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Back Bay Fens, minus reeds

Back Bay Fens without reeds

This view of the Muddy River would not have been possible before the recent cutting down of the reeds that have plagued the Back Bay Fens for decades. The park in general feels a lot larger and more open.

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Comments

It'll be back in a week

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Looks better, won’t catch fire, keeps drug use down. Win win? What’s the environmental impact if any?

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Hopefully this will reduce the fires that plague the Fens thus time of year.

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Thought we were lost!

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Looks like clear cutting to me. Pollinators hibernate in hollow reeds. Plant roots prevent erosion. It’s not just a meeting place.

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Unless you like having springtime fires every year ...

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Tonight I have been getting repeated weather warnings about low humidity / high fire risk. There would certainly be brush fires the already taxed [by pandemic] first responders would have to deal with.

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A few facts, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Phragmites outcompetes native vegetation and lowers the local plant biodiversity. Phragmites forms dense thickets of vegetation that is unsuitable habitat for native fauna..... a high above ground biomass that blocks light to other plants allowing areas to turn into Phragmites monoculture very quickly.

The cutting of the phragmites is only one stage of the Muddy River Restoration Project. An essential part of the plan will be the replanting of native plant species as well as the reintroduction of native animal species.

http://www.muddyrivermmoc.org/habitat-enhancement/

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isn't there a fire there every year around this time? Good idea to remove the fuel to the fire..

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Don't reeds also contribute to water filtration?

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They'll be back.

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Those reeds have resisted many previous attempts at eradication.

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...not long. Those phragmites are voracious rhizome spreaders.

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It has looked like this for a while now -- I think the reeds may have been poisoned this time which is why they have yet to grow back. Personally, I thought the reeds looked beautiful and they provided shelter and nesting areas for birds, but it will be nice to not have to scan the ground for discarded drug needles with every step. Also, the drug users in the Victory Gardens were aggressive which as a woman walking through there was stressful and often made me opt to walk away from the gardens and not through them which defeats the purpose of parks and public spaces.

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poison/herbicide was used.

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The City has been fighting this battle for over 30 years that I know of. Probably a lot longer.

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The invasive phragmites have been narrowing the Muddy River in the Fens and reducing its role as a flooding relief valve (which was a significant contributing factor to the construction of the Fens in the first place). Phragmites grow back quickly, so at some point the city & state will have to remove them in a more thorough fashion and plant native species that won't run as wild.

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chop them down regularly

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There is a plan to remove them - just delays in money and army corps delays and such. now corona....

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