W I N E T E C H
vine rows
As studies have shown, higher biodiversity enhances the benefits derived
from the vineyard ecosystem. Within the context of a project funded by
the Austrian Science Fund FWF, researchers investigated the interaction of
soil cultivation and landscape structure in European wine regions.
Whether it’s at a
wine festival, an
open-day at a wine
cellar or during the
More life between
direct marketing of wine from the
producer: wherever winegrowers
have on-site, first-hand contact with
consumers, they appreciate the
boost to their image and economic
success provided by the scenic
beauty of the landscape. “When
asked which benefits of the vineyard
ecosystem are most important for
them, many winegrowers indeed
ranked landscape aesthetics in third
place. Regarding the consequences
of climate change, such as more
frequent heavy rainfalls, they also
consider the prevention of soil
erosion and the preservation of soil
fertility to be among the top issues,”
reports Silvia Winter, an agricultural
ecologist at the Department of Crop
Sciences at the University of Natural
Resources and Life Sciences Vienna.
Winter is the principal investigator
of a transnational research project
funded by the FWF. Within this
project, a Master student interviewed
around 700 locals, tourists and
winegrowers in the Austrian winegrowing
region of “Neusiedlersee-
Hügelland”.
From west to east
These surveys of landscape
aesthetics, and above all the
recording and analysis of biodiversity
in vineyards, aimed at analysing how
different soil management types in
the “inter-rows” – the area between
the vine rows – affect the biodiversity
in the vineyard and its susceptibility
to erosion. In order to study the
interaction under different climatic
conditions and soil types, the
researchers also investigated about
16 vineyards per country with varying
types of tillage in Spain, France,
Austria and Romania. The differences
relate primarily to the intensity of
tilling, ranging from frequent tilling
or “bare ground” to alternating
vegetation cover (every second row)
and permanent vegetation cover. Not
in every country all intensity levels
were studied. In the Spanish winegrowing
region “Montilla Moriles”
and in the Romanian “Târnava” area,
bare ground, i.e. intensive cultivation,
were frequently found. In the Austrian
“Carnuntum” and “Neusiedlersee-
Hügelland” regions, the team found
mainly permanent and alternating
vegetation cover, which is primarily
a result of many years of agrienvironmental
policy measures. The
French “Val de Loire” was the only
region where herbicides instead of
tillage was used in the bare ground
inter-row management.
Significant
differences in
biodiversity
In order to understand the interaction
of soil cultivation, climate and
landscape structure and the resulting
consequences for biodiversity
and the susceptibility to soil
erosion, the researchers collected
comprehensive data on inter-row
vegetation, soil organisms, wild bees
and soil parameters. Together with
colleagues from the Department of
Integrative Biology and Biodiversity
Research, Winter explored, for
instance, the variety of plant species
growing in vineyards, the vegetation
cover and the species diversity and
abundance of wild bees, earthworms
and springtails. Peter Strauss,
Head of the Institute for Land and
Water Management Research at the
Austrian Federal Agency for Water
Management, conducted the soil
investigations, looking at aspects
such as aggregate stability. “More
stable and larger soil aggregates help
to reduce soil erosion and improve
water infiltration, which is particularly
important during heavy rainfall
events,” Winter explains. This is why
36 JUNE 2019