Terroir 2016 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 Introducing heterogeneity measurements in terroir studies. Application in the região demarcada do douro (n portugal)

Introducing heterogeneity measurements in terroir studies. Application in the região demarcada do douro (n portugal)

Abstract

Terroir zoning studies have to manage the heterogeneity and complexity of the landscape properties and processes. The varying geology is one of the main landscape properties conditioning the spatial variability of terroirs. An entropy-based index used to characterize the heterogeneity of soil particle size distribution has been recently recognized to be controlled by the lithological properties at landscape scale. This index, known as the Balanced Entropy Index (BEI), which has been identified as a very good predictor of soil water content, is a promising tool in geosciences because it provides a continuous parameterization of soil texture that enables establishing quantitative relationships between soil texture and all the hydropedological attributes related to it.

In this study, carried out in the Portuguese winegrowing region called Região Demarcada do Douro (RD Douro), we explored the BEI in the lithostratigraphic units, and its potential relationship with the vineyard distribution and characteristics at plot scale. The data set for this work was the soil map of RD Douro scale 1/25 000, the vineyard distribution, and the information of the soil map database, which includes analytical and morphological data of 1 217 soil profiles.

Results evidenced that, in areas with similar lithological properties, vineyard plant density is linearly related with the soil texture heterogeneity, being this relationship stronger in metamorphic lithologies than in granitic lithologies. In light of this and other remarkable results we concluded that the BEI is a useful new tool that might have multiple applications in terroir studies.

DOI:

Publication date: June 23, 2020

Issue: Terroir 2016

Type: Article

Authors

Joaquín CÁMARA, Alberto LÁZARO, Vicente GÓMEZ-MIGUEL

Departamento de Producción Agraria, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro, 2, Spain

Contact the author

Keywords

soil texture heterogeneity, Balanced Entropy Index, plant density, fractals, RD Douro

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Terroir 2016

Citation

Related articles…

Chitosan from mushroom by-products: sustainable extraction process and winemaking application

Chitosan is a biopolymer industrially obtained from the deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide on earth, after cellulose. It is extracted from various terrestrial and marine resources, including insects, grasshoppers, shrimps, crabs, lobsters, squids, and fungi. chitosan has a polycationic character due to the free amine groups along its chemical backbone, and depending on its deacetylation degree (DD) and molecular weight (MW), it shows variable properties that differ from those of other natural polysaccharides.

Determination of metallic elements in Chilean wines by atomic absorption spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry

The chemical composition of wines depends on series of variables such as the type of grape, edaphoclimatic conditions, and viticulture and winemaking practices employed during production. Metallic elements play a significant role during winemaking (e.g. as catalysts of oxidation reactions) and have been previously employed for the classification of wines according to provenance. In this work, we focused on the analysis of metallic elements (K, Na, Ca, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Cr, Al, Pb, Cd, Hg, Se, Co, Sn and As) in 145 Chilean wine samples (102 reds and 43 white wines), of seven grape varieties, and five of the major wine producing regions in Chile.

Key genes in rotundone biosynthesis are affected by temperature, light, water supply, and nitrogen uptake

Rotundone accumulation and biosynthesis is a complicated process. Previous research highlighted that these phenomenons were affected under ecophysiological conditions by viticultural practices (e.g. defoliation or irrigation). Individually, these practices often impact several abiotic factors that are difficult to separate such as temperature, water or nitrogen status, or radiation. Such dissociation can be achieved under controlled environmental conditions using potted vines.

Sustaining grape production under challenging climate change circumstances

Grapevines are an important economic crop grown in temperate climates of both hemispheres characterized by short‐term heat spells and heat waves

Clones of 10 Vitis vinifera varieties: degree of inter- and intra-varietal variation and putative mechanisms underlying clonal variability

Context and purpose of the study. Intra-varietal variability for key physiological and oenologically important traits can be exploit in viticulture following the consistently higher environmental pressure driven by climate change.