Rapid Invasion Of A Great Lakes Coastal Wetland By Non Native Phragmites Australis And Typha PDF Download

Invasive Phragmitesaustralis ssp. australis (herein ?Phragmites?) has established and rapidly spread throughout many coastal areas of the Great Lakes. Knownto displace native vegetation communities as it forms large, monotypic stands, Phragmiteshas a bad reputation when it comes tolosses ofbiodiversity and habitat provision for wildlife.However, the extent to which Phragmitesprovides habitat for fish and invertebrates in coastal freshwater wetlands remains relatively unquantified. Thus, this study assessed whether fish assemblages and invertebrate communities in stands of Phragmites differ from those in stands of two native emergent vegetation communities,Typha spp. and Schoenoplectus spp. The findings showed significant differences in habitat variables among the vegetation communities in terms of water depth, macrophyte species richness, stem density and water quality.While abundance of the functional feeding group filterer-collectorswas found to be significantly less in stands of Phragmiteswhen compared to Schoenoplectus, no difference was observed in invertebrate tax a richness among vegetation communities.Lastly, no difference infish assemblage or invertebrate community was detected when using multivariate analyses, implying thatinvasive Phragmitesprovides habitat that appears to be as valuable for fishand invertebrates as other emergent vegetation typesin the St. Clair River Delta. The findings of this study will ultimately benefit the literature on invasive Phragmitesand its role as fish habitat in freshwater wetlands, and aid management agencies in decisions regarding control of the invasive species.Keywords:Phragmites, freshwater fish, fish habitat, Great Lakes, aquatic invertebrates, nMDS, St. Clair River Delta, wetlands, aquatic invasive species.