Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands (GLCWs) provide a service by acting as a filter for nutrients and pollutants. Determining the magnitude of this ecosystem service is challenging as it depends on factors including wetland hydrology, wetland size, surrounding land use, and vegetation species present. Species of Typha (cattail) have been documented to remove large quantities of nutrients and have been used in the treatment of wastewater. In GLCWs, many of the Typha sp. present are invasive Typha angustifolia (narrow-leaved cattail) or Typha x glauca (hybrid cattail), and some of these wetlands are habitat to another invasive, Phragmites australis ssp. australis (common-reed). In this study, we attempted to answer the question of how much above ground tissue growth can account for long-term nutrient removal by burial upon senescence. We compared nitrogen and phosphorus retention of a native macrophyte, Schoenoplectus pungens (three-square bulrush) with Typha x glauca, and Phragmites australis ssp. australis at three GLCWs in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. To measure retention, we placed litterbags containing dried above-ground tissues from each species at each collection site. Litterbags were retrieved after 140 days and analyzed for dry weight loss, Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), and Total Phosphorus (TP). Surface and pore water nutrients were also analyzed using the same colorimetric analysis. Litter bags placed in Typha patches were found to have significantly higher percent weight loss regardless of tissue type. At the species level, litterbags containing Schoenoplectus tissues had significantly higher weight loss regardless of what patch type they were placed in. TP levels in tissues dropped markedly in nearly all situations, while TKN levels were more linked with patch types. Results show us that invasive and native plant litter have varying effects on nutrient cycling in GLCWs. Our findings also corroborate with those of other studies regarding high nutrient uptake by Typha sp. and increased decomposition in areas with high nitrogen levels.