Research by Biology's Josh Caplan and Tom Mozdzer Highlighted by Smithsonian Environmental Research Center
"One of the Chesapeake鈥檚 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 暴风资源 discovered in a new ." 鈥 from
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.
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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鈥檚 a reason ecologists call it the 鈥淛ekyll-and-Hyde plant.鈥 What Phragmites does belowground鈥損articularly regarding its ability to store carbon鈥攖ells a very different story.
Caplan and Mozdzer conducted their research at the
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