Ann Arbor, Mich. –​ The Phragmites Adaptive Management Framework (PAMF) is initiating the first cycle of a new program that will improve Phragmites management across the Great Lakes basin and beyond. Through the PAMF Active Adaptive Management Program (AAMP), more than $239,000 will be awarded to support local organizations in implementing certain combinations of management actions on which PAMF is lacking data. PAMF will use the information gathered by participants to improve its guidance on management practices that are most likely to be effective in controlling invasive Phragmites.

Currently, invasive Phragmites are managed using a suite of approaches, including herbicide, cutting/crushing, flooding and burning. These actions are resource intensive and differ in effectiveness due to site-specific conditions and variations in implementation. The PAMF program utilizes a predictive model that incorporates participant data to continually ‘learn’ more about which management techniques are working against Phragmites in certain conditions and which are not. In turn, the PAMF model predicts optimal guidance for each site based on the most up-to-date data. This process repeats annually to optimize outcomes. Data provided to PAMF by the AAMP grantees will reduce the uncertainty surrounding management outcomes, increase the models predictive power, and improve regional best management practices.

“Nonnative Phragmites australis is one of the most aggressive plant species invading North America and is already well established in the Great Lakes basin,” said Timothy Bruno, vice chair of the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes Program Coordinator, Interstate Water Resources Management, at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The GLC provides backbone and administrative support to PAMF. “Its spread has negative impacts on wildlife, water levels and drainage, recreation and tourism and even public safety. The Active Adaptive Management Program will help expand and improve the management of Phragmites across our region.”

2024 is the first of at least two years that AAMP grants will be available for Phragmites management in Great Lakes states. Eligible grantees include tribal or U.S.-based local units of government, lake associations, watershed protection groups, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, colleges, and conservation groups.

Seventeen grants have been awarded so far in 2024:

Funding for the PAMF Active Adaptive Management Program is provided by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) through a grant agreement between the Great Lakes Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey. For more information on AAMP, visit the program’s website.

The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is a binational government agency established in 1955 to protect the Great Lakes and the economies and ecosystems they support. Its membership includes leaders from the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes basin. The GLC recommends policies and practices to balance the use, development, and conservation of the water resources of the Great Lakes and brings the region together to work on issues that no single community, state, province, or nation can tackle alone. Learn more at www.glc.org.