Impact of climate change on the viticultural climate of the Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (SE Spain)

Abstract

Protected Designation of Origin “Jumilla” (PDO Jumilla) is located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete and Murcia, in the South-eastern part of the Iberian Peninsula, where most of the models predict a severe impact of climate change in next decades. PDO Jumilla covers an area of 247,054 hectares, of which more than 22,000 hectares are under vines, mostly of Monastrell variety and certified organic. The main objective of this study is the analysis of the viticultural climate during the period 1980-2020 to assess the trends and the current impact of climate change on this wine-growing region where wine making represents the most important economic activity. For this purpose, temperature and precipitation data series from 74 weather stations located in the area has been analysed, grouped in intervals of 5, 10 and 20 years. 26 variables, including climatic bioclimatic indexes, growing season length, frost free period length, overlaps among them, and the indexes involved in the Geoviticulture MCC System have been calculated for each weather station and interval. Data from the last 20 years has been employed to propose a climate zoning of the PDO Jumilla following the methodology used by Gómez-Miguel and Sotés (1992-2019) in viticultural zonings carried out in Spain and Portugal, while previous data has been used to assess the climate trends. The results show the increase in minimum, mean, and maximum temperatures, the advancement of sprouting, and the increase of spring frosts risk in all the analysed weather stations, as well as changes in the viticultural climate in all the defined zones. The registered average increases in mean temperature, between 0.3 and 0.5 ºC per decade during the studied period, draw a concerning scenario that demands implementation of combined actions for the adaptation of the sector in this historical wine region.