Challenges in viticulture practices in a changing environment: Can green waste amendment benefit soil properties of vineyards in the Mediterranean?

Abstract

In Southeastern France, viticulture is of great social, cultural, and economic importance. This sector is threatened by climate change particularly in the Mediterranean (longer droughts and more frequent heat waves) where soils are poor in organic matter and weakly developed. Since organic amendment can strongly modify soil properties and consequently the final products (grapes and wine), the effects of sustainable practices on soil characteristics have to be carefully assessed. This seasonal field survey focuses on the effects green waste amendment (GWA), i.e. semi-composted green wastes, have on vineyard soil functionality. The effects of GWA were compared with those of grass cover (GC), known as a sustainable practice. Soils were collected in vineyards under organic practices (Bouches-du-Rhône and Var, France) over four seasons and physico-chemical (Total C and N, pHwater, pHKCL, EC, WHC, copper content and soil organic carbon SOC) and biological (microbial respiration and biomass, microbial catabolic structure, earthworm abundance and biomass) properties were characterized. Both practices were beneficial to soil physicochemical properties. For example, under both practices, higher (2 fold) Total N and SOC on late spring were observed. Both GWA and GC favored soil microbial communities, with microbial respiration having doubled and tripled on late spring. Similar results were observed for microbial biomass and both bacterial and fungal catabolic diversities (increased approximately by half) over summer. These benefits were particularly prominent during drought season (June and August), and probably linked to a shift in microbial communities as revealed by catabolic profiles. GWA also favored abundance and biomass of earthworm during winter. These findings reveal the potential GWA to counteract the effect of tillage, to mitigate the stress from drought and to improve overall soil functionality in vineyards.