Long-term airborne pollen captures in winegrowing regions as a tool to predict yield and quality and to monitor the impact of climate change on phenology

Abstract

Pollen sensors were developed in the 1980s to monitor airborne pollen concentrations over the time of flowering, in order to provide early yield forecasts in winegrowing regions. Pollen is an indicator of wine production, reflecting the number and size of clusters at flowering, as well as pollen dispersal and pollination efficiency. These data can also be related to vintage quality, since uneven pollination caused by weather conditions could persist until maturity.

Previous studies, in Portugal, Italy and France, have developed yield prediction models based on pollen data and climatic indicators between flowering and fruit set. Based on this previous research, two long time series of airborne pollen collected in the Bordeaux and Cognac areas (Southwest of France) were analysed. The results showed that yield prediction models relying exclusively on airborne pollen indicators were not sufficiently accurate. Including ecoclimatic indices significantly improved these yield predictions. An analysis of wine quality from press sources in relation to airborne pollen indicators was also conducted in Saint-Émilion, initially revealing only weak correlations. Here again, the addition of ecoclimatic indices substantially improved model accuracy. Further adjustments to these models are in progress and will be proposed to winegrowers.

This study also highlighted that long-term time series are reliable indicators of climate change impacts on vine phenology.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Conseil des Vins de Saint-Emilion, particularly Philippe Raymond; the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac for the provision of airborne pollen data; the Gironde maturity network ISVV-bordeauxraisins.fr, for providing phenology data. They would also acknowledge Claire Penot who was involved in this project as an intern.