[PCA] [APWG] Native Phragmites Data

Tue Aug 28 18:05:15 CDT 2012

Thank you Julie. You said everything that I have been composing in my head! I will also add that "invasive" - as you define it - is also the standard international usage.
Johnny Randall

Johnny Randall, Ph.D.
Director of Conservation Programs
North Carolina Botanical Garden
CB 3375
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill NC 27599
ncbg.unc.edu
(W) 919-962-0522
(C) 919-923-0100

From: apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org [mailto:apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Julie Knudson
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2012 1:57 PM
To: Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Cc: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org; apwg at lists.plantconservation.org; Katy Cummings
Subject: Re: [APWG] [PCA] Native Phragmites Data

I would throw in a couple more cents here...

To Bob:

"An invasive species is a non-native species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human, animal, or plant health." - National Invasive Species Council

"Invasive Plant: A plant that is both non-native and able to establish on many sites, grow quickly, and spread to the point of disrupting plant communities or ecosystems. Note: From the Presidential Executive Order 13112 (February 1999): 'An invasive species is defined as a species that is 1) non-native (or alien) to the ecosystem under consideration and 2) whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.' In contrast to item 2) of the Executive Order, which includes plants invasive in agricultural settings, the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group lists non-native plants as invasive only if they invade minimally managed (natural) areas." - Natural Resource Conservation Service

I would just be careful (depending on what circles you are speaking in) in saying that a native plant can be 'invasive', as officially I think 'invasive species' are defined as non-natives. It is just semantics, but I might argue that native plants can be 'weedy' or 'aggressive', but not technically 'invasive'.

To Katy - How are you addressing the potential native-invasive Phragmites hybrid issue? I would be interested in hearing more about your project - sounds interesting!

Julie

Julie Knudson
Tamarisk Coalition
970-256-7400

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 8:25 AM, <Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov<mailto:Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov>> wrote:

Cheers, Bob!

My two cents:

  *   A native can most definitely be an invasive.  Teal and Mark's comments elucidate that issue well.
  *   I'm not sure what list you might be referring to, but from what I understand of the Federal Noxious Weed list, I believe that plants that are either naturalized or have completely overrun the US will not end up on that list. I believe that list tends to include species that are in the earlier stages of invasion where prevention of further influxes can still make a difference for slowing the spread. I also doubt it would be on any state list - those often tend to be geared to non-natives and ornamental plants - of which poison ivy is neither.

It seems like poison ivy falls into a strange no-man's land - as a native, it doesn't seem to fit on the PCA ALien Plant WOrking Group listserve - yet the expertise on that list may be more appropriate (versus this general native plant listserve) because they are the folks with specific insight on invasive species biology.

I wonder if any of the National Park Service Exotic Plant Management Teams have identified it as among their top ten target taxa in any of their regions?

-Patricia

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife Service-International Affairs
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Robert Layton Beyfuss <rlb14 at cornell.edu<mailto:rlb14 at cornell.edu>>
Sent by: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org<mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org>

08/27/2012 09:45 AM

To

Katy Cummings <katy.e.cummings at gmail.com<mailto:katy.e.cummings at gmail.com>>, "native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org<mailto:native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>" <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org<mailto:native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>>

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Subject

Re: [PCA] Native Phragmites Data

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> [mailto: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<mailto: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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