Hervé Quénol

Why climate change will not dramatically decrease viticultural suitability in main wine-producing areas by 2050

Hannah et al. (1) recently published a comprehensive study showing substantial impacts of climate change on viticultural suitability, leading to potential ecological issues. We agree that expansion of viticulture into new areas can lead to a decrease in biodiversity and that an increase in water use for irrigation might lead to major freshwater conservation impacts. However, we disagree with the alarming statement that suitability for winegrowing of main wine-producing areas worldwide will dramatically decrease over the next 40 y. We point out major methodological flaws in ref. 1, mostly linked to (i) the misuse of bibliographical data to compute suitability index, (ii) underestimation of adaptations of viticulture to warmer conditions, and (iii) the inadequacy of the monthly time step in the …

Relationships between soil seed bank, vegetation and soil fertility along an urbanisation gradient

ABSTRACT Questions: How does urbanisation influence soil mineral nitrogen stocks (nitrate and ammonium stocks) and what are the consequences of these modifications on the functional diversity of the herbaceous vegetation (vascular plants) and the seed bank? Location: Nine study sites were located on an urbanisation gradient in the city of Rennes, France. Methods: Three urbanisation levels were defined: urban areas (high grey/green ratio,), suburban (medium grey/green ratio) and periurban (low grey/green ratio). For each urbanisation level, nitrates and ammonium stocks were quantified; the herbaceous vegetation was surveyed as well as the soil seed bank (using the seedling emergence method). Results: Nitrate concentration increased with urbanisation (the nitrate level in urban plots was twice the concentration in periurban ones) whereas the ammonium level was higher in periurban areas than in urban areas. In urban plots, the vegetation and the seed bank were more nitrophilous, whereas the nitrogen requirement was lower for periurban species. The relationship between the seed bank and the above-ground vegetation was not significant. Conclusions: The higher nitrate concentration in the urban area appeared to be related to higher concentrations of atmospheric pollutants found in this area and lower ammonium levels may be related to the higher temperature in urban areas (leading to higher nitrification rates). The shift in the composition of the seed bank and vegetation appeared to be a consequence of higher nitrate stocks. The dissimilarity between the seed bank and vegetation may be caused by enhanced emergence of nitrophilous species in urban areas. Nomenclature: Flora Europaea (Tutin et al. 1964–1980).

Assessing local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive processes in the context of climate change

Adaptation to climate change is a major challenge facing the viticulture sector. Temporally, adaptation strategies and policies have to address potential impacts in both the short- and long term, whereas spatially, place-based and context-specific adaptations are essential. To help inform decision-making on climate change adaptation, this study adopted a bottom-up approach to assess local climate vulnerability and winegrowers’ adaptive processes in two regulated wine-producing areas in the Anjou-Saumur wine growing sub-region, France. The data used for this study were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 30 winegrowers. With a focus on wine quality, climate-related exposure, and sensitivity were dependent on many contextual factors (e.g., northern geographical position, wine regulatory frameworks, local environmental features) interacting with the regional oceanic climate. Climate and other non-climate-related variables brought about important changes in winegrowers’ management practices, varying in time and space. This ongoing process in decision-making enhanced winegrowers’ adaptive responses, which were primarily reactive (e.g., harvesting, winemaking) or anticipatory (e.g., canopy and soil management) to short-term climate conditions. Winegrowers described changing trends in climate- and grapevine (Vitis) -related variables, with the latter attributed to regional climate changes and evolving management practices. Regarding future climate trends, winegrowers’ displayed great uncertainty, placing the most urgent adaptation priority on short-term strategies, while changing grapevine varieties and using irrigation were identified as last resort strategies. The study concluded by discussing the implications of these findings in the context of climate change adaptation in viticulture.

Viticultural Zoning: A Comparative Study Regarding the Accuracy of Different Approaches in Vineyards Climate Suitability Assessment

Abstract The paper presents the results of a study regarding the mesoclimate suitability assessment of three Romania’s wine-growing centres (Urlaţi-Dealu Mare vineyard, Huşi-Huşi vineyard, Bucium-Iaşi vineyard), by the Huglin’s heliothermal index and by a GIS based multicriteria method. The results are compared between the two types of analysis and with the macroclimate suitability map of Romania’s wine regions, expressed by Huglin’s heliothermal index spatial distribution. The research show that the values of Huglin’s heliothermal index in Romania’s wine regions varies between 2341.48 on the Danube Terraces from the southern limit of the country to lower than 1500 on the intramountainous wine region Transylvania. The prevailing climate class over the Romania’s wine regions is IH-1 that define temperate climate. According to the assessment on Romania’s macroclimate scale by Huglin’s heliothermal index, the three wine-growing centers are characterized by temperate climate (IH-1), that indicate the existence of climate conditions for grapes maturation to Cabernet Sauvignon variety. The assessment on mesoclimate scale by the GIS based multicriteria method reveals a wider variability of local climate than that resulted from macroclimate and mesoclimate analysis by Huglin’s heliothermal index, as follows: the climate of Urlaţi wine-growing center is suitable for quality red wines production; in Huşi wine-growing centre only 16.95% from the area has climate suitable to produce red table wines; the climate of Bucium wine-growing centre is not suitable for red wine production. Comparison with the Romania’s vineyards wine production specialization confirms that the results of multicriteria GIS based evaluation reveal accurate the local climate suitability and demonstrate the need of the fine-scale assessment of vineyard climate in the viticultural zoning. Rezumat Zonarea viticulturii: studiu comparativ privind acurateţea diferitelor abordări în evaluarea favorabilităţii climatului podgoriilor. În lucrare sunt prezentate rezultatele evaluării climatului centrelor viticole Urlaţi-podgoria Dealu Mare, Huşi-podgoria Huşi, Buciumpodgoria Iaşi, prin intermediul indicelui heliotermic Huglin şi a unei metodologii multicriteriale. Rezultatele celor două tipuri de evaluare sunt comparate atât între ele, cât şi cu harta favorabilităţii macroclimatului regiunilor viticole din România, exprimată prin valori ale indicelui heliotermic Huglin. Cercetarea arată că, pe teritoriul României, valorile indicelui heliotermic Huglin variază între 2341.48 în Regiunea viticolă a Teraselor Dunării şi mai puţin de 1500 în Regiunea viticolă a Podişului Transilvaniei. Conform evaluării la scara macroclimatului, exprimată prin valorile indicelui heliotermic Huglin, cele trei centre viticole analizate dispun de condiţiile climatice necesare producţiei de vinuri roşii din soiul Cabernet Sauvignon. Evaluarea la scara mezoclimatului (scara podgoriei) prin metodologia multicriterială relevă o variaţie mult mai largă a favorabilităţii climatului local decât cea rezultată din evaluarea macroclimatului pe baza indicelui heliotermic Huglin, după cum urmează: climatul centrului viticol Urlaţi este favorabil pentru producţia de vinuri roşii de calitate; în centrul viticol Huşi numai 16.95% din suprafaţă dispune de condiţii climatice favorabile producţiei de vinuri roşii; climatul centrului viticol Bucium nu este favorabil pentru producţia de vinuri roşii. Comparaţia cu harta direcţiilor de producţie a podgoriilor din România arată că rezultatele evaluării multicriteriale sunt corecte şi demonstrează necesitatea evaluării climatului podgoriilor la scară fină în cadrul lucrărilor de zonare a viticulturii.

MAPPING VITICULTURAL POTENTIAL IN TEMPERATE CLIMATE AREAS. CASE STUDY: BUCIUM VINEYARD (ROMANIA)

Mapping Viticultural Potential in Temperate Climate Areas. Case Study: Bucium Vineyard (Romania) The paper presents the spatial distribution of ecological suitability for grape growing in Bucium vineyard (Romania), viticultural area with ecological characteristics representative for northern vineyards. The study is based on a complex methodology implying use of remote sensing, Geographical Information Systhems (GIS), climatic data, topographic and pedologic maps. Research reveal the low ecological potential of Bucium area, specialized, traditionally, in white table wines, sparkling wines and white quality wines. Data analysis shows that 30% of Bucium vineyard (281 ha of 928 ha) is inappropriate, in terms of climatic suitability, for vinifera varieties culture; 34% of the area (316 ha) has limited ecological potential, enough to produce white table wines and sparkling wines; 36% of the area (331 ha) is suitable for quality white wines. In the vineyard area was not registered suitable conditions for quality red wines production. Huglins heliothermal index values shows that the vineyard has climatic characteristics that allow culture of wine varieties with early and medium ripening. In terms of ecological suitability, it appears that the most favorable conditions offer Cetăţuia wine land, the eastern slope of the Doi Peri hill, eastern slope of Vişani hill, south-western slope of Bucium hill and southern slope of Pietrăria wine land. Cartografierea potenţialului viticol în arealele cu climat temperat. Studiu de caz: centrul viticol Bucium (România) Lucrarea prezintă distribuţia spaţială a favorabilităţii ecologice pentru cultura soiurilor de vin în centrul viticol Bucium-podgoria Iaşi, areal cu caracteristici ecologice reprezentative pentru podgoriile septentrionale. Cercetarea se bazează pe o metodologie complexă, în cadrul căreia se utilizează imagini din satelit, Sistemele Informaţionale Geografice (GIS), date climatice, hărţi topografice şi hărţi pedologice. Rezultatele cercetării relevă potenţialul ecologic limitat al arealului viticol, specializat, în mod tradiţional, în producerea vinurilor albe de masă, vinurilor spumante, vinurilor aromate şi vinurilor albe de calitate. Din analiza datelor rezultă că 30% din suprafaţa analizată (281 ha din 928 ha) este improprie, din punct de vedere climatic, pentru cultura soiurilor vinifera; 34% din suprafaţă (316 ha) are potenţial ecologic limitat, suficient doar pentru producerea vinurilor albe de masă şi vinurilor spumante; 36% din suprafaţă (331 ha) are potenţial pentru producerea vinurilor albe de calitate. În arealul viticol nu se înregistrează condiţii favorabile obţinerii vinurilor roşii de calitate. Valorile indicelui heliotermic Huglin, a cărui distribuţie spaţială este prezentată în lucrare alături de amplasarea zonelor afectate de îngheţuri şi brume, relevă faptul că, în areal, există condiţii favorabile pentru cultura soiurilor cu maturare timpurie şi mijlocie. Din punct de vedere al favorabilităţii ecologice pentru cultura soiurilor de vin, rezultă că cele mai valoroase microareale sunt: plaiul Cetăţuia, versantul estic al dealului Doi Peri, versantul estic al dealului Vişani, versantul sud-vestic al dealului Bucium şi versantul sudic al plaiului Pietrăria.

Markov chains–cellular automata modeling and multicriteria analysis of land cover change in the Lower Nhecolândia subregion of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland

Abstract. The dynamics of land use/land cover change in the Lower Nhecolândia wetland are marked by deforestation for pasture expansion, resulting in a real threat to the ecological stability. The aim of our work was to analyze the spatial distribution of land cover changes in the Lower Nhecolândia from 1985 to 2013 and to predict changes in trends for 2040. The mapping of land cover changes was developed using Landsat satellite images of 1985, 1999, 2007, and 2013, based on geographic object-based image analysis approach. This study uses integrated Markov chains and cellular automata modeling and multicriteria evaluation techniques to produce transition probability maps and describe the trajectory analysis methodology to construct a continuity of spatial and temporal changes for the wetland. The results of the multitemporal change detection classification show that, from 1985 to 2013, the forest woodland decreased by 6.89% and the grassland class increased by 18.29%. On the other hand, all water bodies showed a reducing trend, while the bare soil class increased compared to 1985, but did not present a regular trend of increase or decrease. From the present day, the trend for the future is a reduction of almost 6.4% by 2040. We found that deforestation actions will be concentrated in the areas with the highest concentration of saline lakes, constituting a serious threat to the natural functioning of this environmental system.

Regional climate change scenarios applied to viticultural zoning in Mendoza, Argentina

Due to the importance of the winemaking sector in Mendoza, Argentina, the assessment of future scenarios for viticulture is of foremost relevance. In this context, it is important to understand how temperature increase and precipitation changes will impact on grapes, because of changes in grapevine phenology and suitability wine-growing regions must be understood as an indicator of climate change. The general objective is to classify the suitable areas of viticulture in Argentina for the current and future climate using the MM5 regional climate change simulations. The spatial distribution of annual mean temperature, annual rainfall, and some bioclimatic indices has been analyzed for the present (1970–1989) and future (2080–2099) climate under SRES A2 emission scenario. In general, according to projected average growing season temperature and Winkler index classification, the regional model estimates (i) a reduction of cool areas, (ii) a westward and southward displacement of intermediate and warm suitability areas, and (iii) the arise of new suitability regions (hot and very hot areas) over Argentina. In addition, an increase of annual accumulated precipitation is projected over the center-west of Argentina. Similar pattern of change is modeled for growing season, but with lower intensity. Furthermore, the evaluation of projected seasonal precipitation shows a little precipitation increase over Cuyo and center of Argentina in summer and a little precipitation decrease over Cuyo and northern Patagonia in winter. Results show that Argentina has a great potential for expansion into new suitable vineyard areas by the end of twenty-first century, particularly due to projected displacement to higher latitudes for most present suitability winegrowing regions. Even though main conclusions are based on one global-regional model downscaling, this approach provides valuable information for implementing proper and diverse adaptation measures in the Argentinean viticultural regions. It has been concluded that regional climate change simulations are an adequate methodology, and indeed, the MM5 regional model is an appropriate tool to be applied in viticultural zoning in Mendoza, Argentina.

Vineyard identification and characterization based on texture analysis in the Helderberg Basin (South Africa)

In this paper, a methodology for the spatial identification and characterization of vineyards using texture analysis is proposed to meet the need of ongoing and further viticultural “terroir” studies. The proposed method is based on the maximization of a criteria that deals with the coefficients enclosed in the different bands of a wavelet decomposition of the original image. More precisely, we search for the orientation that best concentrates the energy of the coefficients in a single direction. For each texture pattern, a degree of anisotropy and the angle of the main orientation is extracted. The methodology is validated on aerial-photographs in the Helderberg Basin (South Africa). The degree of anisotropy is a reliable information able to discriminate vineyards to other land-uses. Moreover, the row orientation turns out to be a relevant information for all applications related to mesoscale atmospheric modeling in vineyard areas.

Evaluation of bispectral LIDAR data for urban vegetation mapping

Because of the large increase of urban population in the last decades, the question of sustainable development in urban areas is crucial. In this context, vegetation plays a significant role in urban planning, environmental protecting, and sustainable development policy making, heating and cooling requirements of buildings, displacement of animals dispersion, concentration of pollutants, and well-being. In numerous cities, vegetation is limited to public areas using GPS surveys or aerial remote sensing data. Recently, very high-resolution sensors as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data have permitted significant improvements in vegetation mapping in urban areas. This paper presents an evaluation of a new generation of airborne LIDAR bi-spectral discrete point (Optech titan) for mapping and characterizing urban vegetation. The methodology is based on a four-step approach: 1) the analysis of the quality of data in order to estimate noise between the green and near-infrared LIDAR point clouds; 2) this enables to remove the topographic effects and 3) a first classification, devoted to the elimination of the non-vegetation class, is performed based on the intensity value of the two channels; finally, in 4), the tree coverage is classified into seven categories of strata combination. To this end specific descriptors related to the organization of the point clouds are used. These first results show that compared to monospectral LiDAR data, bi-spectral LiDAR enables to improve significantly both the extraction and the characterization of urban objects. This reveals new perspectives for mapping and characterizing urban patterns and other complex structures.

Remote sensing and GIS applied to assessment of environmental fragility in the River Basin

Le bassin hydrographique de la haute riviere Coxim (BHC), d’une superficie d’environ 1375 km², est situe dans la partie nord de l’etat de Mato Grosso do Sud sur les municipalites de Sao Gabriel do Oeste-MS et de Camapua-MS. L’objectif de cette etude etait d’evaluer la vulnerabilite de l’environnement du BHC en utilisant la methode de logique floue dans un systeme d’information geographique (SIG) afin de proposer un modele d’amenagement territorial. Les donnees spatiales utilisees ont ete integrees dans un SIG. La generation du modele d’amenagement territorial ete realisee en fonction de la cartographie de la fragilite de l’environnement et de la legislation environnementale. Les resultats ont montre une relation significative entre les caracteristiques de l’espace (ex : topographie) et leurs usages: agriculture mecanisee dans la Chapada de Sao Gabriel et developpement de l’elevage dans les collines du Plateau du Taquari. Les lignes directrices etablies par le type de propositions d’amenagement etaient des secteurs prioritaires pour la conservation, secteur prioritaire pour la rehabilitation et les aires d’utilisation durable.The Upper Coxim River Basin (UCB) has an area of approximately 1375 km2 located in the municipalities of São Gabriel do Oeste and Camapuã in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The aim of this work was to evaluate the environmental fragility of the UCB using fuzzy logic implemented at a Geographic Information System to propose a model of physical-territorial management. Spatial data used were arranged in a database implemented in a Geographic Information System (GIS). The generation of the physical-territorial management model was carried out considering preparation of UCB relief mapping, potential natural erosion, land-use and land-cover, environmental fragility and, environmental legislation. Results indicated a significant relationship between landforms and their uses: mechanized agriculture in the Chapada of the São Gabriel and livestock development on the Plateau Taquari hills. The guidelines set out by the type of land use proposals were: Priority areas for permanent preservation, priority area for rehabilitation and preservation and areas for sustainable use.