Common Reed Phragmites sp. Why it is aggressive and how to be controlled

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Common Reed( Phragmites sp. Why it is aggressive
and how to be controlled
http//caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/stueber/thome/ba
nd1/tafel_065.html
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What is the Common Reed?

• Tall perennial monocot grass
• Grow up to six meters in height
• Family Poaceae (grass)
• The genus Phragmites includes
• Four species
• High phenotypic plasticity making identification
  difficult
• (Gleason and Cronquist, 1991) (Clayton, 1967)

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• Found on
• Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• America
• Australia
• (Holm et al., 1977)

http//www.parker-river.org/
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Distribution in US

• Green areas indicate
  confirmed presence.
• Red areas indicate possible but unconfirmed
  presence.

http//www.csdl.tamu.edu/FLORA/cgi/b98_map?genusP
hragmitesspeciesaustralis
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Characteristics

• Spreading by
• Rhizomes (underground stems)2/3 of the biomass
• Shoots
• Seeds

http//www.pressplus.com/pinelands/plants/phragmit
es.html
http//www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/invasiv
e
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• Grow in different kind of environments
• Marshes
• Along the borders of
• lakes
• ponds
• revisers
• streams
• Canals (ditches)
• Brackish water
• Disturbed areas

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• Forming large stands or colonies arising from
  one or a few seeds or plant piece
• Grow in water several feet deep
• Grow under a wide range of environmental
  conditions(water reed and dry reed)
• Their aggressive growth and tendency to
  outcompete other plants
• It is an excellent colonizer of disturbed soils
  and once established it usually crowds out all
  other wetlands plants.

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Impacts

• Ecological damage
• Alter structure and function of ecosystem by
  changing nutrient cycles and hydrological regimes
  (Benoit and Askins, 1999 Meyerson et al., 2000).
  
• Decrease native biodiversity and quality of
  wetland habitat, waterfowl species (Thompson and
  Shay, 1989 Jamison, 1994 Marks et al., 1994
  Chambers, 1997 Meyerson et al., 2000).
• Bird species in the area were associated with
  native, short-grass habitats and were excluded by
  Phragmites invasion (Benoit and Askins, 1999).
• Fishes

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Impacts

• A very useful grass wherever it grows, especially
  in the Mediterranean region, North Africa, and
  western North America. Although used extensively
  locally, its products do not enter commercial
  markets.
• James A. Duke. 1983. Handbook of Energy Crops.
  unpublished

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Impacts

• Create a good environment for Mosquitoes
• Security and safety

http//www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/invasiv
e_species/phraus_clones01.jpg
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IS Phrgmites indigenous or introduced to N.
America?
Phragmites rhizomes were found in North American
peat cores dated 3,000 years old (Orson, 1999).
(Since 150 years ), there has been a rapid
spread of Phragmites.
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Hypotheses of rapid expansion

• Result of human activities causing habitat
  disturbances or stresses such as pollution,
  changes in hydrologic regimes, and increased soil
  salinity (Lapin, Randall, 1994)
• Non-native genotypes of the species may have
  been introduced to North America sometime during
  the past 200 years( Pellegrin, Hauber, 1999)

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Indications for introduction

• Records from the 1800s t describe Phragmites as
  being rare or not common (Torrey, J. 1843)
• A historical gap in its distribution was found
  in the southeastern states (Hitchcock,1935)
• The absence of specialized N. American herbivores
  of P. australis in North America (Tewksbury et
  al., 2002)
• The lack of wildlife use (Tewksbury et al., 2002)

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A study to approve it

• Saltonstall, 2002
• Reconstruct the invasion history of a species
• Knowledge of historical trends in geographic
  distribution and population genetic structure..
• Herbarium specimens.
• Use of molecular techniques( PCR-based )

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• Leaf tissues were collected from green Phragmites
  plants during the growing seasons (worldwide)
• herbarium specimens also were obtained to
  increase the number of samples from locations
  outside of North America

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• In samples collected before 1910, a total of 27
  haplotypes were identified worldwide
• 11 haplotypes are unique to North America and are
  considered to be native to the continent
• Two haplotypes have a widespread distribution on
  multiple continents

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• Within North America,
• Significant changes in haplotype frequencies
  between the historical and modern samples
• Modern populations show a striking pattern of
  expansion in the range of (Native)haplotype M

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Methods to Control Phragmites sp

• 1- Mechanical Control
• 2- Chemical Control
• 3- Biological control

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Mechanical Control

• A) Burning phragmites
• Rhizomes are not killed
• over 100 feet away
• B) Cutting phragmites
• Timing is critical
• high cost (several times)

http//www.ocean.udel.edu/cms/dseliskar/surfacefil
m.html
http//www.lastgreatplaces.org/berkshire/issues/ar
t6402.html
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Chemical Control

• Glyphosate( Round up)
• Good for small areas
• One acre costs 60
• No-target effect (bad for soil, water and animal
  (fish)
• Re-treatment every 2-3 years
• Difficult to be applied in some cases

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http//tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/phraaust.html
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Biological control

• From Tewksbury et al., 2002)., 2002)and
  (Schwarzlander et al ,1999)
• 201 species ( from whole wroled)
• 164 insects, 7 mites, and 30 fungi
• 66 are monophagous
• Diptera ( 58 species) and Lepidoptera (46
  species)
• Over 70 of all herbivores attack leaves and
  stems
• Only 5 of the monophagous feed in rhizomes
• 21 species have already been accidentally
  introduced to USA.

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Biological control

• In North America
• Only 26 herbivore species are known
• Only 5 of them are natives to US.
• Only 2 are monophagous

• In Europe
• at least 140 herbivore species.
• some causing significant damage
• (Schwarzländer and Häfliger, 1999 Tewksbury et
  al., 2002).

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• Groups are divided into
• Attack the below- ground rhizomes
• kill the above gourd- shoots
• reduce biomass
• Attack stems and leafs
• Attack rhizomes and leafs in the same time