Human actions have led to many changes in the ecosystem. One negative effect of our actions has been the destruction of salt marshes. As much of a mess we seem to have made of our planet, it is still in our best interest to try and preserve and restore it by any means necessary. In the case of salt marshes, however, it may be more beneficial to not put our efforts into restoring them.
Because of their destruction, many salt marshes have low salt levels. In these cases phragmites are often found to be growing where spartina grass would normally be. Bill Sheehan’s quote, “Phragmites, its green most of the time, and it ain’t condos,” is referring to the fact that they are naturally occurring plants just like spartina. The phragmite grass has grown naturally and provided many benefits for the ecosystem, so in Sheehan’s opinion it wouldn’t make sense to destroy phragmites to replace the grass with spartina. is reference to condos means we didn’t pave over and construct something else to develop the area. This is important because it shows how the appearance of phragmite grass means a natural change is beginning at the salt marshes, and it is not necessarily a bad one. This will most certainly be a slow proess, but at least in Sheehan’s eyes we’re letting nature take its course. Though spartina is very beneficial for the salt marshes, phragmite grass provides a habitat for various fish to live in and is utilized by different bird species. If humans choose to restore the salt marshes they would have to remove and destroy much of the phragmite grass. This would lead to several species of fish dying off because of the destruction of their habitat and might effect bird migration as well. On top of that there is no certainty that the spartina will grow back, and even if it does it may not make up for the damages caused by removing the phragmite.
When we visited the Salt Marsh in Jamaica Bay earlier this month we saw the destruction caused by Super Storm Sandy. The storm left the salt marshes in ruins, and restoring them to how they were before hand would take years of time and close observation. The storm happened without human interference so its clear to see that destruction of salt marshes can occur naturally anyway. The time and effort needed to restore the salt marshes to their natural structure, filled with spartina grass, is not worth it.
Attempts to restore salt marshes will only be a temporary remedy for the problem. The proper remedy is time; with time the marshes will heal themselves. For now our best option is to leave the salt marshes alone and let the phragmites and spartina grasses grow together. Doing this will allow the species that rely on phragmite grass to remain unharmed while the spartina grass can naturally grow and restore the salt marshes. This remedy is more permanent and less harmful than trying to restore the salt marshes ourselves.
