Vulnerability of climate variability in the southern wine region of Uruguay
Abstract
Over a wine region, the knowledge of climate variability is primordial to contribute to adaptation issues to climate change (CC). Interviews were carried out using the method developed in TERADCLIM Project to evaluate winegrowers perception of CC and ways of adaptation. The main results showed a clear perception of climate annual variability for the winegrowers. Extreme climate events occurred the last years were highlighted, from which 71% considered an increase of frequency of those events. Even when there was a perception of the increase of climate variability, it was not associated with CC in the region. 43% of the cases coincided that the evolution of some viticulture practices in the last years could be due to climate, especially those related to the preventive use of phytosanitary products. The interviewed identified climate risks that caused “bad years” in terms of yield and quality. They were: increase in extreme events, decrease in cold units in winter, increase in hours with temperatures above 35ºC, precipitation increase during the vegetative cycle and during the ripening period as well as its impacts in their vineyards. From the local knowledge of the vineyards operations that winegrowers realize, arise the vulnerability matrix as climate variability response. This knowledge could be of great value for the stakeholders and public policies regarding adaptation to CC in the region.
Issue: GiESCO 2017
Type: Extended abstract
Format: Oral
Authors
1 Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Av. Garzón 780, CP 12900 Montevideo, Uruguay
2 UVV INRA Angers, 42 rue Georges Morel 49071 Beaucouzé, France
3 UMR6554 LETG CNRS, Université Rennes2, Place du recteur Henri le Moal 35043 Rennes, France
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Keywords
vulnerability, adaptation, climate variability, wine region, Uruguay