This Day in Nature: We have even changed the weeds at the side of the road

September 2nd: I spent much of yesterday and today on the 401, driving my son to Montreal for school. Along the way, practically every roadside ditch was thick with this plant, known as Phragmite Australis. I wondered why there was so much of it. Turns out, it is an invasive species from Europe that likes brackish ( i.e., salty) water. Scientists suspect that the reason it is so common beside highways is that the salt from the roads keeps the ditch water brackish, an environment this plant loves. Everything really does affect everything else, in ways we can barely fathom....