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Alabama Wages War Against the Perfect Weed
pickens writes "Dan Berry writes in the NY Times that the State of Alabama is spending millions of dollars in federal stimulus money to combat Cogongrass, a.k.a. the perfect weed, the killer weed, and the weed from another continent. A weed that 'evokes those old science-fiction movies in which clueless citizens ignore reports of an alien invasion.' Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) is considered one of the 10 worst weeds in the world. 'It can take over fields and forests, ruining crops, destroying native plants, upsetting the ecosystem,' writes Berry. 'It is very difficult to kill. It burns extremely hot. And its serrated leaves and grainy composition mean that animals with even the most indiscriminate palates — goats, for example — say no thanks.' Alabama's overall strategy is to draw a line across the state at Highway 80 and eradicate everything north of it; then, in phases, to try to control it to the south. But the weed is so resilient that you can't kill it with one application of herbicide, you have to return several months later and do it again. 'People think this is just a grass,' says forester Stephen Pecot. 'They don't understand that cogongrass can replace an entire ecosystem.' Left unchecked, Pecot says 'it could spread all the way to Michigan.'"
We have the same problem in the UK with Japanese Knot Weed. Nothing eats it, it can respawn from the smallest cutting. So you can't burn it, you can't throw it away, you can only poison it. And each stem has to be done individually, and the process needs to be repeated two or three times to kill the bloody thing. They're talking about introducing some japanese insects that feed on it, but then what's to say they wont prefer strawberries or wheat or something else?
This sounds a lot like Kudzu - another plant brought over from Japan.
From TFA "For a while, government officials encouraged the use of cogongrass as a forage crop and as a way to stem soil erosion."
We did that with Kudzu too. What's with these agricultural guys promoting alien species they clearly know nothing about ?
Although, if nothing wants to eat it, why promote it as a forage crop ? That does suggest that some animal must like it. There must be some reason why the South of Japan is not one mass of Kudzu and cogongrass.
Thing is, it does a lot more damage than the dreaded corn plantations:
ECOLOGICAL THREAT Cogon grass can invade and overtake disturbed ecosystems, forming a dense mat of thatch and leaves that makes it nearly impossible for other plants to coexist. Large infestations of cogon grass can alter the normal fire regime of a fire-driven ecosystem by causing more frequent and intense fires that injure or destroy native plants. Cogon grass displaces a large variety of native plant species used by native animals (e.g., insects, mammals, and birds) as forage, host plants and shelter. Some ground-nesting species have also been known to be displaced due to the dense cover that cogon grass creates.
Also, it won't just stay together in a patch but it reaches out. WP dixit:
It spreads both through small seeds, which are easily carried by the wind, and rhizomes which can be transported by tilling equipment and in soil transport.
Nasty thing.
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Being from the south, I think I would rank kudzu above all.
My goats will clean up kudzu like it's candy. Not only will they strip the leaves, you'll see them standing on their hind legs trying to drag the vines down out of the trees. They eat leaves, vines, stems, roots and all. Reminds of a casino buffet on seafood night. And because they have a 4 chambered stomach, the digestion process pretty much kills the seeds. I've never seen them spread it anyway. As a bonus, goats can handle the terrain kudzu seems to thrive in.
If goats don't eat cogongrass, then that is some bad stuff. They can strip the leaves off blackberry bushes while avoiding the stickers, all they leave behind are stands of dead stalks. If it's that bad...that's a real problem.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
The United States is now home to some of the most unruly plants in the world, like Kudzu vine, which has caused farmers to abandon crops at first sight of the vines at field's edge. It can be seen sneaking across highways on the lightning wires over power lines, and creating strange sculptures of the barns, tractors, and forests it covers throughout the southeast. Florida has two of these plants, the Kajeput, and the Australian Pine (Aussies call it American Pine..Apparently, nobody wants it) Both of these trees were introduced by the US Army Corps of Engineers to perform some function ancillary to one or another of their endeavors, but now reviled as environmentally obnoxious in their ability to grow in any condition from standing water to alkali flat. Kajeput has the additional benefit of burning hot to its top (oily sap and leaves) thereby killing off the native palms that used to survive naturally occurring fires. Remember what Newton said, "Nature abhors a vacuum". And stuff like these plants, and some of the other, more mobile creatures that have apparently taken heart and moved on from their original, pest-opposed environments, are now enjoying the benefits of life with no natural opposition, except people.
its a simpsons reference when new lizards are introduced
From Wikipedia:
Since the town considered the pigeons to be a nuisance, they are delighted with the fact that the lizards have eaten all the pigeons. As a result, Bart is thanked and honored by Mayor Quimby with a loganberry scented candle. Lisa worries that the town will now become infested by lizards rather than the pigeons, but Skinner assures her that they will send in Chinese Needle Snakes, then snake-eating gorillas, and then "winter will take care of the rest."
Under similar circumstances in Australia the CSIRO http://www.csiro.au/science/PestManagement.html , would investigate the weed species, find it's country of origin, find insects, bacteria or fungi that feed on it and then bring back samples under controlled conditions. These species would then be tested against Australian native plants and commercial species and those imported species that do not predate upon those would then be tested for survivability in the regions most affected by the weed species. Once the optimum control species are found they are released into the environment to control the weed species.
Although this is by far the most cost effective method of control it often not very popular in capitalism first, last and everything in between countries as there is no opportunity for profit in the solution as it must be given away free, to spread on it's own. In the case of the US the USDA http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/ is the likely agency that should be working on those problems on a federal basis. So rather than throwing away money on spraying and, spraying and, spraying, better to pursue the USDA and get them working on long term biological solutions, where it is all about saving money while saving the environment.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen