Crops in Europe are exposed to increasingly elevated CO2 concentrations, enhanced temperatures and intense droughts, which can have important effects on production. Grapevines are no exception.
Tefide Kizildeniz from the Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain, and co-authors examine the individual and interactive effects of these stressors on grapevine yield and quality. They cultivated cuttings of two types of grape (red and white Tempranillo, an extensively cultivated grape native to Spain) at different CO2 levels, temperatures and water availability regimes, from fruit set to maturity in specially modified greenhouses.
The effects were variety-dependant, with overall better red grape performance than white. High temperatures and drought reduced the growth of both Tempranillo varieties, but elevated CO2 was able to compensate for this by enhancing photosynthesis. Yield was less affected than growth and was variety-dependent, with more red grapes produced than white grapes.
These results highlight the need to consider the combined effects of the various climate stressors on grapevine performance and on different varieties to inform crop planning and management.
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Tynan, E. Grapevines under stress. Nature Clim Change 5, 718 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2749
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2749
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