Macrowine 2021
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 The influence of soil management practices on functional traits and biodiversity of weed communities in Swiss vineyards

The influence of soil management practices on functional traits and biodiversity of weed communities in Swiss vineyards

Abstract

Green cover in vine rows provides many ecological services, but can also negatively impact the crop, depending on the weed species. The composition of a vineyard weed community is influenced by many parameters. Ensuring an evolution of the vine row flora into a desired direction is therefore very complex. A key step towards this goal is to know which factors influence the establishment of the weed community and which types of communities are best suited for vineyards. In this study, we analysed the weed communities of several vineyards in the Lake Geneva region (379 botanical surveys on 117 plots), with the aim to highlight the links between soil management practices (chemical and mechanical weeding, mowing, mulching roll) and phytosociological profiles, biodiversity and selected functional traits (growth forms, life strategies, root depth). The level of disturbance allowed to draw a clear distinction between the soil management practices: chemical and mechanical weeding (high disturbance) led to lower biodiversity and tended to favour ruderal to competitive ruderals strategists, mainly therophytes and geophytes. In contrast, mowing and mulching roll (lesser disturbance) led to higher biodiversity and tended to favour the establishment of grassland, whose plants are usually hemicryptophytes. Soil management practices also greatly impacted root depth, with chemical weeding favouring on average 45 % deeper rooting than all other practices analysed. This could explain some current problems: the more herbicide is used, the more ruderal weeds with deep roots appear, leading to a vicious circle from which it is difficult to extract. In terms of ecological services, the analysed parameters are indicators of the competitive potential of weed communities for the vine roots. Further studies shall focus on evolution dynamics of weed communities when soil management is changed and on field measurements of root depth and impact on vine physiology.

Publication date: May 17, 2024

Issue: Macrowine 2016

Type: Poster

Authors

Matteo Mota*

*HES-SO

Contact the author

Tags

IVES Conference Series | Macrowine | Macrowine 2016

Citation

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