Long-term adaptation of European viticulture to climate change: an overview from the H2020 Clim4Vitis action

João A Santos,Daniel Molitor,Luisa Leolini,Niccolò Bartoloni,Sergi Costafreda-Aumedes,José Moutinho-Pereira,Marco Bindi,Lia-Tânia Dinis,Carlos Correia,Christoph Menz,Thomas Kartschall,Aureliano C Malheiro,Jürgen Junk,Hans R Schultz,Marco Moriondo,Chenyao Yang,Marco Beyer,Camilla Dibari,Helder Fraga

doi:10.20870/ives-tr.2021.4644

Abstract

Climate change is a major challenge to viticulture worldwide. The adaptation potential of the different strategies to cope with climate change still embraces many uncertainties (e.g., unpredictable social-economic developments and land-use changes), particularly in the long-term. However, adaptation strategies adjusted to local terroirs and regional climate change projections will contribute to the sustainable development of the winemaking sector. The Clim4Vitis action (https://clim4vitis.eu/) recommends some guidelines for long-term adaptation (Figure 1).

Highlights

>>> Climate change is a major challenge to viticulture worldwide
The gobelet training system was frequently adopted in dry Mediterranean areas to limit vine water use, by lowering the leaf area per hectare and limiting the demand for photosynthesis and transpiration2
Molitor et al (2019)3 demonstrated that the low input training system of the semi-minimal pruned hedge, along with non-thinned treatment, can delay bunch rot formation and fruit maturity, opening a new opportunity for adaptation in both cooler and warmer viticulture European regions

Summary

Introduction

>>> Climate change is a major challenge to viticulture worldwide. The adaptation potential of the different strategies to cope with climate change still embraces many uncertainties (e.g., unpredictable socialeconomic developments and land-use changes), in the long-term. Long-term adaptation measures refer to those that require transformational options or structural changes. Winegrowers tend to be reluctant to apply such measures; compared to short-term adaptation they typically require more investment and significant changes to common practices, and they need to be implemented over relatively long temporal horizons, dealing with many uncertainties about the future.

Results

Conclusion