Invasive aquatic plants are non-native plants that can potentially create recreational nuisances to lakes and reduce native plant diversity. In some instances, when invasive plants become too abundant, they can cause environmental harm.  Once an invasive species is established in a waterbody, eradication is an unrealistic goal. However, management of invasive aquatic plants that involves either mechanical removal of plants or application of herbicides to public waters requires a permit from the DNR. Permits may be issued to property owners, lake organizations and local governments. With the Cattail Crew we do not use herbicides.  Using herbicides, no matter how "eco-friendly" they are, they can be questionable in maintaining a healthy environment for fish, non-invasive plants and a host of other lake habitats.  Here at the Cattail Crew, we recommend routine maintenance by mechanical removal.  Just like weeding a garden, weeds come back.  Weeded properly, not as many and within time the weeding becomes less often.

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticplants/index.html

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticplants/waterlilies.html

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/livingwith_wildlife/beaver/index.html

Cattails, or more specifically broadleaf cattails (Typha latifolia), are a wetland plant native to most of North America. These sturdy perennials can grow almost 10ft tall (~3m), and in their natural state they are a wonderful wetland plant benefiting fish, wildlife, humans.  There natural benefits of cattail for fish and wildlife species. Fish and aquatic macroinvertebrates (e.g., dragonfly larvae) use cattail as escape and breeding cover. Cattails are a primary food source for mammals such as muskrats, and essential nesting/roosting cover for multiple species of birds. Cattails are also great at filtering water, stabilizing erodible soils, slowing water flows and reducing the severity of floods, and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.  

The narrowleaf cattail (Typha august folia) was first reported on the East Coast in the early part of the nineteenth century. Most scientists believe that narrowleaf cattail originated in Europe, and that as the expansion of European settlers went west, so too did the accounts of narrowleaf cattail. As the native broadleaf and non-native narrowleaf cattail overlapped, the two species began to hybridize, creating a new cattail species commonly referred to as “hybrid cattail” (Typha x glauca). Hybridization between native and introduced species is typically one of the primary drivers behind the evolution of invasiveness. Basically, hybrids often express the beneficial attributes of both parental species giving them an edge over their parental counter parts, a phenomenon known as “hybrid vigor”.  For example, hybrid cattails have been shown to tolerate a greater range of water depths or salinity than their parent species, which in turn allows hybrid cattails to expand into areas neither of the parent species could.

So why is this a problem?   Unlike the native broadleaf cattail, which co-exists with other native plant species, the invasive hybrid is competitively superior and can transform wetlands from a diverse mix of emergent, submergent, and floating-leaf vegetation to expansive stands of hybrid cattail monocultures.  This transformation generally degrades fish and wildlife habitat, reduces biodiversity, and outcompetes culturally significant plant resources like wild rice. 

Cattail reproductive mechanisms are a main reason hybrid cattail is efficient at invading and dominating wetland plant communities.  

https://youtu.be/hwGPf17Y_ik?si=-BBZ9uH57CqgeAzc