Refine
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Language
- English (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1)
Institute
Year of publication
- 2024 (1)
A substantial area of the terrestrial surface is used for agricultural production. In Europe, many farmland species and ecosystems have evolved with traditional agricultural practices and rely on extensive cultivation for their survival. Today, agrobiodiversity is threatened by the abandonment of traditional agricultural land use.
The cultivation of wine is one of the oldest forms of agriculture. On steep slopes, viticulture has shaped landscapes, cultural traditions, and unique ecosystems in many regions. In Germany, steep slope viticulture has been declining dramatically in recent decades due to insufficient profitability. The abandonment of these traditional cultural landscapes threatens the cultural heritage and the flora and fauna adapted to viticultural management. One solution to halt the decline of steep slope viticulture could be a change of cultivation system from vertically oriented rows to modern terraced vineyards. Here, the rows run parallel to the hillside, facilitating cultivation, and thus reducing production costs. At the same time, a large portion of terraced vineyard consists of uncultivated embankments, which can provide valuable habitats within the agricultural system. However, little is known about the effects of a cultivation system change and vineyard abandonment on biodiversity. In addition, information on how to sustainably revegetate terrace embankments is missing.
Within the framework of this dissertation, the overall aim was to evaluate the potential of terraced vineyards to promote biodiversity and investigate measures for sustainable revegetation of terrace embankments. In addition, the effects of distinct vineyard management (vertically oriented vs. terraced) and vineyard abandonment on biodiversity were assessed. The main part of this thesis is based on a field study comparing three vineyard types (vertically oriented vineyard, terraced vineyard, abandoned vineyard) that were arranged in 15 triplets along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (UMRV) in Germany. The effects of vineyard types, local vineyard parameters, and landscape structure on biodiversity were evaluated using four species groups. Studied groups represented plants and arthropod species (grasshoppers, wild bees, spiders). In a second field study, three newly constructed terrace embankments were revegetated using different seeding techniques and seed mixtures. In addition, measures to support plant establishment were evaluated. Plant establishment was assessed for three consecutive years in permanent vegetation plots.
The first study on the three vineyard types revealed that there was no uniform positive effect of one vineyard type on all investigated groups. Instead, the responses were group and taxon-specific and driven by management-related disturbance intensities, local vegetation structures, soil and landscape structure. In total, the heterogeneous landscape and small-structured vineyard agroecosystem of the UMRV supported high species diversity, hosted high numbers of rare and threatened species, and diverse species communities across vineyard types. Plant species richness was enhanced by vineyard management and particularly benefited from terraced vineyards and rather nutrient-poor and extensively managed embankments. In comparison, plant communities of fallows were completely different with lower plant diversity. Grasshoppers were supported by vineyard management, and bare ground in vineyard inter-rows supported heat- and open-adapted species. Taller vegetation stands on terrace embankments enhanced grasshopper species richness while woody structures and vineyard abandonment reduced grasshopper diversity and abundance at the local and landscape scale. Wild bee species richness and abundance were strongly determined by their nesting needs. For ground-nesting bees, the suitability of soils for nesting was important, irrespective of vineyard management types whereas above-ground nesting bees were enhanced by woody structures of fallows at the local and landscape scale. Moreover, fallows further provided valuable floral and non-floral resources for both ground- and above-ground nesting bees. For spiders, there was no difference in species richness and abundance between vineyard types but many xerophilic species adapted to open habitat structures prevailed in terraced vineyards. Vineyard fallows supported highly distinct spider communities, including some late-successional species. In conclusion, the vineyard cultural landscape of the UMRV with both actively managed and abandoned vineyards led to a high diversity of plant and arthropod communities. Hence, for its preservation, a spatially heterogeneous landscape comprising both (semi) natural and viticultural-management elements is important.
Results from the second study showed that terraced vineyards and especially terrace embankments can contribute to promoting biodiversity, especially if they are revegetated with regional seed mixtures. Seeds of locally adapted populations and hydro-seeding provided higher vegetation cover which is needed to prevent severe erosion whilst non-locally adapted standard seed mixtures and manual seeding had a higher failure risk and were more prone to severe precipitation events. Taken together, vineyard terracing appears to be a win-win solution for both winegrowers and biodiversity and thus helps to maintain viticulture on steep slopes.