Soil survey and continuous classification for terroir delineation in the “Colli Orientali del Friuli” wine production area

The markets for quality wine are becoming more competitive as newer producers emerge and traditional producers improve their quality. The concept of terroir is one way to differenzi­ate wines in a competitive market and to enhance producer income.

Flavescence dorée (FD) is a very serious grapevine disease, classified as quarantine in europe, where it appeared in the middle of the last century. It is associated with the presence of phytoplasmas, transmitted in the vineyard by a leafhopper of american origin, scaphoideus titanus. FD causes severe wine production losses and often leads to plant death. There are currently no alternative solutions to insecticide treatments against the vector and uprooting diseased vines.

Many high quality Open Source scientific applications have been available for a long time. Some of them have proved to be particularly useful for carrying out the usual activities involved in viticultural research projects, such as statistical analyses (including spatial analyses), GIS work, database management (possibly integrated with statistical and spatial analysis) and even “low-level” often highly time-consuming activities (e.g. repetitive task on text files).

The search for underground shelters is one of the oldest forms of human habitation, providing refuge in extreme environments such as deserts and polar regions.

In the context of climate change and the need to reduce inputs, optimising photosynthesis and grapevine performance requires a better understanding of the interactions between water status, nitrogen availability, and source-sink relationships.