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Photo by Chris Evans
Cogongrass forms dense, persistent and expanding stands that displace other vegetation. |
Landowners should look at experience, professional standing in the industry and available references. Weigh cost against the probability of success. |
Cogongrass
Stop the spread of one of the
worst weeds ever
Like a thief in the night, cogongrass slipped into the southeastern United States and rapidly spread across the landscape, destroying wildlife habitat and plaguing land managers. The invasion of cogongrass has quickly replaced lack of frequent fire as the greatest threat to ecosystem health and land values in many Southeastern states.
Cogongrass seed was accidentally introduced into Alabama near Grand Bay around 1911, as a stowaway on packing materials from Japan. Approximately 250,000 acres of land in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi are now infested.
Cogongrass forms dense, persistent and expanding stands that displace other vegetation. Its abundant biomass kills competing native plants and changes the properties of litter and upper soil layers.
In the unique sandhill communities of the Southeast, cogongrass destroys the habitat of rare species such as gopher tortoises and indigo snakes. It is also extremely flammable and greatly increases fuel loads, making fires hotter, higher, potentially more frequent and extremely destructive, even in fire-dependent communities like longleaf pine.
Cogongrass degrades habitat quality for wild turkeys by forming a dense mass that poults, and sometimes adult birds, cannot navigate. However, the loss of benefits from prescribed fire is much more detrimental to wild turkey and other upland gamebird habitats. Based on its negative impact on native ecosystems and economically important land management practices, cogongrass is ranked as one of the top 10 worst weeds in the world.
How do we stop the spread?
The spread of cogongrass is often compared to a forest fire. Just like fighting a forest fire, the first step is setting up a fireline to stop the advance. Focus all available resources on the leading edge of the fire with an emphasis on protecting unique or rare areas, such as endangered plant communities, red-cockaded woodpecker colonies or gopher tortoise burrowing sites.
A collaborative effort is key in stopping the spread of cogongrass and incentivizing its control. Since cogongrass is considered a tremendous environmental threat, there are cost-sharing opportunities for landowners in most Southern states. Most of these grants are available through a qualified contractor who ensures the control methods are effective.
The NWTF plays an integral part in controlling the spread of this space invader. Through grants, agreements and partnerships with state, federal and local agencies, the NWTF has provided critical funding to spray cogongrass on private lands and national forests.
The NWTF also worked through a grant from BASF in cooperation with local Conservation Districts and Progressive Solutions, LLC to control hundreds of acres of cogongrass along the Pascagoula River basin using targeted herbicide applications. — Lee Atkins, Progressive Solutions, LLC, and Scott Vance, NWTF assistant vice president of conservation programs