Rangers, Volunteers Tackle Invasive Reeds At Bog Brook Preserve

SOUTHEAST, NY — Forest Ranger Aubrey Russo joined volunteers and staff from DEC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife on May 3 to clear out invasive Phragmites from the Bog Brook Unique Area.

The 131-acre Bog Brook Unique Area contains several kinds of wetland, including a rich graminoid fen, a type of freshwater wetland that is rare in New York. Other wetland types include open water, emergent marsh and red maple swamp. Old fields, shrublands and patches of young forest are common on the eastern side of the wetland.

Management at Bog Brook Unique Area have mainly focused on the wetland habitat, though DEC periodically mows the fields on the eastern side of the area to maintain habitat for meadow-dependent wildlife species such as bluebirds.

• Woody vegetation is periodically removed from the wetland periphery to keep this area free of trees and large shrubs.
• A water control structure was constructed at the southern end of the wetland to maintain water at appropriate levels.
• Wood duck nest boxes have been installed in the marsh and adjacent uplands.
• Biocontrol agents are being used to fight the invasive plant purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
• Prescribed fires are used to reduce the abundance and vigor of common reed (Phragmites australis).

Don't be fooled. While there are, or were, native reeds, the Phragmites you see all over New York is an invasive species. According to Cornell University Cooperative Extension, "Phragmites turns rich habitats into monocultures devoid of the diversity needed to support a thriving ecosystem."

Non-native Phragmites alters habitats by changing marsh hydrology; decreasing salinity in brackish wetlands; changing local topography; increasing fire potential; and outcompeting native plants, both above and below ground. These habitat changes threaten the wildlife that depend on those wetland areas for survival. Phragmites forms a ticket of roots and rhizomes that can spread 10 or more feet and several feet deep in one growing season.