Experts combining wildlife with biological pest control for vineyards (WSU)

[ffr]

Raise your glass to the butterflies: Vineyards are great for conservation, study finds

An unexpected turnout from wine drinking is that some precious butterfly populations get a better chance of surviving - and increasing in number.

What has been shown to connect the dots between the two is the chain of natural pesticide control used by wine grape vineyards, and how it's able to feed approximately 50 different types of butterflies, also making the vineyards perfectly acceptable habitats for the beautiful fellows.

The choice to plant desert buckwheat shrubs turned out to be a way to harvest a multitude of benefits. Vineyard managers in eastern Washington, USA, that use natural pest control have learned that the native sage-steppe shrubbery, is excellent as an enticement for parasitic wasps, that feed on mealybugs that otherwise would destroy the crops.

The presence of this unexpected guest is not a life or death matter to the crops themselves, however having butterflies around is a bonus that both increases pollination, looks lovely and healthy to anyone passing by, and also helps creating overall happy ecosystems.

Taking advice from experts in combining wildlife with biological pest control at Washington State University, every part of the country needs a separate look at what type of specialized species are native for that area - that way, introducing more local, native plants will help feed the insect life, and from there moving upwards in the food chain towards birds and smaller mammals. Working with Integrated Pest Management to address the emerging problems with excessive use of and reliance on synthetic pesticides, is quickly becoming the natural choice, both from an economical as well as an environmental point of view.

We do certainly need more ways and places to give different butterfly species a better chance of surviving and thriving. If you choose to go at it from the angle of drinking another glass of wine, make sure that it's from a bottle produced by a butterfly friendly farm filled with desert buckwheat between the vines!

Hello Mr. & Mrs. Butterfly. We have a whole set of insecticide, pesticide and herbicide free native plants for you to drink nectar from and for your young to eat this year. <link> - FFR

[truedelphi]

1. Yes, in the 3 to 15% of properly managed vineyards, good things can

happen in terms of habitat for insects and birds, and animals.

But the problem is that other 85% of all vineyards.

I remember the first time I laid an eye on a vineyard - back in the early 1980's. Even though the property was owned by the notorious Gallo Bros, whose worker practices had me avoiding Gallo products for a decade, there weer ample hedgerows and places for wildlife.

It was a standard practice back then

But now, ten of thousands to acres in Northern Calif. are being consumed by vineyards. Entire pear orchards and preserves of forest and scrub brush are being "cleansed" out of existence. Locals are beginning to wake up and realize that the practices of land management utilized by the average vineyard owner are leading to
1) desertification
2) total loss of habitat for any insects, birds, animals
3) poisoning of the aquifers, due to the fact that the aquifers are seriously affected by the three foot deep applications of some truly dangerous pesticides

This flagrant violation of common sense is occurring even as the average citizen is being told to consume less water. But vineyard owners are still putting in their new acres of grapes - despite the drought, despite the glut on the market of wine grapes in all of the past eight years.

Local politicians are told that vineyards are ecological, when nothing could be further from the truth. Until vineyard owners ALL go back to utilizing the hedgerow practices once the norm of the industry, I think we are going to see total devastation of wildlife.

Some five years ago, experts said that vineyards accounted for the removal of 15% of deer across the state of California. Deer are prolific, but the fox, coyote, cougar, bobcat, skink, lizards, snakes, possum, raccoon, rabbit, beaver, skunk and most bird species no longer are surviving. My bird feeder is now frequented by only fifty birds a day. Before the huge installation of a new vineyard up on HWY 29, I had 300 birds a day, if not more. But they can't deal with the changes in the environment.