Vineyard ecosystems: Promoting ecosystem services in grapes (PromESSinG)

Grapevine as a perennial crop is often grown for several decades in specific vineyards with particular climatic conditions. Although vineyard management is a highly intensive cropping system, viticulture has a high potential of providing ecosystem services (ESS) linked to biodiversity since the main aim is to produce a high quality product instead of maximum yields. Additionally in terms of promoting biodiversity perennial systems, as viticulture, have advantages compared to annual cropping systems. The project PromESSing responds to the need to unravel biodiversity processes associated with the main ESS in viticultural systems, thereby specifically focusing on soil biodiversity. The research will be conducted in temperate (non Mediterranean) vineyard systems in France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Romania. Common studies in all countries will be established and a standardized sampling design will be implemented. Focus fields in a viticulture region will be selected on the basis on the basis of two different scales: a) the factor soil management will be analyses including three vineyard management strategies of different disturbance intensities and b) the factor landscape management consisting of three landscape heterogeneity levels. The effects of the combination of landscape and soil management strategies on the diversity of soil relevant species (soil microflora including mycorrhiza, macrofauna, plants) and soil fertility parameters will be determined. The major aim of PromESSing is to identify management options for promoting biodiversity linked ESS in order to reduce external inputs in Central European vineyard ecosystems. The expertise of all partners is combined and specific methods will be applied by one group for all partners. The Division of Viticulture and Pomology at BOKU is providing the expertise in grape quality and grapevine physiology to the consortium.

Agricultural systems need to maintain their productivity but also enhance their sustainability and the interaction between biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESS) which are regarded as a key process in this development. Grapevine as a perennial crop plant has the potential to provide habitats for a large range of organisms as cover crops are used in vineyard interrows to prevent soil erosion, to enhance the soil structure and to provide organic matter and nutrients for organisms and plants. The project Promoting ecosystem services in grapes (PromESSinG) addressed this question by focusing on the effects of vineyard soil management strategies and surrounding landscape heterogeneity on biodiversity and ESS in vineyards within 5 European regions (Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and Romania). Management with three intensities was applied in all selected vineyards reflecting a disturbance gradient from permanent vegetation cover to bare ground. In three years different parameters for biodiversity and ESS were assessed in a common study in all partner countries. Results of this common study across all countries showed: increasing soil disturbance led to a lower soil microbial activity, a higher decomposition of organic matter and an increase in available nitrogen and malic acid in grapes. In terms of biodiversity, the abundance as well as the diversity of collembola, acari and carabid species increased with higher vegetation cover and less disturbance. Results obtained in Austrian vineyards followed basically the general European trend. Further results from the Austrian project team were: higher abundance of earthworms already in the first year of treatment establishment, litter has much higher mesofauna abundance as soil samples, vineyard soil composition and climatic conditions has more influence on the microbiome in the soil as soil management whereas the activity of soil hydrolytic enzymes and soil respiration is increased with permanent vegetation cover. Based on the promessing project we further evaluate the efficiency and effects of different under- trellis weed control treatments. The ongoing research focuses on soil parameters, water relation of vines, vegetation cover and soil hydrolytic enzymes to characterize both, the consequences for vine production as well as the soil microbial community and soil vitality parameters. The research is multidisciplinary and the implications are manifold: awareness to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem functions is becoming more important for wine growers as well as consumers. Wine growers have to combine their economic success with ecological, sustainable management systems and the conservation of a specific traditional landscape. Under many circumstances this goes hand in hand, but other aspects may lead to a trade-off between management techniques supporting biodiversity and yield or grape quality on the other side. This controversy aspects have to be balanced.