Grapevine hydraulic response to drought is soil texture-specific

Abstract

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is the world’s third most valuable horticultural crop. Today, climate change significantly threatens grape productivity, notably due to more frequent and extended drought periods. To address the critical issue of grapevine response to water stress, soil-plant hydraulic processes can be considered the cornerstone of the physiological mechanisms involved in grapevine tolerance to drought. Although recognized, the key role of belowground hydraulics on grapevine water status is rarely addressed because difficult to measure. This work aims to understand how soil-grapevine hydraulics impact the stomatal control of in situ grapevine cv. Chardonnay. First, we revealed experimentally that the transpiration control of grapevine is soil texture-specific and is triggered by a decrease of belowground hydraulic conductance, rather than xylem cavitation. Then, by using a biophysical model representing explicitly the series of hydraulic conductances between the bulk soil and the trunk, we demonstrated that during drought, the main hydraulic bottleneck is the rhizosphere in sandy soils, while it is the root system in loamy soils. By examining the complex dynamics of soil-grapevine water interactions under various edaphic conditions, this work could help winemakers to address uncertainties linked to climate change, thereby enhancing overall vineyard resilience.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a FRIA grant from the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research FSR-FNRS [grant FC041167]. The authors acknowledge the financial support from Olivier de Serres Chair “Impacts and Adaptation to Climate Change” at ISVV through Foundation Bordeaux University at the University of Bordeaux.