Bird-Deterring Grasses

New grasses developed by AgResearch scientist Chris Pennell to deter birds have worldwide applications in aviation and in sports fields, parks and golf courses.

AgResearch, Grasslanz, Christchurch international Airport, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) and PGG Wrightson Turf, have developed Avanex™ an award winning unique endophyte technology.

This has been included into two turf grasses: Jackal, a tall fescue for the aviation industry and Colosseum, a perennial ryegrass used in sports and amenity turf areas.

The endophytes, which are natural fungi that grow between plant cells in many ryegrasses and tall fescues forming a mutualistic association with the host grass, produce high levels of alkaloids which offer natural protection, making the grasses very unpalatable to insects and animals.

These grasses with the special endophytes deter insect pests, and wildlife like birds and rodents from grazing.

They are safe to use, non toxic to the environment, and don’t harm animals due to their avoidance behaviour once exposed. These endophytes have been selected from wild types to give high alkaloid expression. They are particularly useful when sown around airports to help reduce bird strikes. Bird strikes are a massive financial problem, costing in the region of $4 billion a year globally.

Already the Jackal grass with the Avanex™ technology has been shown to reduce bird strikes considerably at Hamilton airport, and it is also been planted at Christchurch, Auckland and Wellington airports.

Wellington has currently sown 3 ha and is looking to sow another 30ha with Auckland set to also increase sown areas of Avanex™. Overseas, airports and council amenity areas are starting to adapt the technology with interest from: the UK, USA, Australia and China.

At Christchurch airport in 2009, 40 ha of the 130 ha was sown in Jackal, with another 30 ha to be sown this coming autumn. Bird monitoring over 12 months has shown the Jackal area only has 5% of the bird population.

Hamilton has nearly completed the sowing of the entire 30 ha area. Bird monitoring over 12 months showed the Jackal area only had 11% of the bird population.

Avanex™ ryegrass is adopted into major sports stadiums throughout New Zealand and is now filtering down for use by regional councils for local amenity areas and sports fields due to its reduction in insecticide use and fowling by birds.

Chris Pennell dreamed up the idea 10 years ago when he flew into London and the plane hit a bird. He says bird strikes cost in the region of a million dollars in damage to aircraft when birds are sucked into jet engines.

“Birds need to feed regularly, mostly in the morning and evening when humans like to fly.”

Until now the AgResearch team selected endophytes to make grasses more persistent by deterring insects and improving animal performance by removal of the neurotoxins. Endophyte inoculated ryegrasses now account for 70% of all ryegrass seed sales in New Zealand.

The Avanex™ endophyte product has turned this story on its head, and enhanced both the insect and animal neurotoxins in turf type ryegrass and tall fescue species suitable for amenity areas, professional sports and airports.

If herbivorous birds (ducks and geese) eat any more than 3ppm of the ergovaline (an alkaloid produced by the Avanex™ endophyte), they feel lethargic and sick, and afterwards will avoid this food source.

Research and civil aviation data collected over several years shows that sowing Avanex™ grasses at airports reduces the number of birds and therefore the likelihood of bird strikes.

Chris’ idea has been taken to industry through Grasslanz Technology, a subsidiary of AgResearch that specializes in the commercialisation of R&D. It won the DuPont award in Melbourne in 2011 and last year won the NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2012 – Most Innovative Product in an Emerging Market. This product is now licensed to PGGWrightson Turf to be marketed globally.

Sam Livesey says nothing has had to change for sports turf managers who use the new products, as the only difference is the presence of the endophyte. Not only does it deter insects and animals, it also means turf managers can reduce insecticide use – particularly organophosphate. With less insects about, the grasses persist longer. Deterring birds also reduces birds fouling the turf.

Already the Colosseum grass with Avanex™ has been sown at several sports fields in NZ: the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, the Queenstown Events Centre.

Sam says it’s a win also for the New Zealand arable farmers growing the premium grasses for seed.

He’s excited about the prospects to sell the grasses overseas to a wide range of buyers as well as airports and sports fields. For example the grasses are showing signs of deterring rabbits and moles. With further research Avanex™ could also be used to seed along highways to deter grazing animals such as deer.

“The market potential is huge throughout temperate areas of the globe,” he says. “It’s uncharted territory for us.”

PGG Wrightson markets the patented grass seed under licence.