Photo by Vanessa Howard Morgan, Portland State University
October 2009 Invasive Species of the Month
Cordgrass (Spartina anglica)
October calendar events
2009 Oregon Invasive Species Council calendar events
What is Cordgrass?
Native to the eastern United States, Cordgrass was introduced to California and Washington.Several patches have been discovered and eradicated in Oregon. Cordgrasses are coastal grass species that can invade salt marsh and mud flat habitats. One plant can develop into a large, circular cloned patches of many meters in diameter. Many patches on barren mudflats can spread until no open space remains. Smooth cordgrass is the most dominant non- native cordgrass species in the coastal Pacific Northwest and poses the greatest threat to mudflats crucial to claim and oyster production. Cordgrass alters estuary hydrology and ecosystem functions thought increased sedimentation and accretion the elevation of infested areas several feet.Thousands of acres of mudflats in the Pacific Northwest, critical to migratory waterfowl, are at risk of invasion.
