Biomonitoring Vineyard Soils in Sustainable Agroecosystems

Microbial soil biodiversity is playing a central role in plant health and productivity, and modifications of soil biodiversity are known to influence aboveground plant productivity. However, the abundance and activity of all the biotic components of soil (e.g from microbes to metazoans) are affected by biotic and abiotic factors such as chemical contaminants, physicochemical characteristics, agricultural land- use practices (organic vs. conventional), and interactions with other organisms. However, the interactions of all these factors are not clearly understood. The goal of BioViSo is to identify (a)biotic key drivers and keystone species influencing quality of vineyards soil by applying an innovative agroecological network analysis. Both, management system and geographic location will be considered. BioViSo foresees two expected key outcomes that correspond with the proposal`s hypotheses and aims: i) development of new methods to assess soil quality within the specific habitat of grapevine culture in South Tyrol and ii) to unravel the biotic and abiotic parameters promoting the presence of crucial key species. The specific objectives of the proposal will be reached by an integrative approach involving the following methods and work packages: i) development of a stratified sampling design on the basis of existing databases and new questionnaires, ii) a comprehensive characterization of vineyard sites using a multidisciplinary approach, iii) unravelling the complex network of biodiversity and interactions occurring in vineyards in relation to the farming system (organic vs. conventional), iv) verification and quantification of network-derived keystone species, and v) spatial interpolation of the project results. BioViSo will study vineyard soils in relation to their farming system and geographic location. Applying an innovative agroecological network analysis and combining traditional chemical and biological approaches with metabarcoding methods and surveys, will be the basis for developing an innovative method to monitor the quality and health of soil agro-ecosystems from the plot to the landscape scale.