Andrea Kline

"This field trip is the first to fill up every year," said Andrea Kline, East Michigan conservation director for The Nature Conservancy.

Helen Taylor, Director of The Nature Conservancy-Michigan Chapter and Andrea Kline, Nature Conservancy Director of Conservation for East Michigan will tell us about current developments in conserving Michigan.

"Not only is it a really cool spot in Michigan, but it's important globally," said Andrea Kline, a conservation director with the Nature Conservancy. She said many of the flowers there, such as the dwarf lake iris and Houghton's goldenrod, are known to grow only in the Mackinac Straits and northern Lake Huron areas.

"In Oakland County and throughout southeast Michigan, invasive plant and animal species are considered to be the second largest threat to biodiversity, after habitat destruction," said Andrea Kline, east Michigan conservation officer with The Nature Conservancy.

"Once established in the environment, they compete with native plants and animals for food, water and other resources - a situation which can lead to permanent, negative changes in ecosystems and the extinction of native species," Kline said.

Genetic tests of Phragmites from several southeast Michigan areas indicate the rapidly advancing form of the tall cane is the non-native, cryptic invader, according to Kline.

Researchers believe Phragmites australias is a European species that made its way to North America during the 17th and 18th centuries in the ballast compartments of ships.

"Actually we think they've been here for a long time," Kline said."Lewis and Clark collected the invasive form of Phragmites, and recent genetic tests of their botanical collection proves that they collected samples of the plant."

A prolific reproducer, it can spread quickly through an ecosystem, either by the dispersal of it's tiny seeds, or through it's deep root system.Salt tolerant, it utilized brine- and salt-splashed roadside ditches, traveling westward and arriving in southeast Michigan during the 1950s or 1960s, according to Kline.

Once moving into a marsh, it can rapidly spread, pushing out native plants which provide food and shelter for waterfowl, birds and other wildlife.

"Today, Phragmites is documented in nearly all of the mainland United States, as well as throughout southern Canada," Kline said."Recognized as an indicator of wetland disturbance, it has made a rapid advance throughout southeast Michigan, and now dominates thousands of acres of marsh.It's also encroaching on other upland, undisturbed sites, using salt-laden roadways to find its way to publicly held parks throughout Oakland County."

Kline said although scientists are now scrambling to find economical and practical ways to control the growth of this plant, its presence went relatively unnoticed for years.

When the glaciers pulled back more than 10,000 years ago, they left behind a mix of gravel, sand and stones that was tough to farm, said Andrea Kline, east Michigan conservation director for The Nature Conservancy.

"When farmers came through here trying to farm, many of them just gave up," she said.

Supervisors: Andrea Kline, East Michigan Conservation Director, and the East Michigan Conservation Team.