Morphological and genetic analyses of herbarium specimens clarify the arrival of non-native common reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) in Kansas (U.S.A.)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17348/jbrit.v19.i4.1449Keywords:
Great Plains, herbarium DNA, invasive species, PoaceaeAbstract
The common reed, Phragmites australis, is a globally distributed grass species with numerous named subspecific taxa. In North America, a non-native Eurasian subspecies has established and is rapidly expanding its range at the expense of a native subspecies. Our understanding of the common reed invasion in North America is possible because diagnostic data can be obtained from freshly collected and herbarium material, allowing the geography of subspecies to be understood through time. In this study, these morphological and genetic tools were used to diagnose subspecies in a set of specimens from Kansas collected between 1936–2024. Morphological and genetic diagnoses of subspecies agreed in 92% of cases. The non-native subspecies is present in Kansas and arrived in the 1970s or 1980s based on morphological or genetic data, respectively. The last native subspecies specimen was observed in the late 1990s, suggesting that statewide invasion could have been rapid. However, relatively recent specimens are not available for large portions of the state, particularly western Kansas. Additional sampling of both herbarium and freshly collected material is needed to fully understand the historic and current distribution of common reed subspecies in Kansas.
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