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Feral Herald Newsletter of the Invasive Species Council, Australia working to stop further invasions Volume 1 issue 16, September 2007 ISSN 1449-891X Gamba Grass – A Looming Contents National Disaster? Gamba Grass…………………….. 1 ISC Speaks In Sydney………...… 3 Annual General Meeting………… 3 Which weed is Australia’s worst? Crazy Ant Progress……………… 4 A plant nominated for this dubious honour on ABC radio in July was President Moves On…………….. 4 gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus). On an episode of Background Introducing Steve Mathews…….. 5 Briefing dedicated to Australia’s weed problems, the chief executive of Warning About Biofuels…………. 5 the Weeds CRC, Rachel McFadyen, and ISC project officer Tim Low The Weedy Truth About Biofuels. 6 both nominated this grass as the weed to fear most. Victoria Naturally…………………. 6 Invasive Fungus………………….. 7 “Well it’s the worst weed I know of,” said Rachel, “because when it A Focus On Banteng…………….. 8 invades into a woodland grass savanna, it takes out all the native grasses Know Your Ant…………………… 10 and herbs, and then when it burns, and you’re talking about 3 to 4 metre Pest Or Guest……………...…….. 10 tall grass, when it burns, it kills the trees as well.” Macquarie Island Success……… 11 Asian Honeybees………………… 11 Tim’s language was perhaps even stronger: “It is just the most Aussie Moth in California……….. 11 frightening weed I have ever come across in my life.” So what is gamba grass? Invasive Species Growing up to 4.75 metres tall, it is a giant African grass imported by Council Inc. agronomists as fodder. Gamba grass produces a lot of food for a cow, ABN 101 522 829 but if it is not eaten it dries into vast loads of fuel for a fire. Gamba grass fires can be eight times as hot as natural fires in northern Australia, www.invasives.org.au producing flames that reach into the canopy. Trees subjected to several PO Box 166 gamba grass fires soon die. Gamba grass is spreading quickly in the Fairfield, VIC 3078 Darwin region, and trees are dying, leading to very dire predictions about the future of northern Australia. Email [email protected] Editor Tim Low Views expressed in this newsletter are not always those of the ISC. ISSN 1449-891X Printing Feral Herald If you have problems printing Acrobat (.pdf) files on inkjet printers, try printing just a few pages at a time. continued page 2 Feral Herald volume 1 issue 16, September 2007 page 1 Invasive Species Council Working to Stop Further Invasions The Queensland government assessed the weed threat We question whether gamba grass is of real value to the posed by this grass in 2005 and concluded: grazing industry. The Gamba Management Guide “If large areas of northern Australia become dominated by produced by the Northern Territory government contains gamba grass, the associated fire regime is predicted to several warnings about the problems it poses if not transform Australia’s eucalypt-dominated tropical carefully managed. For example: woodlands into tree-free grasslands.” “Once the grass becomes tall, mature and coarse That report recommended an end to further sale of gamba at the end of the wet season, cattle tend to leave it and seeds, an end to further plantings, and the eradication of concentrate on green shoots from smaller clumps. isolated infestations. But nearly two years have passed and Problems with mustering can be experienced as cattle and no action has been taken. More than 5 tonnes of gamba buffalo quickly become ‘rogues’ if the grass is allowed to grass seed are sold in Queensland each year, but last grow taller than their heads.” year’s sales reportedly rose to 11 tonnes. An Agnote on gamba grass published by the Department On Background Briefing, both Rachel and Tim criticised of Primary Industries, Fisheries and Mines in November the Queensland Government for not acting on the 2006 states: “DPIFM does not support new sowings of recommendations of its report. gamba grass.” “I think it's a disgrace,’ said Rachel. ‘I think that in 50 years time, people are going to be spending big money to It is not highly valued by the pastoral industry in the get rid of gamba grass which should never have been Northern Territory or in Queensland, with some farmers allowed to be planted in the first place. They've known for regretting having sown it. The mature plants are largely at least two to three years that it's a very serious weed, inedible. The fierce fires it fuels are a major concern, with they should have stopped the sale and planting of it then two houses destroyed by a recent gamba grass fire south and there.” of Darwin. According to Di Martin, the journalist responsible for the In both the Northern Territory and Queensland, many calls Background Briefing program, the 2005 gamba report have come from within government and without to declare “wasn't accepted because of grazier opposition”. When gamba grass a weed, so that further plantings of this she asked Biosecurity Queensland officer Bruce Wilson dangerous grass can be halted. ISC has been monitoring why the report had not yet been adopted he had this to the situation for some time, in the belief that a declaration say: in Queensland was imminent, but now we fear that our “We received some valuable comments then about optimism was misplaced. What we do know is that the obtaining additional information particularly on its value Queensland government will make a decision in coming as a pasture. So it has been a rather lengthy process in weeks. We are consulting with Biosecurity Queensland to terms of pulling together this additional information.” seek a good outcome. Biosecurity Queensland will soon forward a For the sake of Australia’s trees and other wildlife, we recommendation about gamba grass to the Minister for urge everyone to write to the Queensland Minister for Primary Industries. We have been told that there is Primary Industries, Mr Tim Mulherin, calling on the disagreement within the department about the approach government to immediately ban further seed sales and that should be taken. Gamba grass was strongly promoted plantings of gamba grass. This can be achieved by issuing on the DPI website a few years ago. an emergency pest notice under the Land Protection Act. Emails can be sent to [email protected] On 3 August the Courier Mail ran a prominent article and letters to about gamba grass after an approach from Tim. The Honourable Tim Mulherin “An African grass with the potential to turn vast areas of Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries Queensland eucalypt country into treeless plains is on the GPO Box 46 verge of taking over large slabs of Queensland,” began the BRISBANE QLD 4001 article by Brian Williams. The article included several comments from Tim: The stakes could not be higher. With gamba grass we are gambling on the future of the savanna woodlands of “Invasive Species Council spokesman Tim Low said the northern Australia and all the wildlife they support. only other issue with as much potential to damage Bioclimatic modelling shows that gamba grass could Queensland was climate change. establish as far south as northern New South Wales - and that’s before you take into account climate change, which “Gamba is looking like a nightmare,” Mr Low said. will benefit this tropical grass. Gamba grass will also “Because it grows so high (4.75m) it kills gum trees. If benefit from the increased frequency of fires predicted allowed to get away, vast areas of northern Australia under climate change. The trees it destroys add to carbon would be converted to treeless plains.” dioxide emissions, which in turn promote more heat and more fires, and more gamba grass. If you only write one letter this year, let it be about gamba grass. Feral Herald volume 1 issue 16, September 2007 page 2 Invasive Species Council Working to Stop Further Invasions For more about gamba grass, ISC Speaks in Sydney visit these sites: During a seminar on environmental weeds in Sydney The Courier Mail: on 13 July, ISC project officer Tim Low spoke about http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,237 the ISC campaigns against gamba grass and weedy 39,22180906-3102,00.html biofuels. Background Briefing: There were groans from the audience when Tim http://www.abc.net.au/rn/backgroundbriefing/stor screened an image of giant reed (Arundo donax), a ies/2007/1962328.htm weedy grass proposed as a biofuel in Australia. Giant reed is such a serious weed along some river systems Gamba grass on Catalyst: near Sydney that no one needed convincing about its http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1199756.h unsuitability as a crop. tm The seminar was run by The Weed Society of New Gamba grass on Earthbeat: South Wales. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/earth/stories/s4 1395.htm The Gamba Action Group N.T. http://www.gamba.org.au/ The Tropical Savannas CRC: Annual General Meeting http://savanna.ntu.edu.au/education/natalie_rossit er_phd.html Where: Space 39, Level 2, 39 Little Collins Street , The National Weeds Strategy website: Melbourne. www.weeds.org.au/cgi- bin/weedident.cgi?tpl=plant.tpl&ibra=all&card= When: G04 26 September at 6:30 pm The Queensland Government’s risk assessment: http://www.cook.qld.gov.au/news/2006/Gamba% 20Grass.pdf The meeting will commence at 6:30pm, to be followed at 7.30 by a talk by ISC project officer, Tim Low, The Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service: about climate change and Invasive species.