Hello Fundyforum members, Although I live on the south shore of Nova Scotia, I've travelled back and forth to the Annapolis Valley off and on for the last 25 years. In all different seasons I've driven through Windsor and gotten that glimpse of the mudflats that you can see from the highway. Last summer I noticed something there that I'd never seen before: it appeared that a fairly substantial area of the mudflat now had grass growing on it. What do you know about this? I'm assuming that the grass is the type that normally grows in salt marshes in this area(?)
Anyhow, I've read in different sources that "spartina," a normal salt marsh grass on this coast is now being seen as an invasive species on the west coast of North America where it has not normally been found. It's considered a pest. Today I saw this item on ENN: http://www.enn.com/direct/display-release.asp?id=6885 Excerpt: "Spartina anglica is an exotic cordgrass that is rapidly spreading through mudflats in Puget Sound, Washington State. The invasive plant turns mudflats into salt marshes, rendering them less able to support shellfish or seabirds." What struck me as strange was that the grass is "spreading through mudflats" on the west coast - I'd assumed before that they were finding it growing in their salt marshes. Is the grassy growth that I saw on the Windsor mudflats something that's been known to occur there in the past? Or is it another new development? If it is new, it raises the question of why this grass species, long present in this part of the world, did not colonize these mudflats in earlier years. What I'm wondering is whether maybe this is a signal that the invertebrate life in the mudflats is no longer strong and abundant enough to exclude the establishment of the cordgrass there. Might this be another indication of a subtle decline in invertebrates that has happened in concert with the decline in barnacles that I mentioned in my email message yesterday? Of course it might not be, there could be another explanation. Does anyone on this list have any insight into this question, of salt marsh grass taking root on mudflats? thanks, Debbie MacKenzie http://www.fisherycrisis.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fundy Forum listserver is dedicated to providing a forum for Bay of Fundy Issues. List moderator: Maxine Westhead Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone:(902)426.4215 On-line Archiving: <http://www.fundyforum.com/listserver/main_archive.htm> Post message: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> List-Unsubscribe:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
