Spartina

Spartina Links
Lonely, Beautiful, and Threatened: Willapa Bay's Advocates Fend Off Invasions A good article in Washington State Magazine, Spring 2004, about spartina in the bay. Good photos, too. 
Invasive Spartina in Willapa Bay  Excellent photo collections of control methods and environmental impacts, PDF files of reports to the Washington state legislature on spartina control efforts, PDF files of the management plan of the Willapa Bay Spartina Task Force, links to sites dealing with spartina and its control. 
Spartina alterniflora, A Problem Aquatic Plant in the Western USA Western Aquatic Plant Management Society. 
UC Davis Plant Biology Webpage.

Spartina Studies
Shorebird, Waterfowl, and Birds of Prey Usage in Willapa Bay in Response to Spartina Control Efforts, by Kim Patten (1MB PDF file).  Research sponsored by Willapa Wildlife Refuge, Migratory Birds and Habitat Programs - Pacific Region of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Pacific Joint Ventures; research conducted by Carol O'Casey, Lester Meher, Ray Wicker, Natalie Heppner, Nora Darcher, Andrew Darcher, Chuck DeGuise and volunteer help by Friends of the Willapa Wildlife Refuge and Willapa Wildlife Refuge. 
Introduced Cordgrass, Spartina Alterniflora Loisel., in Salt Marshes and Tidelands of Willapa Bay, Washington.  An important document on spartina by Kathleen Sayce, July 1988. (4.3 MB PDF file)

A Spartina Primer

How did it get here?
Spartina most likely arrived in Willapa Bay in the 1890s as packing material in oyster shipments from the East Coast.  It was probably also used as packing material for general cargo shipments.  Once established in the bay, spartina spread and continues to spread by seed and by below-ground rhizomes.

Who doesn't want it?
Oysters, shorebirds, wading birds, bottom-dwelling algae, bottom-dwelling invertebrates, and native wetland animals haven't enjoyed the explosion of spartina in their habitats.  People who value the plant and animal populations of Willapa Bay--especially oyster growers, Refuge managers, and birders--have been most outspoken about the problems spartina is causing.

Why don't they want it?
The spread of spartina makes life difficult or impossible for oysters, shorebirds, wading birds, bottom-dwelling algae, bottom-dwelling invertebrates, and native wetland animals and plants. Its higher seed production and germination enables spartina to replace native plants, which lessens the complexity of the environment.  Native wetland animals find their habitats changed, and need to adapt or leave.  The height and density of spartina eliminates mudflat foraging areas for shorebirds and wading birds.   Willapa Bay is one of the ten major feeding and resting stops on the Pacific Flyway, but significant amounts of the feeding and resting areas are disappearing under the spartina.  Fewer birds are able to be supported. Those who do make it to the remaining mudflats have less time to rest before having to fly off again because spartina has been overtaking the higher mudflats first, along the edges of the native saltmarsh, where mud is exposed the longest between high tides. Oyster-growing areas are disappearing under the spartina, so fewer oysters will be able to be grown. Of Willapa Bay's approximately 47,000 acres of intertidal mudflats, by 1997, 25 to 32 percent (11,750 to 15,040 acres) of the intertidal area was infested with spartina.  With more spartina, the possibility of flooding increases and beach access decreases, lowering property values. As spartina spreads and biodiversity decreases and food chains are disrupted, the possibilities for recreational hunting, fishing, and boating decline as well. 

Who is trying to control the spartina?
The agencies and groups providing the most money, labor, time, and resources are Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS, operator of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge), University of Washington-Olympic Natural Resource Center (UW-ONRC), Washington State University-Long Beach (WSU-Long Beach) and oyster growers and other private landowners.

Spartina which dies naturally at the end of its growing season forms rafts of seed-rich wrack which float out on the tide and travel north along the coast to colonize as-yet unaffected areas. Spartina which is mown before seeds have set forms rafts which float around and sometimes settle on healthy spartina, inhibiting its growth.

What are they doing to control spartina?
Mowing to prevent seeds from producing, rototilling to churn up roots and kill the plants, applying herbicides by ground and air, manually pulling out seedlings and clumps, releasing an insect which feeds on spartina.

Why shouldn't nature be allowed to follow its own course?
An argument can be made for letting the spartina continue to spread.  Of course this choice condemns much of the historical plant and animal population along the edges of the bay, as well as much of the migratory bird population.  Most biologists and students of ecology are taking the stance that because this is a human-introduced  problem, we are responsible for the consequences and obliged to act.
 

Isn't using chemical herbicides in the bay rather contrary to the idea of keeping the bay unpolluted?
It's ironic that so many who champion keeping the bay unpolluted are advocating the use of Rodeo and Aresenal.  Those who have been most responsible for keeping the bay unpolluted over the past century--shellfish farmers--have the most to lose if herbicides pollute the bay, yet most of them advocate the use of very diluted herbicides to combat spartina. In a sense, there won't be a Willapa Bay as we've known it, or as much of the wildlife the bay has historically supported, if spartina runs its course. 

Why should I care?
The economic argument means the most to many people: many livelihoods in the area depend directly and indirectly upon the shellfish grown in the bay, and spartina is converting shellfish beds to meadow.  With the decline of the logging and fishing industries in Pacific County, the stability of the shellfish industry has become even more important. The economic ripple will affect nearly everyone in the area.  And then there's the idea that we have a responsibility to maintain the ecological integrity of the area, and should at least attempt to mitigate the environmental mistakes we make; we have an obligation to the plants, animals, and birds that were here before us. An historical perspective gives us pause, too: Before the arrival of European-Americans, the native Chinooks, Chehalis, and other tribes apparently for thousands of years lived on the clams, salmon, oysters, and other native species of the mudflats and estuaries of Willapa Bay. These are the mudflats that the alien spartina we have introduced is now turning to meadows.