Impact of Invasive Plant Phragmites on Estuarine Biodiversity

1. Is it Possible for a Biologically Healthy Estuarine System to be Sustained while being occupied by an invasive vegetation known as phragmites? • By:Brenda Quito And Cathya Solano • Mentor:Dr.Bob Newton • Teacher: Ms.Susan Vincent

2. Introduction • We took part of an ongoing research project that has been studying the role of phragmites in the ecosystem and the effect it has on it’s neighboring species. • There is a controversy on whether existing phragmites is a healthy component in the ecosystem or whether it contributes to landscape degradation and habitat deterioration. • Throughout our research we studied the different types of stream banks that exist throughout the marsh and how the formation of the banks enable them to create their own habitat. • We also studied the invasion phragmites on spartina.

3. Overall View of the Sites

4. Sparkill

5. Crumkill

6. THE MARSH(at low tide)

7. Tidal Cycle

8. VOCABULARY • SPARTINA:The genus Spartina, commonly known as cordgrass, They form meadows and grow quickly. Several Spartina species are native to Florida, and most species are native to the east coasts of North and South America. Spartina has been planted by humans to reclaim estuarine areas for farming, to supply feed for livestock, and to prevent erosion. Species range from one to seven feet tall. They are the native species plant of phragmites. • PHRAGMITES: or common reed, is a wetland plant species. It can grow up to 6 meters high in dense stands and is long-lived.  Phragmites is capable of reproduction by seeds, but primarily does so asexually by means of rhizomes.  Recent research has now shown that native and introduced genotypes of this species currently exist in North America. • ESTUARY: semi-enclosed coastal body of water which has a free connection with the open sea and within which sea water mixes with fresh water. The key feature of an estuary is that it is a mixing place for sea water and a significantly-sized river to supply fresh water. A tide is a necessary component to maintain a dynamic relationship between the two waters. • ECOSYSTEM: a functional unit consisting of all the living organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) in a given area, and all the non-living physical and chemical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycling and energy flow. An ecosystem can be of any size-a log, pond, field, forest, or the earth's biosphere-but it always functions as a whole unit. ...

9. Sparkill/Phragmites • In the picture we can observe spartina, the native specie of phragmites. This plant is shorter and thinner. When spartina existed in the marsh, there was an abundance of fish and other species. It was a good thing because it gave animals more space to shelter and served as food supply. • This all changed with the invasion of phragmities • Phragmites on the other hand, is tall and thick, giving species limited space for shelter and food. This sometimes is not a good thing because it prevents large amount of water from entering the marsh.

10. Vocabulary Continued • HABITAT: Place where an animal or plant normally lives, often characterized by a dominant plant form or physical characteristic • MARSH: type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. A marsh is different from a swamp, which is dominated by trees rather than grasses and low herbs. The water of a marsh can be fresh, brackish, or saline. Coastal marshes may be associated with estuaries and along waterways between coastal barrier islands and the inner coast.

11. HYPOTHESIS????????? • We hypothesis that numerous animal species will inhabit the rivulet side of the marsh during high tide. We believe that rivulets are used as a shelter for the species. In this way we believe phragmites benefits the marsh’s ecosystem.

12. EQUIPMENT • MINNOW TRAPS • QUADRAT • DEPTHOMETER • P B C pipes • JARS • ROPES • PINS • Y S I • CANOES • DATA SHEETS • RULERS • ISOPROPYL ALCHOHOL • FORMALDIHYDE • DISTILLED WATER • DRY BOX • WATER

13. PROCEDURE • We set P B C pipes, as markers to identify our sites, in 4 different sites of the marsh. The sites were: Crumkill, Tidal Creek, Sparkill, and the Hudson River Channel. In each site there was a total of 12 minnow traps. 1 for the erosional bank, 1 for the depositional bank, 1 for the interior of the rivulet and the last for the exterior bank of that same rivulet. We did this for all 4 sites. • We put our traps together and deployed. Each bank had a total of 3 traps placed horizontally along the marker. • Using the Y S I we measured the salinity of water, its dissolved oxygen, its temperature and its conductivity. We did this in all the different marked areas within the sites. This was done in order to characterize the different habitats. • Throughout the first we week of sampling, we retrieved our traps after a period of 4 hours. We then realized that we were not obtaining data so the following week we decided to retrieve the traps after a period of 24 hours. On the 3rd week we decided to change things around and retrieve the traps in between tidal cycles (when the tide was neither low or high) • When retrieving the traps one of us would be preparing the jars containing FORMALIDIHYDE ( which was diluted from 30%TO 10%) which would eventually numb and kill the samples. This will at the same time preserve the species.

14. Procedure Continued

15. Retrieving Traps

16. Putting Samples in Jars

17. Data Sheet

18. PROCEDURE CONTINUED • After a period of 24 hours, we washed the samples that we had retrieved, with water, and then transferred them to Isopropyl alcohol ( that was diluted from 70% to 50%) where they will remain for future studies. • We are now in the process of measuring and identifying the samples individually.

19. Analysis • So far we have observed that phragmites has not had a negative effect on the marsh’s ecosystem. When retrieving our traps we have found that the animals do come upstream during high tide and therfore are using the marsh as shelter. • When retrieving our traps we have noticed that we catch a variety of animals in rivuelets more often than we do in edges. We have also noticed that the animals use the depositional banks more often than they use erosional. • We hypothesis that this is happening because as water enters the stream and erodes the banks, it deposits water and fishes along the depositional bank.

20. Future Plans • Our future goals are to institute a more rigorous study of marsh biota including core samples, plankton tows and seine nets, in addition to minnow traps. • We also want to correlate sampling regimes with tidal and diurnal cycles. • To begin a year-long time series of water collections on a transect across the river from Piermont to Hastings-on-Hudson. The goal is to create a project that is ongoing and manageable with labor supplied by local high school students.

21. References • http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/phraaust.html • http://site.www.umb.edu/conne/leslie/lesliepage.htm • http://www.templesanjose.org/JudaismInfo/time/moon.htm • http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Phragmites_australis.html#Description

22. Acknowledgements • Dr. Bob Newton • Ms. Susan Vincent • Mr. Andrew Shaw • Columbia University (Lamont Doherty Campus) • Dr. Sat Bhattacharya • Harlem Childrens Society