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Extent and Reproductive Mechanisms of Phragmites australis Spread in Brackish Wetlands in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (USA)

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Abstract

The number of patches of non-native Phragmites australis in brackish tidal wetlands in the Rhode River subestuary increased from 5 in 1971–72 to 212 in 2007, and the area covered by the patches increased more than 25 times during the same time interval. Genetic analysis of the patches showed that the expansion has primarily been from seed, and genetic similarities between patches indicate that most cross-pollination occurs within a distance of 50 m. Comparison of patches in different parts of the subestuary indicate that the expansion of Phragmites australis has occurred at the scale of the entire subestuary and not the scale of subsections of the subestuary dominated by differing upland land-uses.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported through a subcontract with Pennsylvania State University on an EPA STAR grant (692105), Denice Wardrop, Principal Investigator, a Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship to KMK, and a Smithsonian Work-learn internship to HMB. Mark Brinson and two anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Karin M. Kettenring

    Present address: Ecology Center and Department of Watershed Sciences, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

  2. Heather M. Baron

    Present address: College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, 104 COAS Administration Building, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Box 28, Edgewater, MD, 21037, USA

    Melissa K. McCormick, Karin M. Kettenring, Heather M. Baron & Dennis F. Whigham

Authors
  1. Melissa K. McCormick
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  2. Karin M. Kettenring
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  3. Heather M. Baron
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  4. Dennis F. Whigham
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Correspondence to Melissa K. McCormick.

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McCormick, M.K., Kettenring, K.M., Baron, H.M. et al. Extent and Reproductive Mechanisms of Phragmites australis Spread in Brackish Wetlands in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland (USA). Wetlands 30, 67–74 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-009-0007-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-009-0007-0

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