A paper by two researchers from Embrapa Southeastern Livestock (São Carlos, SP) recently published in a specialized journal proposes the term "Airport agriculture" to define a set of management techniques for soil cover plants that can reduce the presence of birds and other animals in areas that are close to airport runways. Francisco Dübbernde Souza and Marcos Rafael Gusmão wrote the text "Vegetation Management and Wildlife Hazard in airports: an agronomic view" for the journal Conexão SIPAER, a Brazilian scientific publication that addresses flight safety. In the paper, the authors propose the term "Airport agriculture" to define a set of agronomic practices that aims at obtaining a plant soil cover by airport runway tracks that contributes to reducing aircraft accidents caused by fauna during the stages of landing and take-off. Francisco reports that when he started researching lawns at Embrapa he did not anticipate that the subject would have an interface with the aviation sector. As soon as the news of the project spread, representatives of Cenipa (Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents), a body that reports to Comaer (Brazilian Air Force Command), and of Brazilian airport managing companies sought him, interested in the study results. In September 2017, the researcher was asked to give to a lecture at the 1st AeroFauna, an event conducted in São Paulo to debate the management of wildlife strike hazards in the airports of Brazil. "This theme largely interests nearly all the airports in the world", he stated. So far the approach to this subject has given higher importance to the fauna in such environments. Francisco and Marcos propose an agronomic outlook for the problem. "œWe feel a lack of a higher emphasis on the role of soil in the food chain of the fauna that visits airports. Rodents, birds and insects feed from plants and seeds that, in turn, depend on the soil to develop", they observe. The proposal is to manage the soil so that the vegetation in the areas near aerodrome tracks reduces chances for feeding, making the area less attractive for the fauna. The plant cover near landing strips in airports is important for many reasons. "If these areas are left uncovered, that is, without vegetation, they can generate dust that could harm the aircraft turbines. Moreover, they fail to benefit from the many environmental services the cover provides", Francisco asserts. This kind of cover provides numerous environmental services where it is established, such as erosion control, oxygen production, atmospheric carbon fixation, facilitated water infiltration into the soil, biodegradation of synthetic organic compounds, suppression of undesirable plants, heat dissipation, noise attenuation, reduction of air particulate matter (dust), among others. Marcos Gusmão adds that a professional in agronomy overseeing the setup and the management of plant cover in airports is a way to ensure such benefits. "After all, this is a specialized agriculture that requires a set of solid, carefully selected technical criteria", he says. Curious facts To recommend the best management to keep birds away from the aircraft landing and take-off points, Francisco and Marcos researched the specialized literature for information about what lures such animals to this environment. They found reports that ants and grasshoppers are the predominant groups of arthropods in several of the main Brazilian airports, where they constitute an important part of the diet of the birds associated with wildlife strike hazards. They also affirm that in places where there is a large occurrence of exotic, rustic and aggressive grasses, there is abundant feed (flowers and seeds, for instance) for birds, insects and rodents. If they are not frequently cut, they can represent problems for the airports. The very act of mowing the grass can attract birds, since it results in the sudden availability of feed for several bird species, attracting them and increasing the risk of collisions with aircraft. A possible way to prevent this problem is night mowing, which is already performed in several Brazilian airports. Journal The journal where the paper was published stems from a knowledge management project developed by Cenipa's library jointly with investigators of aeronautical accidents from the same center and from Seripa III (Third Regional Service of Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents). The paper came out in vol. 9, in the last quarter of 2018. Francisco and Marcos said that the publication was ideal for the type of knowledge they are disseminating. "Our proposal, published in this text, can be valuable for e.g. airport managers and companies that provide services to airports", Marcos explains. The full paper can be accessed here. Translation: Mariana Medeiros