[PCA] Native Phragmites Data

Robert Layton Beyfuss rlb14 at cornell.edu
Mon Aug 27 08:28:03 CDT 2012


Hi All
I am a bit confused and hope you can enlighten me. I thought that the basic definition of an invasive plant was that it had to be exotic.  There are many native plants that create almost solid monocultures such as common goldenrod yet can it be "undesirable" at any density? . Poison ivy can overrun entire areas but I have never seen it listed as invasive.
Bob

From: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org [mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Katy Cummings
Sent: Monday, August 20, 2012 9:28 PM
To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [PCA] Native Phragmites Data

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<mailto:katy.e.cummings at gmail.com>


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