Broad coordination is required to overcome large-scale regional challenges such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites. Individual management actions may have local impact, but their implementation can be inefficient and landscape-scale impacts are limited. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a regional level using an adaptive management approach that includes a common agenda and goals to maximize impact and investment. The Collaborative promotes network building among managers, governmental agencies, private landowners, and scientists and serves as a resource center for information on Phragmites management and research. This work is made possible by investments from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Since its formation in 2012, the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative (GLPC) has served as a communication hub via an interactive website (GreatLakesPhragmites.net), a webinar series, an automated email group, and social media to facilitate access to information and resources. The site links to or describes many products, including plant identification tools, over 50 webinars and symposium presentations, a 750+ member automated email group, a weekly newsletter, management case studies, and a map of Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas. The GLPC has a steering committee, advisory committee, and working groups of professionals organized by topic (management, research, communication, etc.) who are guiding the development of products and projects.

The GLPC responded to partner and stakeholder needs by developing the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF) that aims to improve Phragmites management at local and regional scales, increase management effectiveness and efficiency, and reduce treatment uncertainty. The PAMF program is relatively early in its implementation but has already generated significant outputs and outcomes. As of 2022, over 147 participants from 8 states and 1 province have enrolled 276 management units in the program since it started in 2017. Over 500 sets of data-driven management guidance have been distributed to participants. More participants are joining each year as visibility to the program increases and the value of data-driven management guidance is realized. To learn more about PAMF, view our short videos on the participation cycle, the PAMF predictive model, and rationale for the program. As of 2023, PAMF is expanding to target specific management actions; see our page about PAMF – Active Adaptive Management.
This project is part of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center’s wetlands research. Visit our page Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management to learn about more collaborative research projects.
Data related to this research
Phragmites australis Transcriptome Assembly Optimization
Land cover classifications and associated data from treatment areas enrolled in the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework, 2018
Optimization and application of non-native Phragmites australis transcriptome assemblies
Using uncrewed aerial vehicles for identifying the extent of invasive Phragmites australis in treatment areas enrolled in an adaptive management program
Applying the collective impact approach to address non-native species: A case study of the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative
Annual Management Unit Summary Code
These are the partners in this research
- Overview
Broad coordination is required to overcome large-scale regional challenges such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites. Individual management actions may have local impact, but their implementation can be inefficient and landscape-scale impacts are limited. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a regional level using an adaptive management approach that includes a common agenda and goals to maximize impact and investment. The Collaborative promotes network building among managers, governmental agencies, private landowners, and scientists and serves as a resource center for information on Phragmites management and research. This work is made possible by investments from the US Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.
Since its formation in 2012, the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative (GLPC) has served as a communication hub via an interactive website (GreatLakesPhragmites.net), a webinar series, an automated email group, and social media to facilitate access to information and resources. The site links to or describes many products, including plant identification tools, over 50 webinars and symposium presentations, a 750+ member automated email group, a weekly newsletter, management case studies, and a map of Cooperative Invasive Species Management Areas. The GLPC has a steering committee, advisory committee, and working groups of professionals organized by topic (management, research, communication, etc.) who are guiding the development of products and projects.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. Visit Media to see details.Home page of the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative web site USGS Great Lakes Science Center student contractor performing annual monitoring for the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF). Photo Credit: Taaja Tucker-Silva, USGS. The GLPC responded to partner and stakeholder needs by developing the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF) that aims to improve Phragmites management at local and regional scales, increase management effectiveness and efficiency, and reduce treatment uncertainty. The PAMF program is relatively early in its implementation but has already generated significant outputs and outcomes. As of 2022, over 147 participants from 8 states and 1 province have enrolled 276 management units in the program since it started in 2017. Over 500 sets of data-driven management guidance have been distributed to participants. More participants are joining each year as visibility to the program increases and the value of data-driven management guidance is realized. To learn more about PAMF, view our short videos on the participation cycle, the PAMF predictive model, and rationale for the program. As of 2023, PAMF is expanding to target specific management actions; see our page about PAMF – Active Adaptive Management.
Banner for the Phragmites australis page. Credit: Taaja Tucker-Silva, USGS. This project is part of the USGS Great Lakes Science Center’s wetlands research. Visit our page Innovative Approaches for Wetland Restoration and Invasive Species Management to learn about more collaborative research projects.
- Data
Data related to this research
Phragmites australis Transcriptome Assembly Optimization
Nonnative Phragmites australis (common reed) is widely distributed across North America and insufficient knowledge of P. australis has impeded the efficiency of management. To aid in Phragmites management and future studies, we used RNA-seq data from multiple types of plant tissue to construct forty-nine P. australis transcriptomes via different assembly tools and multiple parameter settings, resuLand cover classifications and associated data from treatment areas enrolled in the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework, 2018
During 2018, uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs or 'drones') were used to collect spatially referenced aerial imagery from 20 management units (sites) enrolled in the Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework, a collective learning program developed by the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative. Management units were located in Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin (USA). Invasive Phragmites australis (hereafter - Publications
Optimization and application of non-native Phragmites australis transcriptome assemblies
Phragmites australis (common reed) has a cosmopolitan distribution and has been suggested as a model organism for the study of invasive plant species. In North America, the non-native subspecies (ssp. australis) is widely distributed across the contiguous 48 states in the United States and large parts of Canada. Even though millions of dollars are spent annually on Phragmites management, insufficiAuthorsFeng Tao, Chuanzhu Fan, Yimin Liu, Subashini Sivakumar, Kurt P. Kowalski, Edward M GolenbergUsing uncrewed aerial vehicles for identifying the extent of invasive Phragmites australis in treatment areas enrolled in an adaptive management program
Higher spatial and temporal resolutions of remote sensing data are likely to be useful for ecological monitoring efforts. There are many different treatment approaches for the introduced European genotype of Phragmites australis, and adaptive management principles are being integrated in at least some long-term monitoring efforts. In this paper, we investigated how natural color and a smaller setAuthorsColin N. Brooks, Charlotte B. Weinstein, Andrew F. Poley, Amanda G. Grimm, Nicholas P. Marion, Laura Bourgeau-Chavez, Dana Hansen, Kurt P. KowalskiApplying the collective impact approach to address non-native species: A case study of the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative
To address the invasion of non-native Phragmites in the Great Lakes, researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey—Great Lakes Science Center partnered with the Great Lakes Commission in 2012 to establish the Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative (GLPC). The GLPC is a regional-scale partnership established to improve collaboration among stakeholders and increase the effectiveness of non-native PhragmitAuthorsH. B. Braun, Kurt P. Kowalski, K. Hollins - Software
Annual Management Unit Summary Code
The Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF) is an adaptive management program created to improve the efficacy and efficiency of Phragmites management efforts throughout the Great Lakes region. Managers enroll Phragmites stands, report the management techniques they used, and monitor the invasion status of Phragmites on their site (management unit - MU). Through a systematic approach, PAMF - Partners
These are the partners in this research