[PCA] Native Phragmites Data

[Katy Cummings]

Fellow Conservationists-



I work for The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Door County, WI.  My main
project this summer has been mapping exotic and native stands of Phragmites
(*Phragmites australis* and *Phragmites australis americanus*) throughout
TNC properties in Door County.  I have some questions and experiences to
share with you as our organization tries to learn more about the
native/exotic Phragmites issue.



We all know what havoc the exotic Phragmites subspecies can wreak on an
ecosystem, but do we know anything about the native subspecies?   *Is there
any research out there showing that the native Phragmites can behave as
aggressively as the exotic?  *In Door County, the native usually grows in
scattered to moderate densities along with other wetland plants, with a few
patches showing denser concentrations.  There are a few areas where the
native has reached undesirable “dense” concentrations, but as of yet we
don’t know why.



*What other plants are associated with the native Phragmites?*  TNC will be
setting up monitoring plots soon on some of our native patches, and when we
get that data I’ll send it to any interested people from this list.  The
only list I’ve been able to find is from a chapter by Laura Meyerson et al.
in “Invasions in North American Salt Marshes” entitled “Phragmites
australis in Eastern North America: A Historical and Ecological
Perspective”.  Does anyone know of other lists from different regions of
the U.S.?



*Are there any patterns to where native Phragmites is found?  *During my
mapping of the plant in Door County, I’ve generally found native Phragmites
set back from the edge of waterways and growing in more marshy areas.



*What have you all seen as far as size of patches, number of patches,
location, rate of spread, etc. of the native Phragmites in your area?  *Most
of the wetlands in Door County are fed by alkaline ground water discharge
as a result of movement through the underlying dolomitic bedrock.  I assume
that because of these alkaline conditions we have a higher population of
native Phragmites than perhaps other regions of the Midwest.  Is this true?




To help answer these questions, The Nature Conservancy’s Door Peninsula
office has temporarily halted eradication measures of native lineages of *
Phragmites*.  We are in the process of developing long-term monitoring
plots in native *Phragmites *stands throughout Nature Conservancy holdings
in Door County, WI.  The goals of this monitoring project will be to assess
the following questions:

*1.      *Under what conditions do native stands become aggressive?

*2.      *At what threshold is a native stand damaging to the community?

*3.      *What plants are commonly associated with native *Phragmites *in
the Great Lakes region?

If you are interested, I can send you a more detailed methodology for our
monitoring project, including what parameters we will be sampling.



As an additional note, I’d encourage people to mention there is a native
variety of Phragmites and differentiate between the two strains in any
publications or documents.



I look forward to your input!





Thanks again,

Katy Cummings

katy.e.cummings at gmail.com


-- 
Katherine E. Cummings
Door Peninsula Conservation Intern
The Nature Conservancy
Sturgeon Bay, WI
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