Chinese Silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis)

Present distribution

Scientific name:	Miscanthus sinensis Andersson
Common name(s):	Chinese Silvergrass, Zebra Grass

This weed is not known to be naturalised in Victoria

Habitat:

A dominant species of tall moist grassland in Japan (Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004). M. sinensis can be found in valleys, ridges, in open areas and shady woods, tolerant of salt laden winds, reported as a dominant understorey species in young plantation forests and to quickly establish in clear cut forest (Ito et al 2006; Ohtsuka, Sakura & Ohsawa 1993; Oudolf & Gerritson 2003 and Steward 1958).

Potential distribution

Potential distribution produced from CLIMATE modelling refined by applying suitable landuse and vegetation type overlays with CMA boundaries

Map Overlays Used

Land Use:
Forest private plantation; forest public plantation; pasture dryland; pasture irrigation

Broad vegetation types
Coastal scrubs and grassland; coastal grassy woodland; inland slopes woodland; sedge rich woodland; montane dry woodland; sub-alpine woodland; grassland; plains grassy woodland; herb-rich woodland; sub-alpine grassy woodland; montane grassy woodland; riverine grassy woodland; rain shadow woodland; mallee woodland; Wimmera / mallee woodland

Colours indicate possibility of Miscanthus sinensi infesting these areas.

In the non-coloured areas the plant is unlikely to establish as the climate, soil or landuse is not presently suitable.

map showing the potential distribution of Chinese silver grass

Red= Very high	Orange = Medium
Yellow = High	Green = Likely

Impact

QUESTION	COMMENTS	RATING	CONFIDENCE
Social
1. Restrict human access?	Can grow to 3m and form dense clumps passage through could be with much difficulty (Renvoize 2003).	mh	mh
2. Reduce tourism?	Ornamental grass species capable of growing to 3m, may alter aesthetics (Renvoize 2003).	ml	m
3. Injurious to people?	None reported	l	m
4. Damage to cultural sites?	Has rhizomatous root system, however not reported causing any structural damage Is tall grass species of up to 3m, may impact on the aesthetics (Renvoize 2003).	ml	m
Abiotic
5. Impact flow?	Terrestrial species	l	m
6. Impact water quality?	Terrestrial species	l	m
7. Increase soil erosion?	Has been used as a grass hedge to slow run-off in cropping areas (Ritchie, Kemper & Englert 1997).	ml	mh
8. Reduce biomass?	Grass species while reported to be capable of high biomass yields, dieing back annually doesn’t allow for use as a carbon sink (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000 and Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004).	ml	h
9. Change fire regime?	Capable of high biomass yields of 15 t DM ha^-1 and responds well to annual fires (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000 and Itoh & Baba 1999). High fuel loads due to high biomass production will greatly alter fire intensity comparatively to the lighter fuel loads of native and pasture grasses (Noble 1991)	h	mh
Community Habitat
10. Impact on composition (a) high value EVC	EVC= Plains Grassland (E); CMA= North Central; Bioreg= Murray Fans; VH CLIMATE potential. Can be dominant species of grass/herb layer (Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004).	mh	mh
(b) medium value EVC	EVC= Riverine Grassy Woodland (D); CMA= North Central; Bioreg= Victorian Riverina; VH CLIMATE potential. Can be dominant species of grass/herb layer (Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004).	mh	mh
(c) low value EVC	EVC= Shrubby Riverine Woodland (LC); CMA= Mallee; Bioreg= Murray Scroll Belt; VH CLIMATE potential. Can be dominant species of grass/herb layer (Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004).	mh	mh
11. Impact on structure?	Can be dominant species of grass/herb layer, over-storey species still capable to establishment, this is only prevented a disturbance regime of mowing or annual burning (Yazaki, Mariko & Koizumi 2004).	mh	mh
12. Effect on threatened flora?	No evidence reported	mh	l
Fauna
13. Effect on threatened fauna?	No evidence reported	mh	l
14. Effect on non-threatened fauna?	Dense clumping grass, capable of growing to 3m (Renvoize 2003). Creating tall grasslands may impact on reptile species.	ml	m
15. Benefits fauna?	Edible species, capable of forming dense clumps and would provide shelter for some species (Renvoize 2003).	mh	m
16. Injurious to fauna?	None reported	l	m
Pest Animal
17. Food source to pests?	Eaten by grazing species, however reportedly not liked by rabbits (Nishiwaki, Sugawar and Ito 1996 and Oudolf & Gerritson 2003).	ml	h
18. Provides harbour?	Tall grass capable of giving short term harbour	m	ml
Agriculture
19. Impact yield?	Can strongly compete in the early stages of forestry plantations (Ito et al 2006). Is an edible grass with a high yielding capacity, with potential as a biomass crop in Europe (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000). Under grazing conditions will be replaced by other species (Nishiwaki, Sugawar and Ito 1996).	ml	mh
20. Impact quality?	No reports of this.	l	m
21. Affect land value?	None reported	l	m
22. Change land use?	No evidence reported	l	m
23. Increase harvest costs?	Increase preparation needed to establish forestry plantations (Ito et al 2006).	m	mh
24. Disease host/vector?	Can be infected by Barley yellow dwarf luteovirus (Christian et al 1994).	m	mh

Invasive

QUESTION	COMMENTS	RATING	CONFIDENCE
Establishment
1. Germination requirements?	Seedlings and rhizome shoots can apparently emerge at any time during the growing season, spring to autumn (Hsu 1989; Matumura & Yukimura 1971; Matumura, Iwata & Nakajima 1975;	h	mh
2. Establishment requirements?	While the germination rate is lower and slower seeds can germinate in complete darkness (Hsu 1989). Found to dominate areas of grassland to young plantations (Ito et al 2006 and Tsuyuzaki 2005).	mh	mh
3. How much disturbance is required?	Can invade into established grassland (Tsuyuzaki 2002). Dominant in alpine areas in its native range of Japan, however this is mostly reported in association with ski slopes (Tsuyuzaki 2005).	mh	mh
Growth/Competitive
4. Life form?	A C₄ perennial rhizomatous grass species (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000).	mh	h
5. Allelopathic properties?	None reported.	l	m
6. Tolerates herb pressure?	Declines under grazing by cattle (Ide et al 2004). Grassland can be mown completely twice a year an M. sinensis can still be dominant three to four time and it is replaced by other species. If mown once and burnt once in a year can form an apparent monoculture (Itoh & Baba 1999).	ml	mh
7. Normal growth rate?	Noted to produce yields of 15t DM ha^-1 (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000). Biomass comparative with that of Arundo donax which has been rated as high (Szabo et al 1996).	h	mh
8. Stress tolerance to frost, drought, w/logg, sal. etc?	There is variation within the species, however M. sinensis varieties have been found to be more frost hardy than other Miscanthus species. Can overwinter successfully when exposed to below freezing conditions (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000). Is also a dominant species of grassland on ski slopes in Japan (Tsuyuzaki 2005). (Highly frost tolerant) Being burnt annually can produce higher yields the following year (Itoh & Baba 1999). (Highly fire tolerant) Tolerant of salt laden winds in a coastal setting (Oudolf & Gerritson 2003). ( Salt tolerant)	mh	mh
Reproduction
9. Reproductive system	Capable of sexual reproduction and sets seeds as well as clonal reproduction through rhizomes (Kobayahi & Yokoi 2003).	h	h
10. Number of propagules produced?	The average seed set per inflorescence at an ungrazed plot during a trial was around 250, with an average inflorescence density per square metre being almost 30 (Nishiwaki, A. Sugawara, K. 1996) A single plant or a clump has been reported larger 1m² (Kobayahi & Yokoi 2003). However a plant would only have to produce eight inflorescences and have average seed set to fulfil the high rating.	h	mh
11. Propagule longevity?	Unknown, however persistence is indicated to be largely dependent on vegetative reproduction from the rhizomes (Hayashi & Numata 1971).	l	m
12. Reproductive period?	The life span of a monoclonal patch is greater than 10 years (Clifton-Brown & Lewandowski 2000 and Kobayahi & Yokoi 2003).	h	h
13. Time to reproductive maturity?	Above ground shoots are annual, mostly dieing back over winter to then re-shoot from rhizomes in the next growing season (Kobayahi & Yokoi 2003). Therefore seed set and/or the production of more rhizomes occurs within the first growing season.	h	mh
Dispersal
14. Number of mechanisms?	Wind dispersed (Ohtsuka, Sakura & Ohsawa 1993)	mh	mh
15. How far do they disperse?	Wind dispersed seeds reported to quickly establish in clear felled areas of forest, including areas of high elevation (Ohtsuka, Sakura & Ohsawa 1993). Therefore some propagules were very likely dispersed more than 1km to establish in such areas.	h	mh

References

Christian D.G., Lamptey J.N.L., Forde S.M.D. & Plumb B.T. (1994) First report of barley yellow dwarf luteovirus on Miscanthus in the United Kingdom. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 100: 167-170

Clifton-Brown J.C. & Lewandowski I. (2000) Overwintering problems of newly established Miscanthus plantations can be overcome by identifying genotypes with improved rhizomes cold tolerance. New Phytologist. 148: 287-294

Hayashi I. & Numata M. (1971) Viable buried seed population in grasslands in Japan. Ecological studies of Japanese grasslands. 76-88

Hsu F.H. (1989) Effects of light quality and duration on seed germination of Miscanthus species. Journal of Taiwan Livestock Research. 22: 21-37

Ide Y., Koyama N., Sato S. & Takahasi Y. (2004) Management of abandoned terrace paddy field with cattle grazing. Bulletin of the National Agricultural Research Center for Western Region. 3: 15-36.

Ito S., Ishigami S., Mizoue N. & Buckley G.P. (2006) Maintaining plant species composition and diversity of understory vegetation under strip-cutting forest in conifer plantations in Kyushu, southern Japan. Forest Ecology and Management. 231: 234-241

Itoh S. & Baba T. (1999) The Man’youshu Anthology and the wild flowers of the paddy field embankments. Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. 16: 139-147

Kobayahi K. & Yokoi Y. (2003) Spatioemprol patterns of shoots within an isolated Miscanthus sinensis patch in the warm-temperate region of Japan. Ecological Research. 18: 41-51.

Matumura M. & Yukimura T. (1971) Fundamental studies on artificial propagation by sowing useful wild grasses in Japan. 6. Germination behaviour in three native species of the genus Miscanthus; M. sacchariflorus, M. sinensis and M. tinctorius. Research Bulletin of the Faculty of Agriculutr, Gifu University. 38: 339-349

Matumura M., Iwata E. & Nakajima N. (1975) Fundamental studies on artificial propagation by sowing useful wild grasses in Japan. 7. Field experiments on sowing methods for Miscanthus sinensis and M. tinctorius and some illustration of actual utilisation of these grasses in artificial sowing. Research Bulletin of the Faculty of Agriculutr, Gifu University. 38: 351-357

Nishiwaki A., Sugawar K. & Ito I. (1996) The effect of cattle grazing on seed production in Miscanthus sinensis Anderss. Grassland Science. 42: 47-51

Noble J.C. (1991) Behaviour of a very fast grassland wildfire on the riverine plain of southeastern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire. 1: 189-196

Ohtsuka T., Sakura T. & Ohsawa M. (1993) Early herbaceous succession along a topographical gradient on forest clear-felling sites in mountainous terrain, central Japan. Ecological Research. 8: 329-340.

Oudolf P. & Gerritson H. (2003) Planting the Natural Garden. Timber Press. UK.

Renvoize S. (2003) The Genus Miscanthus. The Plantsman. 2: 207-211

Ritchie J.C., Kemper W.D. & Englert J.M. (1997) Narrow stiff hedges for erosion control. Human impact on erosion and sedimentation. Proceedings of an international symposium of the Fifth scientific Assembly of the International Association of the Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), Rabat, Morocco. IAHS Press, Wallingford, UK. pgs 195-203.

Steward A.N. (1958) Manual of the Vascular Plants of the Lower Yangtze Valley China. Oregon State College. Corvallis

Szabo P., Varhegyi G., Till F. & Faix O. (1996) Thermogravimetric/mass spectrometric characterization of two energy crops, Arundo donax and
Miscanthus sinensis. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis. 36: 179-190

Tsuyuzaki S. (2002) Vegetation development patterns on ski slopes in lowland Hokkaido, northern Japan. Biological Conservation. 108: 239-246

Tsuyuzaki S. (2005) Miscanthus sinensis grassland is an indicator plant community to predict forest regeneration and development on ski slopes in Japan. Ecological Indicators. 5: 109-115

Yazaki Y., Mariko S. & Koizumi H. (2004) Carbon dynamics and budget in a Miscanthus sinensis grassland in Japan. Ecological Research. 19: 511-520

Global present distribution data references

Australian National Herbarium (ANH) 2006, Australia’s Virtual Herbarium, Australian National Herbarium, Centre for Plant Diversity and Research, viewed 27 Aug 2006 , http://www.anbg.gov.au/avh/

Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation. [web application]. 2006. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization] viewed 27 Aug 2006, http://www.calflora.org/

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) 2006, Global biodiversity information facility: Prototype data portal, viewed 27 Aug 2006, http://www.gbif.org/

Ito S., Ishigami S., Mizoue N. & Buckley G.P. (2006) Maintaining plant species composition and diversity of understory vegetation under strip-cutting forest in conifer plantations in Kyushu, southern Japan. Forest Ecology and Management. 231: 234-241

Kobayahi K. & Yokoi Y. (2003) Spatioemprol patterns of shoots within an isolated Miscanthus sinensis patch in the warm-temperate region of Japan. Ecological Research. 18: 41-51.

Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG) 2006, w³TROPICOS, Missouri Botanical Gardens Database, viewed 27 Aug 2006, http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html

Tsuyuzaki S. (2002) Vegetation development patterns on ski slopes in lowland Hokkaido, northern Japan. Biological Conservation. 108: 239-246

Yazaki Y., Mariko S. & Koizumi H. (2004) Carbon dynamics and budget in a Miscanthus sinensis grassland in Japan. Ecological Research. 19: 511-520

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