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Inventory and Ventilation Efficiency of Nonnative and Native Phragmites australis (Common Reed) in Tidal Wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay

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Abstract

Nonnative Phragmites is among the most invasive plants in the U.S. Atlantic coast tidal wetlands, whereas the native Phragmites has declined. Native and nonnative patches growing side by side provided an ideal setting for studying mechanisms that enable nonnative Phragmites to be a successful invader. We conducted an inventory followed by genetic analysis and compared differences in growth patterns and ventilation efficiency between adjacent native and nonnative Phragmites stands. Genetic analysis of 212 patches revealed that only 14 were native suggesting that very few native Phragmites populations existed in the study area. Shoot density decreased towards the periphery of native patches, but not in nonnative patches. Ventilation efficiency was 300 % higher per unit area for nonnative than native Phragmites, likely resulting in increased oxidation of the rhizosphere and invasive behavior of nonnative Phragmites. Management of nonnative Phragmites stands should include mechanisms that inhibit pressurized ventilation of shoots.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Doug Samson from The Nature Conservancy for providing information about the King’s Creek Preserve, Drs. Joydeep Bhattacharjee and Neil Reese for help with choosing the instruments, Jay O’Neill for lab assistance, Dr. Kristin Saltonstall and Robert Meadows for suggestions regarding native stand locations in Maryland, Elaine Friebele for permission to sample Jug Bay wetlands, and Ned Gerber for allowing us to use his farm during the field season. Funding came through the Joseph F. Nelson scholarship to MGT. We thank the editors and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Microbiology, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, 57007, USA

    Mirela G. Tulbure, Dana M. Ghioca-Robrecht & Carol A. Johnston

  2. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA

    Dennis F. Whigham

  3. Australian Wetlands, Rivers and Landscapes Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia

    Mirela G. Tulbure

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  1. Mirela G. Tulbure
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  2. Dana M. Ghioca-Robrecht
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Correspondence to Mirela G. Tulbure.

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Tulbure, M.G., Ghioca-Robrecht, D.M., Johnston, C.A. et al. Inventory and Ventilation Efficiency of Nonnative and Native Phragmites australis (Common Reed) in Tidal Wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay. Estuaries and Coasts 35, 1353–1359 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9529-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-012-9529-4

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