Résultat de la recherche
Future climatic conditions may threaten adaptation capacities for vineyards along Lake Neuchâtel, Switzerland
In Switzerland, as elsewhere in the world, climate change is challenging viticulture. Knowledge of the potential impacts is essential for preparing adaptation measures. Two aspects directly impacted by increasing temperatures are the choice of grapevine varieties and the location of vineyards. To help address these impacts, we analysed future trends in two bioclimatic indices, average growing season temperature (GST) and Huglin’s heliothermal index (HI), in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. We conducted our analysis based on regional climate change scenarios referring to the emission pathways RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. Under the assumption of RCP8.5, trends in GST and HI indicate that the climate in this region will become too hot for most grapevine varieties currently cultivated, especially Pinot noir. Moreover, adaptation problems under RCP8.5 are expected to originate from an increase in climate extremes in both temperature and precipitation. Results based on RCP4.5 indicate a broader scope for adaptation, as the climate will remain suitable for a larger number of grapevine varieties within the current altitudinal limits of the Neuchâtel vineyards. In theory, an altitudinal shift of Pinot noir would also be possible under this emission pathway. In practice, however, the possibility of establishing vineyards above 600 m would be limited by the presence of protected forests and rocky areas. Our results highlight that vineyards in this region will need important adaptation measures if anthropic greenhouse gas emissions do not decrease rapidly and considerably, limiting the global temperature increase to < 1.5 °C.
Effects of climate change on bioclimatic indices in vineyards along Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland
In this study, we investigated the consequences of climate change on bioclimatic indices in vineyards along the edge of Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland. Like in other vineyards all around the world, the typicity of wines and the phenology of vines have changed, particularly since the 1970s. Trends in the growing season average temperature and in Huglin’s heliothermal index show that the climate in the Neuchatel vineyards changed from very cool or cool to temperate during the last decades. Trends in the cool night index and in the prior to harvest cool night index both indicate that in the near future this wine region will frequently experience temperate instead of cool nights during the weeks leading up to harvest. Our results highlight the need for adaptation strategies, such as an upward elevational shift for Pinot Noir, as climatic conditions will become too warm at its current location in the next decades. They also show that conditions in this region are already favorable for more thermophilic varieties such as Merlot. In the context of global warming, this kind of analysis should be conducted throughout winegrowing regions in order to develop efficient adaptation strategies at the microclimatic scale.