{"id":237743,"date":"2025-11-18T07:30:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T12:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=237743"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:38:06","slug":"do-bugs-like-salty-snacks-uconn-student-studying-salts-impact-on-phragmites-feasting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/11\/do-bugs-like-salty-snacks-uconn-student-studying-salts-impact-on-phragmites-feasting\/","title":{"rendered":"Do Bugs Like Salty Snacks? UConn Student Studying Salt\u2019s Impact on Phragmites Feasting"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no mistaking Phragmites australis<\/em> when you see it.<\/p>\n

Growing upwards of 15 feet tall, it thrives in full sun, swaying in the breeze all spring and summer long. Though it\u2019s called a common reed, it\u2019s actually a perennial grass, non-native in the United States \u2013 and not actually from Australia, either.<\/p>\n

Though there are native phragmites species, the most dominant type of phragmites is terribly invasive in Connecticut<\/a>, putting down deep, thick root networks that spread through rhizomes, crowding out native species, and reducing plant diversity wherever it takes hold.<\/p>\n

It grows in dense stands all around the state \u2013 on the edges of inland freshwater ponds, along marshy highway roadsides, and in brackish waters along the coast. Those stands are incredibly difficult to remove once they\u2019ve taken hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhragmites is a very recognizable plant,\u201d says Sydney Kolz \u201926 (CLAS), an undergraduate researcher studying environmental science and ecology and evolutionary biology at UConn. \u201cA lot of people who aren\u2019t scientists or who aren\u2019t working in conservation know what it is, because you see it everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s been almost no stopping the spread of invasive phragmites over the last 100 years.<\/p>\n

The tendrils of the phragmites\u2019 purple-tinted seedheads emerge in late July and early August, turning into wispy dried florets by the autumn, scattering seeds widely by wind. Fragments of phragmites rhizomes are spread by humans, animals, water, and boats \u2013 boats are likely how the nonnative variety of the plant arrived here, hitching a ride on trans-Atlantic boat ballasts in the late 18th<\/sup> and early 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

And despite how long nonnative phragmites has been a part of the environmental landscape in Connecticut, the Northeast, and beyond \u2013 today, invasive phragmites can be found in all 48 continental states \u2013 it hasn\u2019t really assimilated with other native species.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvasive phragmites is eaten by herbivores a lot less than native phragmites and other native plants, which is a general trend with invasive plants,\u201d explains Kolz, who is studying the invasive grass for her honors thesis, supported by an IDEA grant<\/a> from UConn\u2019s Office of Undergraduate research. \u201cPart of the problem is that nothing\u2019s eating it. Spiders will build nests or webs in phragmites. Some birds will make their nests in phragmites stands, so there are other ecosystem services it is providing. There\u2019s a crab that eats its rhizomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as far as direct consumption goes, I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s only insects that are eating it purposefully in Connecticut.\u201d<\/p>\n

And those insects that do choose to feast on invasive phragmites, according to Kolz, are limited to only a few types \u2013 those that eat the leaves of the plant; stem borers and gall formers, which go into the stem of the plant and eat it from the inside out; and aphids, which suck the interstitial fluid from the plant\u2019s leaves.<\/p>\n

A member of the Elphick Lab<\/a> at UConn, which does a lot of work in the area of conservation biology, Kolz became interested in studying phragmites, in particular, for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhragmites is this very fast-moving and pervasive plant that is spreading across North America,\u201d she explains. \u201cI think that it’s ecological importance in that way warrants attention. It’s recognizable, which is important for getting the public involved in public policy. But it\u2019s also relevant to the lab that I work in, because Dr. Chris Elphick\u2019s lab has a lot of focus on salt marshes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike the plants she\u2019s studying, Kolz is a Connecticut native \u2013 she grew up in Oakdale, a village within the town of Montville, located in the southeastern part of the state. Her parents raised her to be \u201cvery outdoorsy,\u201d she says, and she still harbors a close personal connection with nature. She\u2019s serving as the vice president of UConn\u2019s popular Outing Club<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n

In high school, an environmental science class taught Kolz about how integrative and multidisciplinary environmental problems are \u2013 she wanted to learn, and to do, more. At UConn, she\u2019s studying in the biodiversity and conservation biology fast-track program<\/a>. She hopes to complete her undergraduate studies this coming spring, and a Master of Science the following year.<\/p>\n

Her study of Phragmites australis is focused on those bugs that eat the plants, and in particular how the salinity of the soil where the invasive phragmites take hold impacts the way that insects consume it.<\/p>\n

While invasive phragmites will grow in brackish waters and salt marshes, salinity is a known stressor for the plant \u2013 you won\u2019t find stands growing directly on the shoreline of Long Island Sound, for example, because the environment is too salty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that some herbivores express preferences for plants, whether they’re grown in saline or freshwater,\u201d Kolz says. \u201cWith one plant species and one herbivore, that herbivore might prefer the plant that’s grown in saltier water or less salty water, but that’s not a general pattern. Each herbivore is different, and each plant is different. So, you really have to evaluate that on a case-by-case basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a plant has multiple things stressing it out \u2013 like when it takes root in a salty environment while bugs are chomping on it \u2013 those stressors can compound and make the plant more vulnerable. Understanding how those stressors interact can help understand how to control something that\u2019s growing where you really don\u2019t want it to.<\/p>\n

In the case of invasive phragmites, no one has really looked at how these multiple stressors \u2013 salinity and herbivory \u2013 interacting at the same time could impact the plant, according to Kolz. So, that\u2019s what she set out to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see how the effects of the herbivores of phragmites would be realized on this plant as it’s exposed to different amounts of salt stress,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

This past summer, she spent time traveling along the Connecticut coastline, visiting stands of invasive phragmites in salt marshes from Rocky Neck State Park in Niantic to Hammonasset in Madison, from Barn Island in Stonington to East River Marsh in Guilford, where she took soil samples along the salinity gradient in each location to analyze and document the plants\u2019 salt exposure.<\/p>\n

For each sampling location, she also observed, sampled, and documented what, if anything, was eating the plants at each of those areas along the salinity gradient.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s currently working on analyzing all of her data to see what, if any, conclusions can be drawn about how different levels of salinity impact the way those herbivorous insects choose to feast on nonnative phragmites. She hopes to ultimately prepare a scientific paper on her findings, in addition to presenting at Frontiers this spring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what she ultimately finds, Kolz says that the experience of conducting the research has helped her develop needed skills as a scientist, but also as a scientific writer, a grant writer, a communicator, and a problem solver \u2013 vital skills wherever her career might lead her in the future.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, contributing to conservation action will always be important to her, she says, and conservation based on research is essential.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, ideally, all conservation action is based on research that has shown, hey, this action has this effect, whatever that may be,\u201d Kolz says. \u201cIf it’s on invasive plants, or protecting habitat for some endangered species, or restoring ecological function, ideally all conservation is based on science.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The IDEA Grant program awards funding to support student-designed and student-led projects, including creative endeavors, community service initiatives, entrepreneurial ventures, research projects, and other original and innovative projects. For more information, visit <\/em>ugradresearch.uconn.edu\/idea<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting to the bottom of what might make an invasive plant an attractive meal for insects <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":237982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,2076,2387,2235,2227,2458],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2168],"class_list":["post-237743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-research","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:46:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/134"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237743"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237933,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237743\/revisions\/237933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/237982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237743"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=237743"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=237743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}