Variations in the quality of the thatching reed Phragmites australis from wetlands in East Anglia, England

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Abstract
Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. (common reed) is an emergent grass that grows in a wide belt across the wetlands of North America and Europe. In many European wetlands, dead stems of P. australis are harvested annually to supply the roof thatching industry. This study has measured and compared the quality, in terms of mechanical strength and decay rate, of a reed harvest from 12 marshes in the floodplains of the Rivers Bure, Ant, Thurne Waveney and Blythe in East Anglia, UK. The marshes varied from fresh-water peat to marine alluvium and were in floodplains that have been managed traditionally to supply thatching reed. The decay rate of stems varied more within the floodplains than between them. Mechanical properties, however, varied between the different floodplains, with stems of greatest tensile strength from brackish reedbeds not flooded directly by sea water. As neither the mechanical properties, nor the shape and size of reed stems varied with their decay rate, the quality of roof thatch originating from particular growing areas cannot be predicted easily.

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