[PCA] [APWG] Native Phragmites Data
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Wed Aug 29 08:05:24 CDT 2012
Julie's point is well-stated and underscores how important it is to
consider the context within which these terms have been defined.
Terms are defined for specific purposes, to accomplish specific goals,
mandates, or to define monetary outlays or requirements. And this is
especially interesting in the sciences - because we want to fit natural
processes and organisms into manmade boxes so that we can discuss,
control, compare, destroy, conserve them. When you move from one context
to the next, the same term may not mean the same thing.
Case in point: The term "endangered"
In the United States, there is a legal definition of the term for the
purposes of the Endangered Species Act. This definition is very specific
and differs from the layman's term. It also differs from the same term
used in other conservation contexts, such as that as defined by the IUCN (
International Union for Conservation of Nature). These definitions serve
to define and delimit the term so that everyone is "talking" about the
same thing.
The problem comes in when we create legal definitions for words that
already exist in the English language and then we wonder why the general
public (and even experts) "misuse" the terms.
To the extent that the alien invasive species movement is aimed squarely
at non-native species, they have defined these pre-existing terms to
describe their goal/role within that circle. Because the term invasive has
been officially defined an a non-native in that arena, it has necessitated
devising alternate definitions for native invaseives. Here's a great
example from NRCS:
Opportunistic Native Plant
A native plant that is able to take advantage of disturbance to the soil
or existing vegetation to spread quickly and out-compete the other plants
on the disturbed site.
How many people think dandelions are invasive? Now, how many think they
are non-native? You might be surprised to learn that this renowned
"invader" of our pristine lawns "comes in" native, too (
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=TAOFC). Opportunistic, weeds,
fast spreaders, noxious ...call it what you will, some of our natives
(including poison ivy) are that, too.
Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA 22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
Follow International Affairs
> on Twitter http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl
> on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/USFWS_InternationalAffairs
"Randall, John L" <jrandall at email.unc.edu>
08/28/2012 07:05 PM
To
Julie Knudson <jknudson at tamariskcoalition.org>,
"Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov" <Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov>
cc
"native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org"
<native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>,
"apwg at lists.plantconservation.org" <apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>,
"Katy Cummings" <katy.e.cummings at gmail.com>
Subject
RE: [APWG] [PCA] Native Phragmites Data
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> 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
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA 22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
Follow International Affairs
> on Twitter http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl
> on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/USFWS_InternationalAffairs
Robert Layton Beyfuss <rlb14 at cornell.edu>
Sent by: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
08/27/2012 09:45 AM
To
Katy Cummings <katy.e.cummings at gmail.com>, "
native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org" <
native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
cc
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] 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
--
Katherine E. Cummings
Door Peninsula Conservation Intern
The Nature Conservancy
Sturgeon Bay, WI_______________________________________________
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