Phragmites

I went to Green Bay for a couple days to check out sites for my own research.   
  
The invasive giant reed (everyone calls it Phragmites, which is its genus) is EVERYWHERE up there! It has taken over most of the road-side ditches, lots of inland wetlands, and pretty much all of the shoreline. 10 years ago, the lake level started to drop, and all of the exposed soil was colonized by Phragmites. There are boat landings that no longer reach the water and countless homes that used to be on the lake and now have reeds for their backyard.
         
 My research is going to be on how it affects bird communities. It's hard to nest in because it's so dense and tall, and it dries up pools of open water that birds like to use to look for bugs and fish. There are some species that nest in it, like red-winged blackbirds, but things like bitterns, rails, and waterfowl can't use it very well.
   
It spreads really fast and is extremely hard to get rid of. Heidi, the DNR person in charge of a big project to eradicate it, LOVES to kill invasive species. She has been doing this for years and has worked on every species you can think of. She spent a half an hour describing all the ways you can get rid of them (including the glove of death, which was my personal favorite), and she says that Phragmites is by far the worst of the worst.

Heidi was so excited to be out of the office, she was taking pictures too

This was sprayed with herbicide, then mowed

New growth coming up - year-old stalks stay standing

Along roads

And rivers

Crane babies!

Yellow-headed blackbird