22 December 2004 'Grassface' Interactions Vital to NZ's Health and Wealth says new Royal Society Fellow

The "grassface" is as important to the New Zealand economy as the "coalface" was to the Industrial Revolution, says Lincoln University's Professor of Ecology, Steve Wratten.

Newly elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand for his contributions to science, Professor Wratten says that plant and insect interactions – the essence of ecology – are fundamental to agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and forestry.

"These are the powerhouse activities of New Zealand's land-based economy and they make ecology a tremendously important area of study and one that can make a valuable contribution to national health and wealth.

"The mechanics of nature can be more powerful than the mightiest coal-fired steam turbine ever was, and a whole lot cleaner!"

"It is nice that the Royal Society of New Zealand, the country's premier science society, has recognised the importance of agro-ecology through the Fellowship it has awarded me."

Professor Wratten says he hopes the award is more an acknowledgement of the importance of the field he works in, rather than of him personally.

Professor Wratten spends a lot of his research time at the "grassface". He has been closely involved in the ecological research side of Heinz Wattie's Organic Farm, Kowhai Farm, at Lincoln University since its establishment in 1999, and he is the Biocontrol Theme Leader of the National Centre for Advanced Bio-Protection Technologies based at Lincoln University.

Among his current projects that typify Lincoln's "real world" research is the supervision of two of the University's doctoral students carrying out investigations at the Marlborough commercial organic winery, Seresin Estate Ltd, owned by internationally renowned, New Zealand-born cinematographer Michael Seresin.

The two students, Samantha Scarratt and Marco Jacometti are both on Technology in Industry Fellowships, funded by the Foundation for Science, Research and Technology.

Samantha is working on the management of the understorey of grapevines, to enhance the number of natural enemies of insect pests that may attack the vines and grapes.

In particular she is looking at creating an environment attractive to a small harmless wasp that is a parasite of the harmful leafroller caterpillars. Leafrollers feed on grapes and in opening them up they also make the plants susceptible to botrytis disease.

Part of Samantha's biocontrol approach is to plant buckwheat between the rows of vines to attract the wasps that attack the leafrollers.

"It is classic plant-insect interaction and illustrates what a useful tool nature can be if we take the time to harness its services," says Professor Wratten.

While Samantha is focusing on the use of natural enemies for pest control, Marco's attention is on control of the spread of botrytis by covering up the vine prunings with organic material so that they rot away and are not left exposed to become breeding havens for the botrytis grape rot fungus.

Professor Wratten is internationally known for his work on the ecological basis of the biological control of agricultural, horticultural and viticultural pests.

He is the author or co-author of six books, more than 60 book chapters and reviews, and over 300 research papers. His published work has included a prestigious review of the History of Ecology by Sir Richard Southwood, FRS, a former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University.

He has been a staff member at Lincoln University since 1993 and his expertise and leadership in his field were acknowledged with appointment to a Personal Chair in Ecology in 1996.

In 2004 Professor Wratten received a Lincoln University Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching and he will be one of the University's two nominations for the National Tertiary Teaching Awards in 2005. He already holds a Lincoln University Research Excellence Award.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand