http://www.azcentral.com
Weed worse than kudzu has officials waging war
Associated Press
Sept. 10, 2005 12:00 AM
CAMILLA, Ga. - Cogon grass, a hardy weed that has overwhelmed forests in Africa and Asia, has established a beachhead in the Southeast, where officials hope to stamp it out or at least stop its invasive spread.
Producing seeds that can blow up to 15 miles in the wind, Cogon grass has the potential to be far more of a scourge than kudzu, a Japanese plant that has spread to 7 million acres in the southern United States, enveloping trees, road signs and houses.
Experts warn that given time, Cogon grass could turn the Southeast into a biological desert, a grassy savanna devoid of all native species. advertisement
"It's a much more horrific invader than kudzu ever was," said the U.S. Forest Service's Jim Miller, who has studied both plants and has seen Cogon devastation firsthand in other parts of the world. "No other plant has transformed cultures and productions on more continents than Cogon grass."
Ranked among the world's 10 most-dangerous weeds, Cogon grass has displaced African nomads and taken over clearings in Asian forests used for centuries to grow crops.
The weed slipped into the United States through the port at Mobile, Ala., as packing material in 1912. A native of southeastern Asia, it thrives in shade or sun, in poor or rich soil. Cogon grass has spread to every continent except Antarctica, occupying about 1.2 billion acres worldwide.
Nationally, Cogon grass has already invaded natural areas, hunting preserves and roadsides in numerous Southern states, including about 1 million acres in Florida.
Cogon grows up to 4 feet tall in round patches that spread. It was once planted in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi for erosion control and forage. But few animals will eat its saw-tooth leaves containing silica crystals.
The weed crowds out native vegetation, depriving critical species such as the gopher tortoise and endangered red cockaded woodpecker of habitat, as well as game animals such as quail and deer.
It's also a threat to the South's multibillion-dollar forest industry. It kills pine seedling, it's expensive to control and it burns hotter than regular grasses during wildfires.
Cogon costs Alabama about $7.5 million a year in lost forest productivity, Miller said. With small patches of the weed now confirmed in parts of southern Georgia, the state has declared war on the grass.
Representatives of the University of Georgia, the state Forestry Commission, the Agriculture Department and other state agencies are working with the federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to heighten awareness and attack known infestations with herbicides. The federal agency is providing free herbicide spraying to landowners.
"Kudzu is probably the thing most people think about when they think of an invasive species because it's so visible. But Cogon grass is much more expensive to control, it's more persistent and it spreads more rapidly," said David Moorhead, a University of Georgia forester.