Management Information
Preventative measures: Planting native species after removal of the invasive will help prevent re-establishment of P. setaceum. Monitoring the area for seedlings and removing them is a good practice as they are easy to pull up when young.
A Risk Assessment of Pennisetum setaceum for Hawai‘i and other Pacific islands was prepared by Dr. Curtis Daehler (UH Botany) with funding from the Kaulunani Urban Forestry Program and US Forest Service. The alien plant screening system is derived from Pheloung et al. (1999) with minor modifications for use in Pacific islands (Daehler et al. 2004). The result is a score of 26 and a recommendation of: "Likely to cause significant ecological or economic harm in Hawai‘i and on other Pacific Islands as determined by a high WRA score, which is based on published sources describing species biology and behaviour in Hawai‘i and/or other parts of the world." Physical: According to Benton (1998), "the long-lived seeds of fountain grass make its control extremely difficult. Small infestations may be managed by uprooting plants by hand and destroying the inflorescences in order to prevent seed dispersal. Removal by hand may need to be repeated several times per year." PESC (2002) suggests removing seed heads to slow its spread. "Since it seeds several times a year, vigilance is required. The only way to prevent future seed production and to reduce the threat of wildfire is to remove all P. setaceum, pulling them up by hand or digging them out with a shovel or crowbar. Disposing of the entire plant after removal will eliminate seeds caught in the leaves at the base of the plant." Chemical: Extensive infestations of fountain grass are probably best controlled with the help of herbicides, especially those with some systemic activity.
Management Resources/Links
2. Daehler, C.C; Denslow, J.S; Ansari, S and Huang-Chi, K., 2004. A Risk-Assessment System for Screening Out Invasive Pest Plants from Hawaii and Other Pacific Islands. Conservation Biology Volume 18 Issue 2 Page 360.
Summary: A study on the use of a screening system to assess proposed plant introductions to Hawaii or other Pacific Islands and to identify high-risk species used in horticulture and forestry which would greatly reduce future pest-plant problems and allow entry of most nonpests. 3. National Pest Plant Accord, 2001. Biosecurity New Zealand.
Summary: The National Pest Plant Accord is a cooperative agreement between regional councils and government departments with biosecurity responsibilities. Under the accord, regional councils will undertake surveillance to prevent the commercial sale and/or distribution of an agreed list of pest plants.
Available from: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/pests-diseases/plants/accord.htm [Accessed 11 August 2005] 4. New Zealand Plant Conservation Network, 2005. Unwanted Organisms. Factsheet Pennisetum setaceum
Summary: The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network (NZPCN) provides information about New Zealand's most weedy exotic plant species and how to identify them. They also provide an on-line form to record observations of weed occurrences.
This page available from: http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/exotic_plant_life_and_weeds/index02.asp?Filter=p&FilterStatus=1
Lists of Exotic Plant life and Weeds available from: http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/exotic_plant_life_and_weeds/advanced_search.asp [Accessed 19 May 2005] Results Page: 1
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