low. The effects of severe burning depend on the degree of damage inflicted upon the rhizomes. Following some severe fires, shoot emergence the following spring can be delayed for 1 to 2 months. The most damaging fires occur during drought years when entire peat layers can be consumed.
Most fires favor common reed.
Although plants burned during the summer usually initiate new top-growth within a few days, stem density is greatly reduced, and stems regrow to only about half of normal height before killing frosts occur. At the Delta Marsh in Manitoba, common reed plots were burned on August 1, October 7, and May 11. Biomass declined on the summer burn, but the decrease was short-lived. By the end of postfire year 2, aboveground biomass returned to preburn levels. Stem density remained lowered even after three growing seasons.