Researchers say moth-eating bats could be the key to dramatically reducing the use of pesticides in wineries, potentially saving the industry $50 million a year nationally.
The research, currently underway at the University of New England, came about after researchers looked at a Chilean project with a similar premise.
Lead researcher Zenon Czenze said the first step of the project was to figure out which participating vineyards already had bats onsite and what they were eating.
So far two wineries in the NSW Northern Tablelands have signed up, and another six further afield are interested.
"We are finding several species of bats … on the vineyard and we've been recording them acoustically, using echolocation recorders," Dr Czenze said.
"We know that indeed they are foraging on the edges of vineyards and even in the middle of the crops."
If DNA testing from bat excrement shows that these smaller insect-eating bats are eating these moths, the research team thinks the wine industry could stop using $50 million worth of pesticides nationally each year.
So, what's next?
Dr Czenze said his teams want to find out what types of habitats attract these bats and increase bat population numbers in wineries.
"If we can understand what type of microclimates the animals prefer then the next step for the vineyard project is to install a bunch of artificial tree hollows in the native bush that is around the vineyards and enhance that habitat to hopefully increase the number of bats," he said.
"If we can increase the number of bats at the vineyards then we can hopefully increase the pest control and protect threatened species with increased habitat, so it's really a win-win."
What do winemakers think?
Rob Grant is the vineyard manager at Petersons in Armidale and said collaborating with researchers would help his winery become an industry leader.
"We've had a few UNE things come out here. It's always good to have them out here because if they find anything we are on the forefront of it," he said.
"With the bats, it's good to know what bugs we've got around and we can learn more from [researchers]."
Mr Grant was excited at the potential for a sustainable alternative to pesticides.
"It would be a good thing if possible" he said.
A sustainable alternative?
Dr Czenze would like to see the project grow beyond the Northern Tablelands and expand across the entire country after receiving interest from six more wineries.
"Vineyards aren't just here in the tablelands. They're across NSW. They're across the whole country," he said.
"If we can reliably show the cost of creating bat habitats is significantly less than the cost of pesticides then hopefully we can see this paradigm shift in biodiversity farm management practices, which can be applied to vineyards and potentially other crops that have moth pests as well."
Dr Czenze hoped the research would make Australia an international leader when it came to natural bat pest control.
