Phalaris arundinacea
In a paper by the State University of New York at Binghamton, scientists showed that "S. americanum" accrued more aboveground biomass and lower belowground biomass than the other four wetland plant species the study looked at. The study looked at "Sparganium americanum", "Phalaris arundinacea", "Scirpus cyperinus", "Juncus effusus", and "Calamagrostis canadensis". The study also showed that "S. americanum" had the highest concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in aboveground tissue compared to the other species in the study. Even though "S. americanum" accumulated the most aboveground nitrogen and phosphorus, this species lost so much phosphorus that its net retention dropped below that of other species in the study. In the short run American bur-reed is helpful in retaining nutrients from agricultural runoff.