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A Marine Plant (Spartina Anglica) Invades Widely Varying Habitats: Potential Mechanisms of Invasion and Control

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Abstract

We report on the habitat dependent invasion and control pattern of the English cordgrass, Spartina anglica C. E. Hubbard, in Puget Sound, Washington. In 36 years, the plant has successfully invaded 73 sites, affecting 3311 ha of marine intertidal habitat, which if allowed to solidly fill, would equal ∼ 400 ha. Invasion and control both depend on habitat type. Mudflats and low salinity marshes have significantly more solid area of S. anglica than do high salinity marshes and cobble beaches. Control efforts since 1997 have resulted in a 13% decline of the grass. We find that high salinity marshes have the greatest decline (∼ 70%), low salinity marshes have the lowest decline (∼ 10%), and mudflat (∼ 29%) and cobble beaches (∼ 21%) have intermediate losses. We hypothesize that invasion success and control are dependent on a relatively complex interplay between habitat physical conditions and species interactions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences and Program in Environmental Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA; Author for correspondence (e-mail

    Sally D. Hacker

  2. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, 4516 N 28th, Tacoma, WA 98407, USA

    David Heimer

  3. School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, P.O. Box 644236, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    C. Eric Hellquist

  4. School of Biological Sciences and Program in Environmental Science, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686, USA

    Tabitha G. Reeder

  5. Washington State Department of Agriculture, 1111 Washington Street, P.O. Box 42560, Olympia, WA, 98504, USA

    Blain Reeves

  6. Department of Zoology, Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, 620 University Road, Friday Harbor, WA, 98250, USA

    Timothy J. Riordan & Megan N. Dethier

Authors
  1. Sally D. Hacker
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  2. David Heimer
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  3. C. Eric Hellquist
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  4. Tabitha G. Reeder
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  5. Blain Reeves
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  6. Timothy J. Riordan
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  7. Megan N. Dethier
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Correspondence to Sally D. Hacker.

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Hacker, S.D., Heimer, D., Hellquist, C.E. et al. A Marine Plant (Spartina Anglica) Invades Widely Varying Habitats: Potential Mechanisms of Invasion and Control. Biological Invasions 3, 211–217 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014555516373

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014555516373

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