By Caroline Long | Utah Public Radio | Photo by Andrey Zharkikh | Flickr

“We’ve all seen phragmites, that giant tall grass. It’s widespread across the entire US,” said Pete Goodwin, a wetland ecologist with the Utah Geological Survey (UGS).

He is working to map and model the distribution of phragmites, an invasive grass, in Utah’s wetlands.

“It’s not great habitat for a lot of wildlife. … It excludes a lot of light, so nothing else can grow and establish, and it’s super aggressive,” said Goodwin.

Claire Spangenberg Kellner, a hydrogeologist with the UGS who is also working on the mapping efforts, said that this invasive species of phragmites was introduced from Europe.

“It’s found kind of all over North America now, but it really took off at the Great Salt Lake in the 80s, after we had some years of really high water,” Spangenberg Kellner said.

To better understand the extent of phragmites infestation, the UGS is working with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Read more at UPR.org.

This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.