https://www.estuaries.org/pdf/2012posters/Herder_RAE_2012_poster.pdf
The Phragmites at Helen Wood Park keeps growing back because even burning it won't destroy the hardy roots. MBNEP was out today AGAIN trying to eradicate Phragmites australis, also known as Common Reed from Helen Wood Park. Helen Wood Park is a relatively new park located just north of Dog River on the shoreline of Mobile Bay. The Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants with the University of Florida says Phragmities is "Native" to Florida but notes the taxonomy of Phragmities australis is being actively investigated.
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/323
The National Park Service has a guide to distinguish the differences between the "Native" versus "Exotic Forms" of Phragmities australis (Common Reed). If you're inclined to see some of the differences:
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/pdf/phau1-powerpoint.pdf
Don't forget that while the nature of plant adaptability and DNA change naturally and slowly over time, man is actively manipulating plant genetics all the time now to produce hybrids which have been known to interbreed with natural plants. Man's own genetic tinkering (hybridization) of plants is suspected as being the stimulus for the evolution of the invasiveness traits in some subspecies of plants. Hybridization affects more than plants. Consider the hybridization between different species of honeybees that gave rise to the famous African Bees. Man's genetic tinkering can only provide more opportunity to accelerate the natural hybridization processes to give rise to more subspecies which may or may not have negative consequences to man and the environment.
http://www.pnas.org/content/97/13/7043.full
One example of genetic tinkering is with Giant Reed, aka "Arundo donax" which is similar looking to Phragmities but larger in size. Scientists learned that Arundo donax, which can grow 3 inches a day in summer, is one of the most productive of all energy biomass crops and it can grow where corn will not grow. Roasted Arundo donax can be stockpiled and used like coal to provide electricity. Arundo donax also yields 3 times as much ethanol per acre as corn. Using Giant Reed instead of corn for ethanol production won't drive up corn related food prices.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/07/03/4146618/epa-approves-arundo-reed-for-use.html#.UnNHjxCQMmg
Of course, companies wishing to capitalize on what might be a large scale fuel business seek to genetically modify the giant grass species so they can patent a faster growing and more robust hybridized species and control the distribution and profit from the modified species. Here is one example of a company with its own variety of Giant Reed:
http://www.galiltec.com/biomass.html
Arundo donax is already deemed a very invasive species and if hybrids interbreed with the native species, who knows what will happen. Giant Reed can be found along Mobile Bay and it is getting denser every year. Who knows - maybe Giant Reed will replace Common Reed in the Mobile Tensaw River Delta in the future.
http://nykography.weebly.com/uploads/1/1/0/4/11041387/3674898_orig.jpg
The terms that biologists have coined - native plant and non-native plant - are ridiculous. Far as I'm concerned, every plant on Earth is native to Earth. It doesn't matter whether an area on Earth is a salt marsh or an inland forest, plant species reaching toward the sun do whatever they can to propagate and grow. Some plants dominate the areas where they grow. Some do not. Who is not to say there are long term cycles that the Creator has put in place that allow some species to dominate for a period of time before another takes over? Humans are not cognizant of the marvels of the forces of life the Creator has put in place.
For whatever reason, there is supposedly a distinct subspecies of Phragmities that grows more aggressively than the others. The aggressive Phragmities grows tall and chokes out smaller less robust "native" wetland plants leading to the monopolization of the wetland by the Phragmities. Who knows - there could be extenuating circumstances causing the aggressive growth. Might heavy rain that seems to send raw sewage into Mobile's local creeks and rivers be feeding Phragmities exactly what it needs to grow more aggressively?
On the positive side, dense stands of Phragmities are known to be a healthy habitat for many birds. If you've ever been in the lower Mobile-Tensaw Delta and seen hundreds of thousands of migratory birds land in the dense stands of Phragmities you would know that is true. Phragmities is useful in filtering harmful chemicals out of the ground water (phytoremediation) and also useful in the treatment of waste water (greywater). Phragmities is used for thatching in other countries. Phragmities is used to make flutes, used for food, used to make baskets, and used to produce paper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phragmites
The dense and robust rhizome (root) growth of the Phragmities grass holds the shoreline together preventing erosion during fierce storms like hurricanes. The dense clusters of shoreline Phragmities can absorb a lot of wave energy be it from boat wakes or from storms.
http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/40549%28276%2967
There are reports out that say 1 in 6 people in America don't know where their next meal is coming from. Meantime, MBNEP is out killing Phragmities even though some say parts Phragmities can be prepared for food consumption. Who would have thunk people could be fed from plants in the Grass Family. What do Rice, Wheat, Corn, Barley, Rye, Oats and Sugar Cane all have in common? They are members of the Grass Family of plants. And here we are in the year 2013, wasting potential food while Americans starve.
http://feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/hunger-facts/child-hunger-facts.aspx
In summary, I bring up this controversial subject of Phragmities because an environmental group, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program is spending time and money trying to kill all the "Non-Native" Phragmites at Helen Wood Park under the guise of "restoration." Meanwhile, TVs, plastic, styrofoam, glass, and other trash floating in local creeks are ignored and left to rot, including the litter nestled in with the Phragmities reeds at Helen Wood Park.
MBNEP which is administered and funded by the EPA under provisions of the Clean water Act would rather fund killing a healthy stand of grass instead of funding removal of the garbage from Mobile's trash impaired creeks and wetlands. No priority for Clean Water? The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program's current initiatives don't even include removing the garbage from the well documented trash impaired Dog River. Considering all the media coverage of the Dog River storm water litter, you would think MBNEP would have some initiative or some priority to fund removal of the pollution.
http://www.mobilebaynep.com/what_we_do/current_initiatives/
No wonder why Mobile's waterways and wetlands, like Three Mile Creek, are still UGLY with trash. Local environmental groups like MBNEP have their priorities out of kilter. While I think highly of Tom and Roberta as individuals, I question the priorities they and others set for Mobile Bay National Estuary Program. In my opinion, the toxic garbage should be removed from Mobile's trash impaired waterways before time and money is wasted killing healthy wetland grasses one at a time with a syringe of poison. MBNEP was funded by the EPA under provisions of the Clean Water Act, so Clean Water should be MBNEP's highest priority.