Andrea Rengo

Future climate conditions may jeopardize the suitability of traditional grape-growing areas in the Mediterranean. However, precise vineyard management is a crucial component of adaptation strategies aimed at optimizing resource efficiency, which is essential for sustainable farming practices. A fine-scale characterization, based on the spatial variability of soil’s physical–chemical and hydrological traits combined with temporal variability of vine canopy temperature extracted from UAV thermal images has been adopted in a rainfed vineyard of central Italy, for better understanding the impact of soil and climate abiotic factors in the vineyard for planning precision adaptation strategies encouraging sustainable resource use. This study identifies significant soil heterogeneity within the tested vineyard, affecting water retention, nutrient availability, and vine water stress. We combined ground-based measurements with remote sensing-enhanced data spatialization and helped to advocate for site-specific management techniques as short- and long-term strategies (such as canopy management, deficit irrigation, and compost application) to counter climate emergencies, restore soil health, and preserve vine function and economic yields.

Soil CO₂ efflux is a pivotal component of agro-ecosystem C budgets. It is considered a proxy indicator of biological activity and a descriptor of soil quality that is strongly linked to agricultural soil management. We investigated the effects of soil fertilization practices (organo-mineral (OMN) versus chemical (C)) on soil under-vine CO₂ efflux (TSR) in an Italian rainfed vineyard (cv Chardonnay). The TSR was measured using the chamber technique as follows: a close multi-chamber system (prototype) was placed under a vine. Data (CO₂, temperature, and moisture) were acquired hourly during two consecutive years (2021 and 2022) from flowering to berry ripening. Physical–hydrological soil parameters were determined, and the seasonal trends of the TSR, soil temperature, and soil moisture were assessed. The TSR measurements fluctuated for the 2021 season, ranging from 1.03 to 1.97 µmol CO₂∙m⁻²∙s⁻¹ for the C treatment, while for the OMN treatment, the TSR measurements ranged from 1.24 to 1.71 µmol CO₂∙m⁻²∙s⁻¹. Extreme weather conditions (2022) highlighted the differences between the two agronomical practices, and a decoupling was found between the TSR and the soil water content, with the TSR being controlled primarily by the soil temperature. At the daily scale, the findings showed that the TSR reached its minimum in the early morning hours (5:00–8:00). The results promote organic–mineral nutrition as an improved practice for soil carbon storage (restoration of the organic fraction) by reducing the TSR, permitting the preservation of soil quality and stabilizing the hydrological traits by preserving the biotic activities.