Research by Biology's Josh Caplan and Tom Mozdzer Highlighted by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
"One of the Chesapeake’s least favorite invaders could end up being an unlikely savior. The invasive reed Phragmites australis, a plant that has exploded across Chesapeake wetlands in the last few decades, is also making those wetlands better at soaking up carbon, ecologists from the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Bryn Mawr College discovered in a new study." — from Shorelines.
The study referenced above is co-authored by Josh Caplan, who was a post-doctoral fellow in Bryn Mawr's Biology Department from 2013 through 2015, and Bryn Mawr Assistant Professor of Biology Thomas J. Mozdzer.
More from the Shorelines article:
On the surface Phragmites has all the makings of a classic ecological horror story: A non-native species arrives in a new land, unwittingly brought over in foreign ships. It lies low for a century or so to build a critical mass, and then launches a silent invasion. But there’s a reason ecologists call it the “Jekyll-and-Hyde plant.” What Phragmites does belowground–particularly regarding its ability to store carbon—tells a very different story.
Caplan and Mozdzer conducted their research at the Smithsonian Global Change Research Wetland.
Assisting with the research and receiving co-author credits on the study was Bryn Mawr Undergraduate Rachel N Hager '15 and SERC Senior Scientist Patrick Megonigal.
The research was also highlighted in Nature Climate Change.