THREAT ABATEMENT ADVICE FOR A KEY THREATENING PROCESS
This material has been developed based on the best available information at the time of development (September 2014).
To provide information updates please email: weeds@environment.gov.au
Annual mission grass (Cenchrus pedicellatus syn. Pennisetum pedicellatum)
Annual mission grass was probably first introduced to Australia in the 1940s for testing as a pasture grass. In the 1950s it had spread from trial sites. By 1970, it had already spread over large parts of northern Australia. It is now found in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland. A weed risk assessment has found that it has a potentially high impact in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. It grows in shady areas that are unsuitable for natives, helping to fuel fires beneath sensitive trees and shrubs that wouldn’t otherwise burn so easily.
Annual mission grass under state and territory legislation
Annual mission grass is not a declared weed under any legislation in Australia and there are no formal management strategies in place to control the spread of this invasive plant.
Priority actions/research
- Increase public/stakeholder awareness of the risks posed by annual mission grass and the need for management in key areas (annual mission grass is not a valuable pasture grass and there is low community awareness of its impacts).
- Collect any new information generated by research/ongoing management and incorporate it into weed risk management systems.
Resources
| Title or description | Author | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
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Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |
2012 |
Priority actions to manage the five species of invasive grasses |
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Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |
2012 |
Information on each of the five species of invasive grasses |
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Northern Territory Government Department of Land Resource Management |
2013 |
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| Title or description | Author | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cook GD and Dias L |
2006 |
Turner Review no. 12, Australian Journal of Botany, vol. 54, pp. 601–625 |
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|
The extent of mission grasses and gamba grass in the Darwin region of Australia’s Northern Territory |
Kean L and Price O |
2003 |
Pacific Conservation Biology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 281–290 |
|
Setterfield SA, Douglas MM, Barratt JL and Brooks KJ |
2006 |
Preston C, Watts JH and Crossman ND (eds), Proceedings of the 15th Australian Weeds Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, pp. 272–274 |
| Title or description | Author | Date | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Further information about the biology, distribution and impacts of annual mission grass |
Australian Government Department of the Environment |
2013 |
Weeds in Australia website |