By Mel Luymes
Even if you’ve never heard of phragmites australis, chances are you’ve seen it. A lot. They are tall reeds with a brushy plume at the top. They are quite pretty, which is probably part of the problem.
Phragmites (pronounced frag-MY-tees, sometimes phrag for short) was identified as Canada’s worst invasive species by Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada back in 2005. Those are some strong words considering some of its contenders: purple loosestrife, wild parsnip, garlic mustard and many more in the plant department; zebra mussels and emerald ash borer in the critters category.
Gail Walden, Marlene Morrow and Anita Heikkila are three friends and volunteers from Kincardine that started Kincardine Residents Against Phragmites (KRAP) in 2016 and have been working tirelessly to raise awareness and to control it on their beaches, municipal drains, highways and other properties.
When they first saw it twenty years ago, it was in small, short patches and they rather liked the look of it. But when the stand of phragmites grew exponentially over the next few years, they had to do something about it. They organized and worked with Invasive Phragmites Control Centre (IPCC), Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority (SVCA) and other partners, crediting especially the Municipality of Kincardine and Bruce Power for funding and support. It has been a long battle, and countless hours spent physically removing the plant, but they see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The Rural Voice caught up with Gail and Marlene as they had invited the IPCC to make a game plan for a patch of phragmites that no one had known about, tucked behind a new subdivision and golf course.
IPCC is a not-for-profit, boots-on-the-ground organization that travels around the province to fight phrag. It was founded in 2017 by a wetland ecologist, Dr. Janice Gilbert. Since the beginning, she has been one of the leaders of the charge, co-founding the Ontario Phragmites Working Group back in 2011.
For Janice, it all started in Rondeau Provincial Park back when she was working for the government, assessing a wetland, and had to walk through a solid stand of phragmites that took the rest of the day. There was nothing there but dense, five-metre-tall reeds that spanned acres. At that point, no one was talking about phrag being in the Great Lakes region, she explained. But it was already here.
Kyle Borrowman is the Habitat Restoration Manager at Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC). The organization recently received 11.5 million dollars from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources to implement the Invasive Phragmites Action program with the Invasive Species Centre. They are working with municipalities, Conservation Authorities, NGOs and Indigenous communities to implement strategic, landscape-scale projects to manage and prevent the spread of invasive phragmites across the province.
“We do have a native strain of phragmites here,” says Kyle. “But the one we are worried about is a genetic variation that came from Eurasia.” With no natural predators to keep it in check, it is believed that phragmites australis came to North America in the ballast of a ship in the 1800s, but for some reason, it wasn’t until the 1990s that we saw it become an issue.
“In Europe, there are patches that are over a thousand years old,” says Janice. There is evidence that Europeans used the plant historically for thatch roofs and other things; they were living with it and managing it. But it is another story here in North America.
As Wes, one of the IPCC crew, walks through the stand in Kincardine, it is clear to see why they wear high-vis shirts. Only a few metres away, he and his shirt are only barely visible. For those that have walked through large stands, it is quite disorienting, and it is easy to become lost.
What we can see is only 20-30 per cent of the plant, says Janice. The rest is a mass of roots that can go six feet deep and can shoot out 30 feet in any direction to start a new stand. It can reproduce with any one of its 2000 seeds per head, or through any part of its rhizome.
“When it comes into an area, it will grow thick, quick and tall,” says Kyle, sometimes they see stands of 200 stems in a cubic metre, destroying habitat. It is highly competitive and thrives in wetland and coastal areas. But it also grows in disturbed areas, especially if seeds or root pieces are introduced by equipment, and it is salt tolerant. This is why we are seeing so much of it along highways, ditches and drains.
“People can’t visualize how bad it will get,” says Janice, as she explains that the hardest part of the battle with phrag is getting people to see and manage it when it is still just a small stand.
“It’s a super competitor – it responds differently to stress than other plants,” she continues. If phragmites is cut, it will send out a shoot to start a new stand, so mitigation requires persistence. But there are ways to manage it. In water, it can be cut below the surface of the water to drown it and on land it can be cut multiple times and over several years. Large stands can be managed with a prescribed burn, but the most effective way is through an herbicide.
“I’m a wetland ecologist and first thought we couldn’t use an herbicide in such a sensitive environment, but then I started reading and reading and there was a lot of great research on aquatic herbicides,” Janice explains. When they piloted a project, they worked with Rondeau-area farmer, Keith McLean (1922-2012). After only a year or so of herbicide treatment, the phrag was gone and there was wild rice growing and there were nesting birds there. The success kept her going.
The NCC became involved in the battle against phrag back in 2016 on Long Point. Reaching 40 kilometres into Lake Erie, Long Point is the longest freshwater sand spit in the world, and it is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It was also covered by phragmites. The NCC received emergency measures from the Ministry of Natural Resources to spray Roundup Custom, an aquatic version of a terrestrial glyphosate from the U.S. that was not (yet, or ever) licensed in Canada.
The fight was on. There were two amphibious vehicles (Truxors) working across 5000 acres of phragmites on Long Point. Eric Giles (Giles Restoration Services Inc.) called his Truxor the Phrag ‘N Slayer, while the NCC’s unit was named Shrek. The NCC is still working there, along with both provincial and federal governments. Last year they treated about 600 acres across Long Point and Norfolk County, including work on 83 private properties.
The best time to spray phrag is in September and October, when it has a lot of green leaves and is taking its energy back into its roots.
“The timing is counter-intuitive to a farmer, we know,” says Janice, but with years of experience under her belt, she knows how to eradicate it. She and her team also have two Truxors and they were used, at the beginning, to take into the water and cut phrag below the waterline. Cutting it below the water, into the sediment will drown them, and it has been easier to do that now that lake levels are high again.
“You have to be more tenacious than the plant,” she laughs, the key is to not give up until it’s gone. Many funding programs only last for three years; then the work ends and the stand returns. In other cases, some people or municipalities hit a stand only once and then come back a few years later saying that the control measures don’t work.
“You have to do it all, even if there is a property boundary there, you get the partners and do it all,” she says. The partnerships and networks are critical, with more boots on the ground identifying where the phragmites is growing, but also filling the program and funding gaps we’ve experienced over the years.
“Now that I know what it is, I see it everywhere,” says Cheryl Skingley, Park Superintendent of the Brucedale Conservation Area, which hosts 52 campsites on a sheltered beach near Port Elgin and is run by Saugeen Conservation. Cheryl spent many summers camping at the park and there were small stands of phragmites there for as long as she could remember. She recalls a fellow camper who had tried to raise awareness about them, but no one seemed too concerned back then.
But by 2014, the phrag had gotten out of control and blocked any access to the water. They started to fight back with hand tools and hosted a community work bee. In 2015, Janice Gilbert and the Lake Huron Coastal Centre got involved and brought in better tools. In 2017 and 2018, they had Truxors and were making some serious headway. The project was funded by Enbridge and Bruce Power.
Looking at the beach now, it has made an incredible recovery thanks to thousands of hours of work. But volunteers and staff keep a watchful eye. They continue to have a community phrag cutting event and also have spades and cane cutters available for community members to borrow to manage phragmites on their own properties.
Back in Kincardine, the crew assessed the stand at the edge of the golf course and made a game plan. The local group would clear out the dead stalks in the next month or two, ideally bundling and burning them in place, and the IPCC crew would come in September with backpack sprayers. Janice estimates that would eliminate about 95 per cent of the phragmites by next year, but that they would have to go back and keep an eye on it.
Invasive phragmites are now on every continent, one of the unintended consequences of international travel. We have many plants here that are not native, but not all of them are a concern. Plants are deemed invasive if they have come from another area and are threatening the economy, the environment or culture, Kyle explains.
There are more than just phragmites to worry about, however. On top of the emerald ash borer, Kyle discussed the spotted lantern fly coming across from the U.S., and oak wilt, along with other diseases that are on our doorstep and would impact our native trees.
“It is a grim field to be in at times,” he admits, “but there is also hope.” For his graduate work, he studied biological control of Eurasian water milfoil with native insects and found it could be highly effective in managing invasive species that would otherwise not have natural predators.
“It can take over twenty years to develop suitable biological controls though,” he adds, stressing the importance of checks and balances. Releasing an insect control could do just as much damage (or more) as the invasive plant if it is not well understood.
Rural Voice readers may remember that purple loosestrife was once a concern in this area. An invasive wetland plant as well, there was a decade of campaigns against it in the 1990s and eventually a beetle was released that helped to manage it. You will still find purple loosestrife here and there, but it has come back into balance, thanks to the tremendous efforts of both citizens and scientists.
“Purple loosestrife is a success story,” says Kyle. It is a great example of our ability to respond effectively to invasive plants. And he also highlights that native plants have a seed bank that can last in the soil for up to two decades and will come back nicely if given the chance.
Of course, every plant has a purpose. Phragmites is great at filtering water of nutrients, but the trade off is too great. Others have wondered if the stalks could be harvested for biofuel, but both Kyle and Janice are more concerned with getting rid of it. They warn about taking the plant off property or to start considering it as a resource to potentially be farmed.
The Invasive Phragmites Action program is working at various levels to combat phragmites, including training for contractors and addressing the regulatory issues related to aquatic herbicides and aerial application. Kyle and Janice think Ontario is close to getting the ability to spray with drones, and that will be a game changer for the fight against phragmites. The team at IPCC is already trained or training for their aerial exterminator licenses.
If you see phragmites on your property, it is best to start by reaching out and getting more information because the size and location of the stand will dictate what approach to use.
There is a Best Management Practice (BMP) Guide and other resources available online (see www.ontarioinvasiveplants.ca). In some circumstances you can start to manage it yourself by spading (not cutting or pulling), so long as you will be persistent. For use in a pond, there are underwater cutting tools to use. But people could be making it worse, so they really should talk to someone with experience.
It is also a good idea to report it to your municipality, especially if it is on a drain because it will both impede drainage and will spread downstream to do the same. Municipalities can work with NCC to access funding for mitigation strategies, so talking to a councillor could be a good step as well. There is a provincial database of phragmites stands that helps the network understand where to target their efforts.
For readers with phragmites stands on dry land, care should be taken to not spread it by tilling the stand. Every node on every stem, every piece of root can start a new plant.
It is easier to control it on dry land, though, and that is typically where Janice and her team at IPCC would start, working back to the water, where a different strategy / herbicide can be used. Especially those farmers who already have their exterminator license, Janice recommends that they do spray it, and she shares the recipe that has worked best over her years of experience. It is five per cent Roundup WeatherPro (or equivalent), with one per cent methylated seed oil and using a water source with a pH between six and seven.
As well, prevention is the best cure. It is best to avoid driving through the area or to clean equipment before and after doing any work in or near a stand.
Janice stresses that it is important to be very careful with control measures. Especially with herbicides and drones, there is potential that just one mistake could mean more regulation and losing the ability to use these tools.
Another potential avenue for regulatory control is to have phragmites listed as a noxious weed under the Ontario Weed Control Act. Like giant hogweed, poison ivy or wild parsnip, having phrag listed would require landowners to control it on their properties.
After the game plan is developed in Kincardine, the group reflects on the last years of work. Janice is quick to praise her team, volunteers around the province and emphasizes the power of networks.
“I have to say though, that the common thread is Janice,” Gail jumps in, “she is great at neutralizing opinionated people and bringing them back to the point, to the goal. She has motivated a lot of people to work hard to eradicate it. She has patience and resolve.”
“Don’t put that in the article,” says Janice, and the group laughs.
As the site visit in Kincardine wraps up, we snap a few photos of the group. While a stand of phragmites is not something to smile about, now that is on their radar, it is as good as eradicated. It has been a decade-long journey to get the knowledge, the tools and (now) the funding to battle Canada’s worst invasive species.
For more information, see ontariophragmitesaction.ca or to contact Janice Gilbert and the IPCC, www.phragcontrol.com. ◊