Discovery of exotic Phragmites in Florida

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Julie Cannon
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1 Discovery of exotic Phragmites in Florida Bill Overholt 1, Michael P. Sowinski 2, Don C. Schmitz 2, Jeffrey Schardt 2, Vicky Hunt 3, Daniel J. Larkin 3 and Jeremie B. Fant 3 1 University of Florida 2 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 3 Chicago Botanic Garden

2 Outline Phragmites diversity Why we are interested in Phragmites 2010 Survey Recent find in Lake Seminole What it means

3 Phragmites species P. australis P. frutescens P. jaonicus P. mauritianus P. karka

4 History of Phragmites australis in North America Found in 40,000 year old sloth dung Artifacts made of Phragmites from 1400 years ago Herbarium records from 1800s indicate its presence in the US, but not common Early 20 th century evidence of expansion in the coastal northeast

5 Introduction of new genotypes First evidence of introduction in 1880 when Phragmites was found growing in Philadelphia where ships ballast was off-loaded In 2002, Saltonstall conducted genetic studies on Phragmites from the USA and several other countries and reported the presence of a European invasive type in the Atlantic coastal area and the Midwest.

6 Phragmites australis, a.k.a. Native types Phragmites australis, a.k.a. Gulf Coast Phragmites Australis, a.k.a. Eurasian Saltonstall et a Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 99:

8 2010 Survey Chocktawhatchee Bay Blue Cypress Lake Little Sawgrass Lake Caloosahatchee River

9 518 samples collected from 102 locations Florida (69) Alabama (4) Mississippi (4) Georgia (2) South Carolina (5) Louisiana (16) Thanks to: Kelli Gladding (FWC) Matt Phillips (FWC) Ryan Hamm (FWC) Brent Bachelder (FWC) Erica Van Horn (FWC) Michael Sowinski (FWC) Stephen Hight (USDA/ARS) #* #* #* #* #* #*#* #*#*#* #* #* #*#*#* ^ #*#* #*#* #*#*^^ 62 miles west of FL border on Petit Bois Island #* Legend ^ Haplotype M! Haplotype I ^ ^ ^ #* #* #*#*#* #* #*#*#* #* #*#*#* #* #*#* #* #* #*#*#*#*#*#*#* #*#*#* #* #* #* #*#*#* #*#* #*#* #* #* #*#* #* #*#* #*#*#* #* #*#* #*#* ^ 40 miles N of FL border on I 95 Williams, D. A., M. Hanson, R. Diaz and W. A. Overholt Determination of common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel) varieties in Florida. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 50:

10 Tried to get the word out.

11 Eurasian type Gulf Coast type Mississippi River Delta, South of New Orleans Dauphin Island, Alabama

12 Eurasian Phragmites near Darien, GA Gulf Coast type Eurasian type

13 But, then things got more complicated

14 Mississippi River Delta

15 North America, introduced North America, native South America Gulf Coast, land-type Europe Africa/Mediterranean Senegal South Africa Australia/Asia P. mauritianus P. frustescens P. karka P. japonicus

16 Phragmites in the Gulf Coast Phragmites type Distribution Origin Genetic makeup Other names Distinguishing characteristics Gulf Coast Florida to Texas (and South America) African hybrid between African P. mauritianus and Old World P. australis Land type, P. australis sub-species berlandieri, Haplotype I Tall, smooth stem, loose, droopy panicle, short or absent ligule hairs Eurasian type Widespread invasive in North America Europe P. australis EU type, haplotype M, short form Short, ribbed stem, compact panicle, sparse hairs at ligule Delta type Mississippi River Delta North African/ Mediterranean P. australis Haplotype M1, Med Tall, ribbed stem, compact panicle, dense hairs at ligule Greeny types Mississippi River Delta North America, Danube River Delta, Spain, South Africa, tropical Africa P. austalis and P. mauritianus Greeny 1, Haplotype M Greeny 2, Haplotype AD Greeny 3, Haplotype AI Short, similar to EU type, greenish/blue color Lambertini et al American Journal of Botany 99: Hauber et al Estuaries and Coasts 34:

17 Gulf Coast Courtesy of Carla Lambertini Aarhus University, Denmark Greeny type Delta type

18 Competitiveness of various types of Phragmites North American vs. Eurasian Comparison of photosynthesis of exotic and native haplotypes in a Maryland tidal marsh showed that the exotic had 51% greater photosynthesis than the native types. The native performed better than the exotic under low N (Mozdzer and Zieman 2010). Gulf Coast vs. Eurasian Experimental plantings of Gulf Coast and Eurasian Phragmites in a Louisiana marsh revealed that the exotic occupied 82% of plots after 14 months, compared to 18% for the Gulf coast type (Howard et al. 2008). Delta vs. Eurasian Photosynthesis of Delta type > Eurasian type (Nguyen et al. 2013)

19 Odd Phragmites found by Michael Sowinski in October, 2013 Lake Seminole, Pinellas Co.

20 Gulf Coast type Smooth Shiny Lake Seminole type Finely ribbed Dull

21 Identified as the Eurasian type by the Chicago Botanic Garden

23 The three types of Phragmites that may be in Florida Type Stem texture Panicle form Height Gulf Coast type (a.k.a. Land type ) Smooth, shiny Open, drooping Tall Eurasian Ribbed, dull Compact, erect Short Delta Ribbed, dull Compact, erect Tall

24 Panicle Gulf Coast Open Drooping Delta/Eurasian Compact Erect

25 Ribbing on the stem Gulf Coast Smooth Shiny Delta/Eurasian Finely ribbed Dull

26 Expansion of Gulf Coast populations 7,776 m2 10,770 m2 February 14, 1995 DOQQ 15,910 m 2 January 10, 1999 DOQQ 27,114 m 2 27,114 m 2 April 3, 2004 DOQQ January 2, 2012 Google Earth

11/5/2001 5/24/2002 12/10/2002 6/28/2003 1/14/2004 8/1/2004 2/17/2005 9/5/2005 3/24/2006 10/10/2006 4/28/2007 Ammonium in Apalachicola Bay 2002-2007 Data

27 11/5/2001 5/24/ /10/2002 6/28/2003 1/14/2004 8/1/2004 2/17/2005 9/5/2005 3/24/ /10/2006 4/28/2007 Ammonium in Apalachicola Bay Data from: National Estuaries Research Reserve System, Ammonium y = -1.2 = x x , (date) P= , P=0.02

28 11/5/2001 5/24/ /10/2002 6/28/2003 1/14/2004 8/1/2004 2/17/2005 9/5/2005 3/24/ /10/2006 4/28/2007 Phosphates 0.07 phosphates = -9.9 x 10-6 (date) , P=

29 11/5/2001 5/24/ /10/2002 6/28/2003 1/14/2004 8/1/2004 2/17/2005 9/5/2005 3/24/ /10/2006 Nitrates nitrates = 8.58 x 10-5 x (date) , P=0.03

30 Figure 2. Effect of hurricane frequency on P. australis growth. Eurasian Gulf Coast Bhattarai GP, Cronin JT (2014) Hurricane Activity and the Large-Scale Pattern of Spread of an Invasive Plant Species. PLoS ONE 9(5): e doi: /journal.pone

31 Response to an increase in atmospheric CO 2?

32 Conclusions There are several genetic lineages of Phragmites in the USA, including native types and several exotic types. Typical Gulf Coast Phragmites is thought to be an ancient introduction of a hybrid of P. mauritianus and P. australis. The Delta type Phragmites was recently described, and appears to be a relatively recent introduction to the USA. We believe that this is the type that was found in Lake Seminole in 2013 and are awaiting genetic confirmation. Eurasian Phragmites has not been found in Florida, but does occur in GA just 40 miles north of the Florida border. Greeny type Phragmites is of unknown origin, but has not been found in Florida. Research shows that exotic Eurasian Phragmites and the Delta type may be more aggressive than Gulf Coast type. Reasons for expansion of some populations of Phragmites in Florida are not known

33 Take home message Exotic Phragmites has been found in Florida If you think you ve seen exotic Phragmites, report it to FWC

34 A happy ending for now?

Overview and Identification of Introduced Exotic and Native Forms of Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

Overview and Identification of Introduced Exotic and Native Forms of Common Reed (Phragmites australis) Prepared by Jil M Swearingen, National Park Service June 14, 2006 Description Phragmites is a tall,