GM CAMI Assembly of Ingersoll has been monitoring Phragmites growth in four key areas on site since 2015. The pilot project initiated the measurements of density in a 1m² area, tallest height and representative height with three samples from each of the four monitoring sites. This data is compiled annually to project trends. Along with this, Interns at CAMI maintain Phragmites growth by organizing removal projects each growing season. This presentation will cover the monitoring and maintenance plan, schedules and methods used at the CAMI Assembly Plant since the Phragmites program began in 2015. Success stories and learning opportunities will be shared to hopefully help listeners with their own Phragmites maintenance.

Marsh bird populations in the southern Great Lakes coastal wetlands have been declining since the mid 90s. One factor contributing to this decline is the expansion of the invasive grass European Common Reed (Phragmites australis ssp. australis). The Canadian Wildlife Service aims to remove 90% of P. australis in two National Wildlife Areas in Long Point, Lake Erie by 2025. We undertook a Before-After-Control-Impact study to determine the short-term response of marsh bird communities to the removal of P. australis. Throughout the 2019 marsh bird breeding season, Autonomous Recording Units (ARUs) were used to record bird vocalizations in areas where herbicide treatment of P. australis was planned for fall 2019, and in P. australis-invaded areas where no treatment was planned (statistical controls). These sites were resurveyed in 2021 to compare to baseline recordings. We determined the optimal transcription effort required to maximum avian richness estimates from ARUs. Recordings comprised three 15 min segments spread across the dawn chorus on one day within the breeding season. We observed 52 species in 2019 and 46 species in 2021. Preliminary results show an effect of treatment on total bird richness, as well as a change in community composition within control and treated sites, both of which warrant continued monitoring. Our results also highlight the importance of maintaining statistical controls in a Before-After-Control-Impact design to accurately interpret effects-based monitoring results and avoid confounding results with changes in environmental conditions.

Established in 1918, Point Pelee National Park is located in Southwestern Ontario and consists of 15 km2 mainland peninsula as well as Middle Island (18.5 hectares). The Park is home to over 60 federally listed species at risk. Approximately 72% of the park’s mainland is comprised of marsh habitat and 19 species at risk are dependent upon its continued presence. Since the late 1950s, the overall percentage of open water habitat in the marsh has decreased by 10 percent (100 hectares) due to habitat alterations, reducing overall habitat biodiversity for all marsh species, including species at risk.

The objective of this project is to increase open water and edge habitats in the marsh through removal of invasive floating cattail mats and invasive Phragmites to restore habitat diversity for species at risk where the park can influence recovery. Planning involved an Open Standards workshop to review threats to the marsh and develop a Community of Practice on marsh management, as well as contacting wetland managers from various organizations within Canada and the USA to discuss management methods. This process provided a foundation for the project’s conservation and restoration planning.

The Park is using an aquatic vegetation cutter and aquatic weed harvester to recreate open water areas, and use “cut to drown” techniques and herbicide application for treatment of Phragmites in species at risk areas of concern. Cutting Phragmites to drown with hedge trimmers began in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Heavy machinery has been field tested. The restoration team has adapted to rising challenges within the project, learning much along the way, and work with hedge trimmers, herbicide and heavy machinery will resume in 2022.

The Severn Sound Environmental Association (SSEA) is committed to ensuring exceptional environmental quality and exemplary stewardship of the Severn Sound area through sound science, collaboration, and partnerships at a watershed scale. Since invasive species do not respect private, municipal, or regulatory boundaries, the SSEA initiated the Invasive Species Program in 2017 to support municipal partners, providing expertise and a coordinated local approach to invasive species education, detection, monitoring, and management.

The goal of the SSEA Invasive Species Program is to reduce the ecological, economic, and social impacts of invasive species, through mapping and data collection, providing education and outreach to municipalities and the public, linking with regional, provincial, and federal invasive species initiatives, as well as working with local organizations and volunteers. The SSEA Invasive Species Program includes developing and periodically updating a cross-municipal strategy, promoting partnerships and cooperation between municipalities, residents, and community groups, and coordination of a multi-partner working group to share information and lessons learned at a local level. Through the Program, over 70 different invasive organisms have been detected within the Severn Sound watershed area to date, including a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic plants, invertebrates, fish, mammals, algae, and micro-organisms. The presentation will provide insight into how the SSEA developed a coordinated approach with eight partner municipalities to reduce the impacts of invasive species across jurisdictions through communication, monitoring, mapping, and management. It will highlight some of the challenges and successes of a watershed scale invasive species initiative.

Invasive Species are one of the mayor threats to ecosystems in Ontario; urban ecosystems are not the exception. Southern Ontario is the most densely populated area in Canada and home to extremely valuable ecosystems, this is one of the main reasons why Oakvillegreen has been involving the community in hands-on stewardship and effective actions to improve local biodiversity and invasive species monitoring and control. With great results, this community involvement has provided residents with the knowledge and tools needed to take action in their own neighbourhoods and contribute to invasive species management plans.

Since 2015 and in close collaboration with the Town of Oakville and Conservation Halton, Oakvillegreen has involved businesses, schools, youth groups, seniors and general citizens in workshops, webinars, walks and invasive species removal events, tackling species like garlic mustard, buckthorn, Phragmites, dog strangling vine, LDD moth masses and others.

Our programs are about empowering the community by introducing the notion that we can all do something positive about the ecosystems surrounding us, which has not only increased citizens’ participation but reduced the complaints received by the Town of Oakville when removing invasive species from public property.

Many of us have been asked what we should do about aggressive native plants in our projects; whether they are unwanted vines that carpet the site, shrubs that invade our prairie plantings or plants from other parts of North America that act like invasive species. Our discussions to date have centered on the problems of alien species but many North American natives can interfere just as much with our project goals. During this session, we will discuss this conundrum and offer some solutions.

Using articles he has written for the North Grenville Times about invasive plants as examples, Fred Schueler will make the pitch that if ecological and natural history events are to be properly represented in popular media, naturalists and scientists must write articles and get them published in various media.