Combating an Aerial Assault: Phragmites Seed

A sea of Phragmites (about 20 acres worth) beneath an awe-inspiring blue October sky;
plants propagate quickly by rhizome (rooted expansion), but the broom-like seed heads also set new pioneers by wind

With raindrops steadily falling for the second day in a row, winds howling, temperatures nose-diving, and the possibility of snow showers in the extended forecast for the first time this season, I thought an image of last week's blue sky might be warranted. But for as beautiful as the top of the image above feels, the bottom is pretty ugly. This is an overview taken from the south side of one of our outlying parcels ("Parcel 2") facing northwest toward Sandusky Bay (which is just beyond the cottonwoods in the middle of the image).

Late last week, Phrag seed literally blanketed much of the
downwind vegetation; this dogwood is hardly recognizable
(click to enlarge)

The view encompasses about 20 acres (~20 football fields), but there isn't much visible other than the highly invasive thorn in the marsh community's proverbial side: Phragmites australis. I've spoken on this subject plenty already, but this plant truly is a menace. It can grow from nothing to 16' tall in a single season. It can produce an astounding 200 discrete stems in ONE SQUARE YARD! And as the image above demonstrates, it can make a monoculture out of a marsh in no time flat.

Dry conditions a year ago literally about sucked the life out of this stand. As of last fall, only a few smaller pockets of lush green sustained the dwindling Phrag, and it looked like more upland competition might actually win out. This is not something we are used to seeing. It looked like good fortune.

But note that I said the dry conditions about sucked the life out of the stand. This year's historically high water levels in the lake and bay meant an influx of new moisture, and the Phragmites got the upper hand . . . and then some.

This is our largest wetland area where we do NOT have the ability to manipulate water levels. If the water goes way down, a more upland mix may take root. If the water level goes up, a sea of Phragmites ensues.

Parking lot planter

This is a case not just for the ongoing funding of the aerial Phragmites spraying program (which we participated in back in 2015 but regionally lost funding for in 2017). It is also a case for the merits of marsh management within an earthen levy system (aka diked marshes). Water drives all life; and even an inch or two can make the difference between rich habitat and a virtual vegetative dessert in a wetland setting.

Seed dispersal like we are seeing at present at the marsh is disheartening on one hand, but the good news is we have learned how to minimize the negative impacts by keeping high water on adjacent habitats at this time of year and during the early couple months of next spring/summer. But make no mistake, as the photo-op from a recent visit to a Detroit Airport parking lot makes clear (see right), even the slightest opportunity can be made good by a strategically placed, opportunistic Phragmites seed. Like it or not (and I don't), it's one amazing plant.

[I have consciously decided not to include images taken off-site of the marsh, but this one was just too good -- or bad -- to pass up. Be sure to click to enlarge.]

Pumping: About Time to Move Some Water

West Pump and spillway -- set up to pump from the marsh
[top half of photo] to the Bay [behind me, as the photographer]

'Tis the season, I guess, but I woke up to raindrops on the skylights for the third morning in a row. Our neighborhood has enough standing water that the mallards are starting to infiltrate to set up nesting locations among swing sets and rows of densely packed boxwood bushes. There is certainly a chill in the air, but it’s definitely April.

My wife would tell you I’ve always been a weather “freak.” What I love to do most (fishing, hunting, etc.) tends to be pretty weather dependent. Now my work is that way, too. Several of the chances for “showers” late this past week have resulted in sustained rains that were measured in inches rather than tenths of an inch. We are forecast to get a break this weekend, but it’s supposed to get back to it (potentially with another inch+ on Monday/Tuesday), so it will likely be time to get pumping.

We refer to the property as the West Marsh and the East Marsh. While the 2-lane State Route 269 is the north/south that serves as the delineating line, the truth is, the entire system is connected – by large pipes, at least. 

Each "management unit" is defined by the "dike" or raised earthen levee that surrounds it. Pipes and pumps are often the means to allow water in or to take water out of a given unit. There will be plenty more discussion on this subject and on why this is the current state of many, if not most, coastal marshes on Lake Erie and beyond. It obviously isn't ideal relative to what once was, but in our estimation, it's the best we can achieve considering all that has changed since Europeans began settling and since population densities really started to increase.

We may move water (intentionally) for a variety of reasons. This time of year, we pump primarily to keep up with precipitation -- to keep water low enough that strong spring winds and the resulting wave action won't deteriorate the earthen dikes that are allowing us to help a diverse natural world thrive inside the marsh.