4/18/2011: Phragmites and Bokeh
Back when I used to think of Phragmites as an invasive weed, destroying our wetlands, I could not see its beauty. Now that I know that most Phragmites in Maine (and much of it elsewhere) are actually a native species, and that what is spoiling our wetlands is our own land use practices and chemical agriculture with spread of Phragmites just an optimistic symptom of the problem, not its cause…I can begin to appreciate the reed (not weed). It certainly has its beauty, as here, with a single weathered fond caught against the forest bokeh behind.
Shot at a 560mm equivalent field of view to isolate the reed and send the trees behind well out of focus.
Canon SX20IS, f5.7 @ 1/500th @ ISO 160.
Processed for intensity and clarity in Lightroom. Cropped slightly for composition.
For some reason(s your images are not lighting up my hot bottons lately.
Beauty is what brought water hyacinth to India and Africa. The problem is that a viciously opportunistic animal (humanity) has encountered mindlessly opportunistic plants that have all the stubbornness of an inanimate object. Aquatic weeds are the real driving force in climate degradation. They clog the natural cooling system of rivers and lakes and “lake effect” rains. Look at the Typha Australis in Africa’s Lake Chad. It is native, it is destroying North Africa. It CAN be stopped! Weeds are the most renewable source for biomass. I do not believe you can deplete them. Please prove me wrong!
Stephen: as I understand it, with the phragmites we have a chick and egg situation. As the marshes weaken due to human activity and climate change, they become more hospitable to phragmites, which, being hardier than other native water plants and marsh grasses, come to dominate and choke out rivals. Eradicating phragmites, however, will not restore the wetland to health…only more through systemic changes and much more aggressive remedial action will have a chance of doing that. In a healthy wetland phragmites achieve a natural balance with competing plants. Is that not so?
Yes, everything we do with water changes a water level somewhere and makes someplace more favorable for one weed or another. Once established, a decline in favorability will not usually disrupt them. The pollution that we dump in the water favors the weeds (particularly water hyacinth), and the weeds remove some of it, compromising their use as food. At present in North America, Phragmites is expanding at the expense of cattail. Weeding and dredging the rivers and lakes will not do the job alone. I very much doubt that it will ever be really completed. The renewability factor is stunning. We will be maintaining wetland health forever. We must start.
I’d been hoping to ‘unleash’ cattail pollen as a food supply near the hungriest people. The way the plant handles arsenic made me think it very likely that the pollen would be clean. Sad to say, when I finally found the research that covered it, it turns out that the pollen is indeed contaminated, so collecting it without some hi-tech gadgetry is asking for lead poisoning.