Grapevine in a Changing Environment

A Molecular and Ecophysiological Perspective

Hernâni Gerós, Maria Manuela Chaves, Hipolito Medrano Gil, Serge Delrot, Hernani Gerós

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781118736050
• eBook ISBN: 9781118736043
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Grapes (Vitis spp.) are economically the most important fruit species in the world. Over the last decades many scientific advances have led to understand more deeply key physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of grape berry maturation. However, our knowledge on how grapevines respond to environmental stimuli and deal with biotic and abiotic stresses is still fragmented. Thus, this area of research is wide open for new scientific and technological advancements. Particularly, in the context of climate change, viticulture will have to adapt to higher temperatures, light intensity and atmospheric CO2 concentration, while water availability is expected to decrease in many viticultural regions, which poses new challenges to scientists and producers.

With Grapevine in a Changing Environment, readers will benefit from a comprehensive and updated coverage on the intricate grapevine defense mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stress and on the new generation techniques that may be ultimately used to implement appropriate strategies aimed at the production and selection of more adapted genotypes. The book also provides valuable references in this research area and original data from several laboratories worldwide.

Written by 63 international experts on grapevine ecophysiology, biochemistry and molecular biology, the book is a reference for a wide audience with different backgrounds, from plant physiologists, biochemists and graduate and post-graduate students, to viticulturists and enologists.

CHAPTER 1
Grapevines in a changing environment: a global perspective

Gregory V. Jones

Department of Environmental Studies, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon, USA

---

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 1.1 Introduction
2. 1.2 Climate suitability for viticulture and wine production
3. 1.3 Climate change and variability
4. 1.4 Environmental impacts on viticulture and wine production
5. 1.5 Conclusions
6. References

---

Abstract

Agricultural production is environmentally sensitive, being highly influenced by changes in climate, soil water and nutrition, and land use practices. From a climate perspective, agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change as most crop systems have been optimized to fit a given climate niche allowing for economically sustainable quality and production. These climatic niches range from fairly broad conditions suitable for crops such as wheat or corn to more narrow conditions suitable for specialty crops such as grapevines. Potential agricultural responses to changing climates reflect the interactions between temperature, water availability and timing, increasing soil salinity and nutrient stresses, and increasing carbon dioxide concentrations. As such, understanding agricultural impacts from climate change necessitates integrated information and research examining the combined effects of these and other factors. This chapter provides an overview of many of these issues through the discussion of how climate change and variability impact the structure and suitability for viticulture and wine production worldwide.

Keywords: climate; wine; viticulture; grapevines; phenology;

List of abbreviations

CO₂

Carbon dioxide

°C

Degrees Celsius

ENSO

El Niño Southern Oscillation

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

mm

Millimeter

T _max

Maximum temperature

T _min

Minumum temperature

1.1 Introduction

Human interactions within Earth’s environment have brought significant changes, producing a situation in which we now face some of the most complex collection of ecological problems in our history. Driven by population growth and often ecologically unsustainable processes these problems include an increasingly less predictable and stable climate and a wide range of interrelated social, environmental, and economic problems. Compounded by growing water scarcity, deforestation, species extinction, and ocean acidification, our ability to function as a species is challenged more than ever before (IPCC, 2013). Climate is at the forefront of these issues as it presents a very complex, highly variable, and pervasive factor in our natural Earth and human-based systems. From controlling vegetation patterns and geological weathering characteristics to influencing water resources and agricultural productivity, climate is at the heart of the delicate equilibrium that exists on Earth. While it is clear from historical evidence that changing climates are a part of the Earth’s natural adjustments to both internal and external forces (e.g., volcanic eruptions and solar variability), more and more evidence is pointing to increasing human impacts on our climate (IPCC, 2013). Processes such as desertification, deforestation, and urbanization, by which the global energy balance is disrupted, and changes in atmospheric composition that enhance the greenhouse effect beyond its natural equilibrium demonstrate that our role in changing the climate is increasing.

Agriculture represents probably one of the most complex aspects of human–environment interactions whereby we need increasingly more productive systems to feed our growing population, yet aspects of doing so will, and will likely continue to, exacerbate the problems. As such, agriculture has both a role in producing some of our challenges, but more importantly has been increasingly asked to develop sustainable practices that reduce our vulnerability and increase our adaptive capacity in the face of global change (Diffenbaugh et al., 2011). Today, as in the past, climate is clearly one of the most important factors in the success of all agricultural systems, influencing whether a crop is suitable to a given region, largely controlling crop production and quality, and ultimately driving economic sustainability (Jones et al., 2012). While decisions about what crop to grow commercially are largely driven by regional history and tradition, they are also influenced by regional to international economics. However, both tradition and economics are ultimately driven by the ability to grow the crop sustainably within a given climate (White et al., 2009). From broadacre crops such as wheat, rice, corn, and soybeans to specialty crops such as fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and coffee, they all have strong ties to global to regional climates. While broadacre crops are clearly more important as global food sources, specialty crops present unique sensitivities to climate that have made them especially interesting to researchers examining global change. This fact is never more evident than with viticulture and wine production where climate is arguably the most critical environmental aspect in ripening fruit to its optimum quality to produce a desired wine style (Jones, 2014).

The complex influences that result in wine are often embodied in the concept of ‘terroir’, a term that attempts to capture all of the environmental and cultural influences in growing grapes and making wine (Vaudour, 2002; White et al., 2009; Tomasi et al., 2013). Terroir is derived from the Latin ‘terre’ or ‘territoire’ and its first modern definition appears as ‘a stretch of land limited by its agricultural capacity’. Historically, the use of terroir as defining aspects of landscapes grew out of the traditions of the Cistercian monks in Burgundy (wine origin), but the term was also broadly embraced by the French as an agricultural production concept tied to specific regions (i.e., wine, cheese, pâté, and other specialty crops) (White et al., 2009). While definitions and influences associated with terroir continue to be debated (Vaudour, 2002; Jones, 2014), what is important is the complexity of environmental influences that the concept encompasses (Tomasi et al., 2013). At the broadest definition, climate produces the most easily identifiable differences in terroir through its influence on vine growth, fruit ripening, and wine styles (van Leeuwen et al., 2004). Varieties that are best suited to a cool climate tend to produce wines that are more subtle with lower alcohol, crisp acidity, have a lighter body, and typically bright fruit flavors, while those from hot climates tend to be bolder wines with higher alcohol, lower acidity, a fuller body, and more dark or lush fruit flavors. Geology, soil, and landscape all interact with climate and the variety to produce the subtle differences and/or expression of aromas, flavors, and styles within the same climate or region (van Leeuwen et al., 2004; Jones, 2014). Finally, through their decisions about what to grow, where, and how, humans can accentuate or camouflage terroir (Bohmrich, 2006). Both as a general interest and as the result of numerous impacts from global environmental changes, science has been asked to help identify and define the myriad interrelated aspects of terroir that together influence viticulture and wine production worldwide.

1.2 Climate suitability for viticulture and wine production

As in the past, today’s wine production occurs over relatively narrow geographical and climatic ranges. Winegrapes also have relatively large cultivar differences in climate suitability, further limiting some winegrapes to even smaller areas that are climatically appropriate for their cultivation (Jones, 2006). These narrow niches for optimum quality and production put the cultivation of winegrapes at greater risk from both short-term climate variability and long-term climate changes than other more broadacre crops. While historically associated with Mediterranean climates, viticulture has spread throughout much of the world, with vineyards found as far north as in Scandinavia (helped by a warming climate), on east coasts of continents (e.g., China, Japan, and the eastern United States) and near the equator, where two crops per year are produced (e.g., Brazil). In these regions additional weather/climate risks of winter freezes, untimely rainfall, tropical cyclones, or increased disease risk pose challenges, but innovation and intent has developed thriving local to regional wine identities (Jones et al., 2012). The broader bounds for viticulture and wine production occur in climates where growing season temperatures average 13–21 °C (Figure 1.1). The climate-maturity zoning in Figure 1.1 was developed based upon both climate and plant growth for many cultivars grown in cool to hot regions throughout the world’s benchmark areas for those winegrapes (Jones, 2006). While many of these cultivars are grown and produce wines outside of their individual bounds depicted in Figure 1.1, these are more bulk wine (high yielding) for the lower end of the market and do not typically attain the typicity or quality for those same cultivars in their ideal climate. Furthermore, growing season average temperatures below 13 °C are typically limited to hybrids or very early ripening cultivars that do not necessarily have large-scale commercial appeal. At the upper limits of climate, some production can also be found with growing season average temperatures from 21 to 24 °C, although it is mostly limited to fortified wines, table grapes and raisins.

...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• List of contributors
• CHAPTER 1: Grapevines in a changing environment: a global perspective
• CHAPTER 2: The ups and downs of environmental impact on grapevines: future challenges in temperate viticulture
• CHAPTER 3: Drought and water management in Mediterranean vineyards
• CHAPTER 4: Rootstocks as a component of adaptation to environment
• CHAPTER 5: Carbon balance in grapevine under a changing climate
• CHAPTER 6: Embolism formation and removal in grapevines: a phenomenon affecting hydraulics and transpiration upon water stress
• CHAPTER 7: Grapevine under light and heat stresses
• CHAPTER 8: Remote sensing and other imaging technologies to monitor grapevine performance
• CHAPTER 9: Boron stress in grapevine: current developments and future prospects
• CHAPTER 10: Berry response to water, light and heat stresses
• CHAPTER 11: Grapevine responses to low temperatures
• CHAPTER 12: Metabolic rearrangements in grapevine response to salt stress
• CHAPTER 13: Copper stress in grapevine
• CHAPTER 11: Grapevine abiotic and biotic stress genomics and identification of stress markers
• CHAPTER 15: Exploiting Vitis genetic diversity to manage with stress
• Index
• End User License Agreement