Invasive Species and Ecosystem Stressors

Invasive plants negatively impact our water, wildlife, and way of life. Current management tools are not cutting it, so a multi-agency research team is using molecular biotechnology to develop new species-specific treatments that help land managers improve the natural resources that we depend on and have more management options during droughts, floods, and other periods of plant stress. This...

Non-native Phragmites australis (Common Reed) has become established across the Great Lakes basin, outcompeting native plants and degrading natural habitats. Phragmites is managed using a variety of resource-intensive techniques, yet effectiveness of treatment may vary due to infestation level, application methods, environmental conditions, or other factors. With the goal to reduce uncertainty in...

Coastal and wetland ecosystems provide critical habitat to birds, fish, wildlife, and a suite of other organisms, clean our water and mitigate flooding events, and offer tremendous recreational opportunities to visitors. However, the majority of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Great Lakes basin have been significantly degraded or destroyed by ditching, draining, development, invasive species...

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...

The "Phragmites Management and Variable Great Lakes Water Levels" GeoNarrative presents research by the US Geological Survey and US Fish and Wildlife Service on how Great Lakes water levels affect expansion and management of coastal Phragmites populations.

In Partnership with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission

The USGS is developing innovative Phragmites control measures to keep this rapidly spreading invasive plant from further expanding its range into new wetland habitats and to aid in the development of successful restoration strategies. Scientists are conducting studies and field tests to determine (1) if microbes (i.e., fungi and bacteria) that live within and around Phragmites are enabling the...

Addressing a large-scale regional issue such as controlling a persistent invasive plant like Phragmites requires broad cross-sector coordination. Little progress is made and cost efficiencies are reduced when each entity works independently. The highly successful Great Lakes Phragmites Collaborative builds collaboration and facilitates communication on a regional level with a common agenda and...

Adult sea lamprey abundance in Lake Erie increased during the past decade, exceeding pre-control levels and causing extensive mortality on some strains of stocked lake trout (Markham 2015). Control agents speculate that this increase may be due to an uncontrolled larval sea lamprey population in the St. Clair River because other known sources of larval sea lampreys are regularly treated with...