Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Invasive ...

Chapter 2: Spartina Distribution and Spread<strong>Proceedings</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Third</strong> <strong>International</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Invasive Spartinaalong <strong>the</strong> coast <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> East Sea (29 o N). In <strong>the</strong> experiment,one rhizome segment produced 9.10 million individualsduring 29 months, and four ramets produced 7.60 millionindividuals during 33 months. Most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 16.70 millionindividuals were planted in mid-1966 in two East Seastations, whose area was 73 ha. The total area <strong>of</strong> S. anglicaplantation was 78 ha by August 1966 in <strong>the</strong> two stations.But, from 1973 to 1980, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> plantations in <strong>the</strong> twostations were reclaimed for croplands; thus almost all <strong>the</strong>individuals <strong>of</strong> S. anglica died <strong>of</strong>f <strong>the</strong>re.Four Spartina species: Spartina anglica, S. alterniflora,S. patens and S. cynosuroides have been introduced intoChina in 1963, 1979, 1979 and 1998, respectively, for <strong>the</strong>purposes <strong>of</strong> agricultural and ecological engineering.By 1978,all <strong>the</strong> coastal provinces <strong>of</strong> China planted S. anglica. Therewere 6,330 ha, 3,750 ha and 200 ha <strong>of</strong> S. anglica plantationsin Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong Provinces, respectively.Meanwhile, 5 ha, 2/3 ha, 1/2 ha and 1/3 ha existed in Hebei,Liaoning, Tianjing and Guangdong Provinces, respectively.Less than 1/3 ha <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> species was established in Shanghai,Fujian and Guangxi Provinces. In <strong>the</strong> field, S. anglica had astrong reproductive capacity by asexual propagation throughramets and rhizomes (Fig. 2). By 1980, all 83 counties <strong>of</strong>coastal China had S. anglica with a total area <strong>of</strong> 31,590 ha;by 1985 area had increased to 36,000 ha, although <strong>the</strong> sexualreproduction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> species was very low.Spartina alternifloraSimilarly, seeds and individuals <strong>of</strong> S. alterniflora werealso introduced to China by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Chung at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong>1979 from North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, USA.Seedlings were successfully obtained from <strong>the</strong> seeds andnew ramets were reproduced from <strong>the</strong> exotic individuals in<strong>the</strong> laboratory and garden <strong>of</strong> Nanjing University in 1980,and <strong>the</strong>n were sent to Luoyuanwan Station (26 0 30’). TheTable 1. Growth <strong>of</strong> one-year Spartina alterniflora from three differentorigins. (Data from Xu & Zhuo 1985.)Culm height(cm)Leaf length(cm)Leaf width(cm)Ear length(cm)SourcesRange Max Range Max Range Max Range MaxBiomass(DW g/m 2)LeafcolorNorthCarolina 110-170 217 45-70 95.5 1.3-1.5 2.0 14-30 48 297.9 BlackgreenLightGeorgia 140-240 275 50-70 90.0 1.4-1.7 2.1 18-35 42 457.2greenFlorida 70-100 128 40-60 82.0 1.5-1.7 2.1 12-15 30 268.2 GreenTable 2. Height and biomass growth <strong>of</strong> Spartina alterniflora fromdifferent origins at <strong>the</strong> field plots (Xu & Zhuo 1985).Fig. 1 Asexual reproduction <strong>of</strong> exotic Spartina anglica from seedlings.(Data from Chung et al 1985.)IntroductiveSourcesCulmheight(cm)Above-groundbiomass(g DW/m 2)Below-groundbiomass(g DW/m 2)Total biomass(g DW/m 2)North Carolina 170 (35) 1289 (136) 1235 (160) 2524 (274)Georgia 240 (50) 2745 (502) 1366 (25) 4111 (486)Florida 110 (25) 972 (139) 928 (100) 1900 (83)ANOVA & T-testP