•Mean top soil SOC is 1.7% in forests and 1.0% in productive agricultural fields.•Mean top soil SOC in abandoned agricultural fields is 1.3%.•SOC (%) is significantly lower in productive than in ...abandoned vineyards (p < 0.05).•SOC stocks are similar in productive and abandoned vineyards (21 vs 22 Mg ha−1).•SOC stock shows no trend with abandonment time, indicating variable erosion rates.
Extensive areas of arable land have been abandoned in many countries around the world, especially in the Mediterranean region. The overall goal of this study is to assess the effects of agricultural land abandonment on soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations and stocks in a Mediterranean mountain environment. The specific objectives are (i) to quantify differences in SOC concentrations in top 25-cm soil in productive agricultural areas, abandoned agricultural areas and state forests; (ii) to quantify SOC stocks in productive and abandoned terraced vineyards up to the bedrock or to a maximum depth of 80 cm and (iii) to analyze the effect of time of abandonment on the SOC stocks of the vineyards. Top soil SOC concentrations from 826 sampling points covering 2374 km2 of mountainous areas (Troodos Mountains, Cyprus) with a variety of land covers were used. SOC stocks were determined from soil samples, which were collected up to the bedrock, where possible, from 24 productive and abandoned terraced vineyards (paired-sites). The Loss-on-Ignition method and an elemental carbon analyzer were used for SOC concentrations. Coarse fragment corrections were made for SOC stock calculations. Time of abandonment was estimated with aerial photos taken in 1963 and 1993. The average SOC concentration in the top soil (0–25 cm) ranged between 1.7% in state forests to 1.0% in productive agricultural land, while the mean value of abandoned fields was 1.3%. Regarding SOC in the top soil (0–10-cm) of paired vineyards, concentrations were higher in abandoned (1.4% SOC) than in productive sites (0.9% SOC), with a statistical significance level <0.05. Paired t-tests showed that SOC was lower in productive sites (0.9% SOC) compared to abandoned sites, with SOC (%) and statistical significance increasing with time of abandonment: 1.2% SOC in sites abandoned after 1993 (p-value 0.18) and 1.6% SOC in sites abandoned before 1963 (p-value 0.05). However, mean SOC stocks, with coarse fragment correction, were slightly higher for the productive sites (22 Mg ha−1) than for the abandoned sites (21 Mg ha−1) and showed no trend with the time of abandonment (p-value: 0.85). The coarse fragment corrections resulted in 17 to 78% reduction in SOC stocks. Our results showed the importance of deep soil sampling (>30 cm) and coarse fragment corrections for quantifying SOC stock. Despite higher SOC concentrations for abandoned sites, SOC stock calculations resulted in similar mean SOC stock values for productive and abandoned terraced vineyards, indicating the importance of erosional and depositional processes in such landscapes.
Understanding socio-ecological systems and the discovery, recovery and adaptation of land knowledge are key challenges for sustainable land use. The analysis of sustainable agricultural systems and ...practices, for instance, requires interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and coordinated data acquisition, data integration and analysis. However, datasets, which are acquired using remote sensing, geospatial analysis and simulation techniques, are often limited by narrow disciplinary boundaries and therefore fall short in enabling a holistic approach across multiple domains and scales. In this work, we demonstrate a new workflow for interdisciplinary data acquisition and integration, focusing on terraced vineyards in Tuscany, Italy. We used multi-modal data acquisition and performed data integration via a voxelised point cloud that we term a composite voxel model. The latter facilitates a multi-domain and multi-scale data-integrated approach for advancing the discovery and recovery of land knowledge. This approach enables integration, correlation and analysis of data pertaining to different domains and scales in a single data structure.
The terracing of vineyards has been a centuries-old traditional land use type in the Tokaj-Hegyalja region (887 km
2
). However, most of them have since been abandoned and are occupied by dense ...vegetation. In this study, we mapped the spatial extent of vineyard terraces, based on aerial photos. We classified the terraced fields, considering their topographic characteristics as assessed by topographic factors (slope, exposure and elevation) and the process of abandonment between 1784 and 2010 using historical and contemporary land use maps. Based on the overall map of vineyard abandonment (scale: 1:120,000), the process of the abandonment of terraces can be divided into six consecutive time intervals (1784-1858, 1858-1884, 1884-1940, 1940-1969, 1969-1989 and 1989-2010). Vineyard terraces were found on 590 ha, which were concentrated on hillsides steeper than 17%, on southwestern, southern and southeastern exposures, and lying between 150 and 500 m a.s.l. In the period between 1884 and 1989, 77.8% of the terraces were abandoned, with a particularly intense period of abandonment between 1940 and 1969, which saw a 31.1% decrease in the extent of cultivated terraces.
•Terraced vineyards show higher night temperatures.•Daily mean and max temperatures are higher in downslope vineyards.•Light microclimate is more balanced in downslope vineyards compared to ...terraces.•Row orientation has an effect on differences between treatments.
Historically and under cooler climate conditions, steep slope vineyards yielded best quality wines and highest reputation, due to their distinctive microclimate, especially during ripening period. Nevertheless, steep slope vineyard sites primarily suffer from reduced competitiveness leading to abandonment, thus a loss of valuable vineyard sites. The aim of this work was to investigate differences in microclimatic conditions between different steep slope vineyard management systems and row orientations. Records of inner canopy microclimatic parameters were taken over two consecutive vegetation periods including seven vineyard pairs. A Bayesian mixed effect model was used to properly account for the complexity of the conducted experiment. Additionally, irradiation and canopy surface temperature data was compared. Grapevines planted downslope (control) exhibited a more even light distribution on canopy sides. Contrarily, at terraced vineyard sites canopy sides showed big differences regarding light interception, also affecting diurnal canopy surface temperature. Differences in N-S/E-W row orientation comparison were more pronounced compared to vineyard pairs aligned NE-SW/NW-SE. Night temperatures were slightly higher in terraced vineyards, while daily mean and maximum temperature and temperature amplitude were higher in vineyard rows planted in line of the greatest slope. While a treatment effect was not always clearly visible, an impact of row orientation on temperature microclimate was observed. Differences between treatments may become more pronounced under projected climate change conditions with consequences on physiological processes, thus grapevine performance influencing berry composition.
The accessibility to water is a crucial factor for grapevine performance in vineyards. A sufficient supply of water favors vegetative growth, yield formation and fruit ripening. Under a changing ...climate, especially steep slope wine-growing regions may face severe problems in soil moisture conservation due to oftentimes lower soil water holding capacity and a larger radiation intake on the, usually South-facing, hill slopes, which causes a higher evaporative demand compared to vineyards in the flat. The impact of two steep slope vineyard management systems on water retention and drought stress response of grapevines was assessed. Soil water dynamics in the inter-vine space of steep slope sites planted downslope (control, C) and of terraces (T) were compared. Terraced vineyards were capable to retain up to a 40 % higher relative percentage of winter precipitation, compared to the control. Vines in the early years of their adaption phase planted on terraced vineyards generally displayed a higher drought stress response, showed lower vigour, lower yield and lower sugar yield. The older the terrace system, the better the performance compared to C became. This suggests a high competition of young grapevines to the cover cropped embankments of terraced vineyards. Therefore, means to improve root development and to reduce water and nutrient competition in the early years of terrace construction are crucial for successful grapevine adaptation, for the increase of resilience to abiotic stress factors and finally for the maintenance of valuable steep slope vineyard sites for grapevine cultivation.
•Precipitation is better stored in terraces compared to control; soil water content is depleted faster.•Young vines on terraces are at high risk of drought stress compared to vines planted down-slope.•After an adaptation phase, vines planted on terraces do not differ in stress response from control vines.
Row orientation, among others, is a crucial factor in determining grapevine performance and health status, thus affecting berry components that form the basis of the later wine profile. However, the ...literature about the impact of changes in row orientation at steep slope sites on grapevine fruit composition as well as the differentiation between canopy sides hardly exists. Thus, the aim of this work was to gain knowledge about the impact of row orientation in steep slope vineyards on selected primary and secondary metabolites in berries of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Riesling. Samples were taken from both canopy sides of different row orientations of terraced and downslope vineyards in steep slopes. Free amino acids in the juice and flavonols in the berry skin had a positive correlation to sunlight exposure. Furthermore, grapevines showed adaptations to constantly higher light conditions, e.g., physiologically in reduction in chlorophyll content or protective mechanisms resulting in a lower susceptibility to sunburn damage. Thus, grapevine fruit parameters are affected by row orientation change in steep slopes.
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