[SEMCO] Technical Forum: Phragmites australis: A Sheep in =?iso-8859-1?Q?Wolf=92s?= Clothing? =?iso-8859-1?Q?Wolf=92s?= Clothing?

[Sheri D. Derosa]

Technical Forum:  Phragmites australis: A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing?

Place:  Cumberland College, Vineland New Jersey

Dates:  6-9 January 2002

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Coastal salt marshes are thought to provide critical habitat for fish
and wildlife. Yet, despite progress in the past 40 years, we are only
slowly unraveling the functional processes of salt marshes, and how
marsh-derived production flows to consumers, in situ and in the open
estuary. Superimposed on this complexity is the rapid expansion of a
relatively new marsh invader, Phragmites australis that appears to be
degrading essential marsh functions over much of its range. Although
millions of dollars are being spent on prevention and control, including
the extensive use of herbicides and prescribed burns, the issue
surrounding Phragmites impacts may derive more from the perception of a
"problem" than from documented negative impacts. The diffuse nature of
current Phragmites’ research, and the "mixed signals" that are being
sent to the management and regulatory communities make a technical forum
on the ecological effects of Phragmites a very timely undertaking.

Invited Sessions ?Contributed Papers ?Poster Sessions

Forum themes will focus on new research and critical reviews addressing
Phragmites’ role as a "noxious weed":

--Conditions associated with population stability or population
expansion (trends in expansion, seeds/vegetative means, evidence for
aggressive genotypes)
--Role in nutrient flux and biogeochemical processes
--Competition with other macrophytes (basis for invastion success)
--Effects on geomorphology and hydrology
--Effects on habitat quality for fauna (nekton, benthos, and wildlife)
--Landscape Scale Effects

Simply stated, is Phragmites the "villain" that many pose it to be, or
does it have redeeming features worth an adaptive management approach
rather than an all-out assault to eliminate it; seemingly the current
approach to dealing with this species? Are efforts to control this
invasive form well placed and are the causes of expansion being
considered?

The technical forum will also include a facilitated workshop where
challenge questions will be discussed among the invited panel and
audience. Peer-reviewed manuscripts and a summary white paper will be
published in Wetlands. Contributed paper and Poster sessions will
highlight research, but will especially solicit topics related to
Phragmites management, control and eradication. The forum will allow
managers to hear directly from leading experts on Phragmites ecology,
and vice-versa and promote discussion between Phragmites researchers and
managers. Peer-reviewed papers will function as a "one-stop" compilation
of current knowledge and will be disseminated widely in the form of
reprints, and on BioOne (new site for the journal Wetlands). The
proposed workshop will help focus the national effort in
multidisciplinary research to better understand the ecology of
Phragmites australis and its ecosystem level effects.

CO-CONVENERS

Michael P. Weinstein, New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium,
mweinstein@njmsc.org
Glenn Guntenspergen, glenn_guntenspergen@usgs.gov
Janet Keough, janet_keough@usgs.gov, USGS, Patuxent Wildlife Research
Center

CO-SPONSORS (CURRENT)

USGS-BRD; NJMSC; NOAA-National Ocean Service/Restoration Center and the
Sea Grant College Programs of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, National Sea
Grant Office, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island, MS-AL (Habitat
Theme Team), Society of Wetland Scientists - Mid-Atlantic Chapter

For more information, visit
http://www.njmsc.org/Conferences%20Workshops.htm