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An old Yarmouth buddy of mine (b 1878, d 1971) told me those reeds by the former railway track in Annapolis resulted from a circus train derailment there. Should have asked him when that happened. Too late now! > Hi Fred & All, Aug 29, 2010 > It is interesting that, based on the last URL, decline of stands in > Europe is a greater worry than expansion. And some here worry about > expansion. Is there, lurking in the background at both locations, an > underlying human desire for things to remain the same as they were when > first seen ? > > Further down on this site (An Information base...recent work) I notice > the comment that the European strain can grow in acid soil that has been > made alkaline by de-icing salt. I am wondering what kind of de-icing salt > can increase soil pH and how. > > Also I notice that most (all ?) of the spread along highways may be by > fragmentation, i.e. rhizome cuttings made and transplanted by use of > earth-shaping/moving equipment along highways. It would seem that the > invasive characteristic of this alien strain is, in this case at least, as > man-made as the highways. > > I have long admired the stand at Annapolis (on the left as one goes > west out of Annapolis) which, so far as I am aware, is no larger or > smaller than it was when I first saw it about 1946. Some assume this stand > to be Acadian in origin, based on location I suspect. I have a clone of > this stand in the yard (planted 1991) and the base of the culm (with dead > sheaths removed) is green but smooth. > > So based on culm base color and surface texture the answer to the > question "is this stand European in origin ?" is yes and no. Perhaps I > misunderstood-- is the reddish culm color of the native just above the > soil level (where I looked) or just above the junction of culm with > rhizome ? A red coloration can be indicative of phosphorus deficiency. Do > the two strains exhibit this color difference when grown at the same site > ? > > The perimeter of the yard stand BTW is readily contained by mowing 2-3 > times a year. > > There is, with good reason, renewed interest in alternative energy > sources and I have wondered if the impressive annual growth of Phragmites > could provide fuel for energy on an efficient basis. Do you offhand have > figures for the energy equivalent per unit area of Phragmites ? > > It is used in the Netherlands for soil ripening of recently reclaimed > polders (part of the reason for the transplant to a very wet area of the > garden in 1991) and I think many of our soils with compact impermeable > subsoils could become more productive after 20 years under Phragmites. > So growing this grass on marginal farmland for energy might have a > secondary benefit. > > Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Frederick W. Schueler" <bckcdb@istar.ca> > To: "Dusan Soudek" <soudekd@ns.sympatico.ca>; <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> > Cc: "Catling, Paul" <Paul.Catling@AGR.GC.CA> > Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 7:37 AM > Subject: [NatureNS] Re: Common Reed in N.S.? > > >> On 8/27/2010 5:08 PM, Dusan Soudek wrote (off the list): >> >>> I am curious about your work on the distribution of the native and the >>> Old World clones of /Phragmites /in Nova Scotia and elsewhere. >>> I am finding more and more Common Reed >>> populations in the province, principally along highways. >>> Can you tell the two taxa apart in the field? Or do you need to analyse >>> their DNA? >> >> * I'll take the liberty of replying to the list, since this is the core >> of what we'll be looking for in Nova Scotia. You can see >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phragmites#Invasive_reeds for a very tepid >> account of the status and distribution of native and invasive >> "subspecies" of Phragmites, and >> http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben417.html for the database and >> http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben418.html for a compact summary >> of the Canadian distribution. In places it seems that the native form, >> as well as the European "subspecies" invader, is increasing along roads, >> so the observed increase may not be a simple case of alien invasion. The >> two kinds were described as subspecies, but there's no widespread, or >> even documented, interbreeding between them, so they may be good >> biological species. >> >> Basically, if you examine the base of the stems, the native subspecies >> has smooth red or reddish stems, and the invasives have finely ridged >> yellow or greeen stems. Also the invasives are much more likely to be >> more than 3m tall. The stands of the natives are more open, with other >> species of plants often growing admixed, while the invasives form dense >> monospecific stands. Paul Catling has shown that the flower and seed >> parts of the natives are larger than those of the invasives, giving the >> invasive seed head a puffy or plumed look. >> >> Last December we drove through the Saint John Valley and SE coast of new >> Brunswick, and only saw the native form along the roads, and so far have >> seen only native-looking stands in Nova Scotia, so perhaps it would be >> possible to prevent, in the maritime provinces, the kind of takeover >> that has given Phragmites australis ssp. australis its alternative >> English name: "The Grass that Ate New Jersey," and has led to its total >> and complete dominance of so many salt marshes in the Atlantic states. >> >> We'd be very glad to hear of the location of suspected native or >> invasive stands, and as soon as we have better internet connections >> we're going to put up a page for reporting the location of Phragmites >> stands, which we'll communicate to Paul Catling's national registry of >> such stands. >> >> fred schueler. >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad >> Bishops Mills Natural History Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm >> Thirty Years Later Expedition - >> http://fragileinheritance.org/projects/thirty/thirtyintro.htm >> Longterm ecological monitoring - http://fragileinheritance.org/ >> Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/ >> http://www.doingnaturalhistory.com/ >> http://quietcuratorialtime.blogspot.com/ >> RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0 >> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W >> (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/ >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> ------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> >> Regards, >>> Dusan Soudek >>> /Part of this will be the distribution of native and invasive >>> colonies of the Reed Phragmites, to see how widespread the invasives >>> are, and in the hope of suppressing them before they totally take over >>> salt marshes as they have in such places as New Jersey, and the >>> roadsides as they have in Ontario and southern Quebec. >>> >>> fred schueler. >>> / >>> // >> > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 9.0.851 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3096 - Release Date: 08/26/10 > 15:34:00 >
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